Archive Press Release
(Products mentioned in this Archive Press Release may or may not be available from the manufacturer.)
Hardinge Workholding Division
Release date: May 9, 2007
Hardinge Indexer Cuts Production Run by 19.4 Hours.
Reducing cycle time leads to cost savings. That's a fact that all shop owners are familiar with. Sometimes, when you weren't expecting it, you'll reduce your cycle time and gain cost savings and productivity improvements that add dollars to the bottom line. That's a benefit that every shop owner can appreciate.
Recently that happened for Xan Mason of Mason Machinings, Inc., located in Morristown, TN. Mason Machinings, Inc. is a medium-size job shop, employing between 50 and 75 people, running a variety of machines in a production environment. Xan was in need of a replacement Rotary Indexer for a Yuasa unit that had worn out. He responded to a direct mailing from Hardinge that drew his interest. A meeting with local sales representative Frank Bock and a demonstration of the 5C Rotary Indexer and its capabilities led to an order for a unit. After adding the fail-safe collet closer to the unit, Xan was eager to get the job started. Imagine his surprise when he immediately was able to reduce his cycle time.
Mason Machinings, Inc., is a supplier of parts to the automotive industry, especially truck and bus manufacturers. Some of their components, while not requiring a lot of machining, are important components of a bus assembly. For example, one of the parts being produced was part of the riser shaft for a bus seat. The machining operation included drilling two holes in a 4" piece of tubing. While not a big machining operation, certainly one that is important.
Once Xan installed his new Indexer, he was up and running within an hour, cutting parts on his Kira VMC. He discovered quickly that the indexing time of the Hardinge 5C Rotary Indexer is significantly faster, resulting in cycle time reductions.
[Due to ramp up time on the motor] "The less you index a part on my old Indexer, the slower it is", states Xan. The parts being produced don't require a lot of indexing, but the time to index between drilling operations is reduced, due to the speed with which the Hardinge indexer can index. There is no time wasted waiting for the motor to start up.
Once Xan realized how much time he was saving on his indexing operations, he began to appreciate the other features of the Indexer. "It's much easier to program the Hardinge Indexer because the keys are right on the front of the control box. I can call up the program, modify as needed, and keep going with minimal interruption", states Xan. "With my old Indexer, there was no control box keypad, so I had to use the "calculator-type" attachment, which was never where I needed it to be, attach it to the Indexer and make my program changes. Very time consuming".
The fail-safe collet closer also proved to be a valuable feature. The previous Indexer was hard to keep adjusted and with the fail-safe closer from Hardinge, adjustments, when required, are a breeze.
Xan estimates that he has saved 7 seconds per part on his typical 10,000 piece production run. Previous cycle time was 30 seconds per piece, new cycle time is 23 seconds. The Hardinge indexer resulted in a 23% reduction in cycle time or 19.4 hours per production run and reduced the total production run cycle time from 5 days plus overtime to 4 days assuming a 2 shift per day operation. As all good shop owners know, seconds add up quickly when you're saving 7 seconds on a part. And seconds equal profit in the bank!
Linda Folkers, Advertising Manager Hardinge Workholding Division 607-378-4328 lfolkers@hardinge.com
Company Information: Name: Hardinge Workholding Division Address: One Hardinge Dr. City: Elmira State: NY ZIP: 14902 Country: USA Phone: 607-378-4022 FAX: 607-734-3886 http://www.hardingetooling.com
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