Contact us today:
(847) 934-4500
tdaro@bernardandcompany.com
Contact us today:
(847) 934-4500
tdaro@bernardandcompany.com
Smiths Machine answered the recession with a formula for major change
So what’s the secret to their success?
To begin with, the omission of the apostrophe from the company’s name was deliberate. Being different is in the DNA of Smiths Machine. This is a second-generation, family-owned business that found a way to grow its workforce by 70 people during the last five years That’s a 300% employment surge that mostly happened during the recession, a time when many machine shops (and for that matter, many businesses), were struggling just to hang on.
Ahead of the recession, Smiths Machine did what many machine shops were doing at the time. They were riding the wave of automotive parts production and doing seemingly fine, until the massive downturn came. The bankruptcies of the tier one automotive companies suddenly left many machine shops vulnerable to volume-based supply from overseas competition; and a once well-oiled machine tool business model now seemed unstable and uncertain. Equally uncertain was the idea of moving the business in an entirely different direction.
Manufacturing complex parts for the aerospace and defense industry, demands consistency, high-quality and precision — achieved only with Siemens CNC.
To be or not to be — different
Defense and aerospace part manufacturing require a different business approach altogether, says Tim Smith, vice president of Smiths Machine.
“It is specialized work that requires special approvals, log-down processes and complicated procedures,” Smith says. “The complexity is challenging. And it all starts with a different way of thinking, more of an engineering approach than a production approach.”
Smith says his company needed to build a new business model and the operations to support it. The defense and aerospace machining market is characterized by small lot counts, generally lower margins, and a very low tolerance for errors. Scrap rates thought to be nominal in the past would now be out of the question.
“You can’t make a $6,000 part and have a 30% scrap rate or even a 10% scrap rate,” explains Smith. “The emphasis is not on throughput, but on the high quality, highly precise manufacturing of very complex parts.”
Based on these three inseparable machining requirements — quality, precision and complexity — Smiths Machine set out to reach its greater potential in the machine tool market, not as a production machine shop, but as company focused on complex part manufacturing. Having achieved some early success in this new direction, the way forward for the company soon could be summed up more simply:
“The more complex the part, the more competitive we are,” says Smith.
To protect and grow this competitive advantage, the company’s leadership knew that their internal processes and technology needed to match up with the unique requirements of the defense and aerospace industries. Major investments in large, complex, five-axis machines would need to be enhanced by equally complex control capabilities. Smith recounts how a decision made previously by the company would now come into play in a profound way.
A backbone for change
Traditionally a milling and turning company, Smiths Machine first teamed up with DMG and Siemens in the year 2000 to establish their singular machine tool platform. This brought about a synergistic approach to complex milling and turning; an advantage that took on greater significance when the company decided to focus on the defense and aerospace markets later in the decade.
“Siemens controls were available on DMG milling and turning machines, and that was a natural fit for us,” Smith recalls. The DMG / Siemens platform has enabled Smiths Machine to establish and maintain a high level of operational proficiency. The central advantage here, Smith says, has been the ability to invest, train and keep his people moving forward based on a stable technology platform.
“The technology and the people using it are the backbone of our organization,” Smith asserts. “Even with 25 machines, we can share knowledge between the milling and the turning machines. The common control is a Siemens Sinumerik 840D sl. Our technology purchases are based on where we want to be in ten years, not on a workforce that is fractionally trained and a platform that can rapidly deteriorate due to a change in market condition or a change in employment condition.”
Smith says an example of this singular platform advantage is the control’s similarity across milling and turning operations. “All controls are customized to a certain extent,” Smith acknowledges. “But unlike Siemens, many other control series are individually customized so that the keyboard layout will be different from machine to machine. The Sinumerik 840D sl CNC is consistent. So when you train your operators, you can say, here’s the jog button, here’s the axes button, here’s your alarm button and your offset button. And this level of consistency extends to a graphical interface that really complements how we teach and learn.”
Teaching and learning are closely held values within an organization that uses a breadth of visual techniques to foster education, efficient information sharing, and quality control.
