How Our Turn/Mill Technology Improves Setup & Cycle Times

There are many challenges in the CNC precision component marketplace. It is ever evolving. Directly proportionate to our customers product improvements are the incumbent supplier demand on us for improved quality and cost reduction. We welcome these challenges. They help drive our quality, improve our efficiencies, making us better precision component providers.

One of the areas we have identified as necessary for furthering our improvements and taking cost out of our parts is improving setup and cycle times. We are fortunate in that we have a very experienced and seasoned machining staff. With their input, we recognized and identified setup improvement and cycle time reduction as two areas that we would focus on.

Part of this recognition is identifying types of equipment that would help us achieve these two goals. Out of those conversations and over the past several years, we have purchased several pieces of multi-axis turn/mill equipment. Most of the parts that we produce have both turning and milling operations. Obviously, moving apart from a lathe to a mill is not as efficient as being able to machine the part in a single chucking. Knowing that, we further identified other areas of operation that would improve setup and cycle time. They are as follows:

• The ability to hold the part in a single chucking greatly reduces the need for multiple setups, helping reduce setup costs.
• Fewer setups means reducing chances for tolerance “stack up,” which reduces possibilities for scrap.
• With a twin spindle design that is able to transfer the part from side A to side B with no operator intervention, we are able to maintain proportionate geometries and better quality.
• Five-axis simultaneous machining allows tilting of the tool holder or chucking device for creating better tool clearance and fewer restrictions for generating part geometry.
• The design of our 5-axis machine tools allows for the tilting of the tool or chucking device, which helps maintain optimum cutting position and constant chip load, and also helps produce better surface finishes.

All of the points mentioned above have helped us achieve our goals of improving quality while creating greater efficiencies, which helps us in our cost reduction efforts.

Our Most Recent Investment

Our latest investment, a DMG Mori NTX series, represents maximum productivity in the production of complex turn/mill components. The machine has twin spindles, a B axis, and a tool changer. We are capable of producing the most demanding workpieces with maximum precision and efficiency. This multi-axis machine is ideally suited for our aerospace, defense, and space customers. It also lends itself to any markets that require high precision and fine finishes.

Intrex Aerospace provides more than precision multi-axis machining. We offer complete program management. Our Epicor software system monitors and controls the scheduling, throughput, and reporting of all our production work as it flows through our shop. We also provide engineering support, management of outsourcing of finishing processes, light assembly, kitting, and more. To learn more about Intrex Aerospace’s multi-axis machining capabilities for the aerospace and defense industries, contact us today.