“We are a very visual company,” Smith says. “We use a lot of colors and we buy a lot of printer toner. Our parts inventory uses color-coded tags and the same is true across our production. We use yellows and blues and reds for consistent instruction. And the Siemens 840D sl control uses the same approach. You are guided visually for such things as axis direction, approach point, final depth and other variables inside a cycle. And this is true from control to control, for milling and turning.”
Smith says visually guided information flow is characteristic of today’s complex range of next-generation electronic communications, because this speeds understanding and information sharing. Whether for a smart phone or a CNC, graphically guided interfaces enable rapid learning and proficiency, a fact that has been well leveraged by the 840D control interface design.
Smiths Machine’s plan for stable growth started with its investment in a stable CNC platform: The steady progression of a stable machine / control platform has enabled the company’s similarly growing workforce to build on existing knowledge, rather than learn new and different versions every few years.
New angles on programming
Gerhard Hetzler, engineering manager at Smiths Machine, has experienced firsthand how the company’s singular platform approach has brought continuity to such manufacturing functions as post, machine simulation, NC code, and control functionality.
While the Siemens 840D sl control has evolved in significant ways over the years, Hetzler says these changes have served only to accelerate the performance of the programmers and operators, rather than impede them with new and different procedures. The control platform has also given Smiths Machine the freedom to create custom cycles that can be copied and shared from control-to-control, and so machine-to-machine.
“I’ll give you an example,” says Hetzler. “To catch occasional entry errors on the tool management side, we created a cycle that checks the length of the tool and within a specific tolerance. So within in a matter of milliseconds, the control compares that value to what was entered in the tool management side, and if the tolerance is exceeded by 2mm, the control immediately stops the machine.”
Hetzler says another advantage resulting out of the DMG and Siemens relationship is the continued simplification of complex cutting operations, especially in the area of angular milling heads.
“Siemens has come a very long way to improve the cycles and support related to milling heads,” Hetzler says. “Aerospace requires a lot more use of angular milling. Even a five-axis approach can’t do it. You need an angular milling head. I would put this on the top of my list of the advantages DMG and Siemens have developed. And this relates to another important development, Siemens NX.”
NX as in next
Siemens NX software integrates CAD, CAE and CAM for faster part manufacturing, encompassing all areas of tooling, machining and quality inspection. NX has become integral to Smiths Machine’s CNC platform, because it supports part planning through manufacturing, with the prevention of errors and related costs.
“Our ability to develop all of our own post-processors in house is supported by Siemens NX,” Hetzler explains. “We setup our angular milling heads in NX, so we can post the G-code before we even send it out to the machine.”
An early introduction to the power of NX came when the company found that it needed to write code to produce an especially challenging aerospace landing gear. The code took six-weeks to manually program. This was before the company learned that it could do the same task in nine days using NX.
“Siemens knows five-axis machining and NX is a Siemens product that leverages five-axis,” Hetzler says. “As an example, we can do three-plus-two axes work in NX. There is a cycle for that called Cycle 800. So when NX outputs the NC code, the machine then also understands it. Other control brands will have a cycle that can be made to work, but they are a lot more problematic. We are talking about managing the change of plane, a concept that has been around for a long time and was always problematic to do. Now Cycle 800 in NX does it all for you.”
Hetzler says Cycle 800 makes programming the change of plane easier, faster, and with higher accuracy than traditionally calculated methods. “We would normally round off after the third or fourth decimal,” he recalls. “Now the control calculates to nine decimals. When you start talking microns, especially in the aerospace industry, it makes a huge difference. And this difference has been fully implemented by DMG. They have invested a lot of time and money to make sure from their side that Siemens NX and Cycle 800 work 100% of the time.”
The Cycle 800 function within Siemens NX supports the programming of 2-1/2 axis and 3D milling throughout the rotation of all X-Y-Z planes, while maintaining a zero offset. Functions include automatic shifting of zero offset, tool length and radius compensation in rotated planes, compensation of machine geometry, and all machining cycles can be used.
Please forward all inquiries to:
SIEMENS INDUSTRY, INC.
DRIVE TECHNOLOGIES
MOTION CONTROL
MACHINE TOOL BUSINESS
390 Kent Avenue
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
Phone: 847-640-1595
Fax: 847-437-0784
Web: www.usa.siemens.com/cnc4you
Email: SiemensMTBUMarCom.sea@siemens.com
Attention: John Meyer, Manager, Marketing Communication
Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/SiemensCNC or Twitter: www.twitter.com/siemens_cnc_us.
—
Siemens Industry Sector is the world’s leading supplier of innovative and environmentally friendly products, solutions and services for industrial customers. With end-to-end automation technology and industrial software, solid vertical-market expertise, and technology-based services, the sector enhances its customers’ productivity, efficiency and flexibility. With a global workforce of more than 100,000 employees, the Industry Sector comprises the Industry Automation, Drive Technologies and Customer Services Divisions as well as the Metals Technologies Business Unit. For more information, visit http://www.usa.siemens.com/industry.
The Siemens Drive Technologies Division is the world’s leading supplier of products, systems, applications, solutions and services for the entire drive train, with electrical and mechanical components. Drive Technologies serves all vertical markets in the production and process industries as well as the infrastructure/energy segment. With its products and solutions, the division enables its customers to achieve productivity, energy efficiency and reliability. For more information, visit http://www.usa.siemens.com/drivetechnologies.
Continue readingMajor Tool & Machine, Inc. retrofitted two of their machining centers in 2010 changing to a CNC technology platform that was completely new to the company. Ten more such large-scale retrofits have followed, bringing increased enthusiasm, momentum and productivity.
Major Tool & Machine has been on track to retrofit over a dozen of its giant milling and turning machines within just two years, all supported by a new Siemens CNC platform. MTM’s management says the process has been an empowering experience for the company.
CNC upgrade enhances performance and precision
Major Tool & Machine (MTM) is a large job shop, producing precision milled and turned hardware throughout the company’s 500,000 square foot Indiana facility. Performance is essential, because MTM contracts with aerospace, energy, nuclear and defense companies on many mission-critical, one-off projects. Owner and CEO Steve Weyreter will tell you openly, MTM is more competitive by way of a significant CNC technology change, starting with an aggressive retrofit strategy.
Günther Zimmermann, CNC Controls Engineer at MTM, says the company’s retrofit program and the decision to change to the Siemens SINUMERIK CNC platform have brought a new enthusiasm and momentum to the company. Over the last two years the change has also brought significant time and cost reductions, especially in the areas of programming, maintenance engineering, and machine operations.
“The initial goal in early 2010 was to retrofit two Cincinnati U5 Gantry machines,” Zimmermann recounts. “We evaluated two CNC technology platforms and after considerable analysis our CEO Steve Weyreter announced that Siemens would best support the company’s future.”
The decision to reduce costs by moving to a single CNC platform was the least difficult decision for the company to make, Zimmermann explains. The larger challenge for MTM was the integration of a new CNC technology platform that was new to the company.
Bill Henderson, MTM’s manager of large machining and maintenance, agrees that the decision to change to a Siemens CNC platform integrated with advanced part and tool probing was critical, because the shop manages constant changeovers from one complex job to the next, making setup times a critical time/cost constraint for the company. Another big advantage is the increased flexibility by only having to train machinists and maintenance personnel on one type of control.
Henderson went on to say “the decision to change to a new control has signaled higher expectations for the company, along with new challenges for those who program, operate and maintain the company’s big machines.
Naturally, there’s a resistance to change,” Henderson says. “People are comfortable with what they normally run, but after our discussions with the people on the plant floor, they understood the overall objective. Our retrofit program is not finished, yet it’s already showing tremendous benefits.”
An advantage MTM gained by its retrofit strategy has been the ability to interchange heads and rotary tables from machine to machine. Easy-to- use head storage and tool management programming provided by the Siemens CNC platform support the new interchange capability.
Retrofitter Doug Huber says having Siemens as a new CNC technology partner has made a difference for Major Tool & Machine, but it’s also been an evolutionary uplift for his own retrofitting company, Indiana Automation.
“Indiana Automation has increasingly retrofit using Siemens controls in recent years, Huber explains. “On a retrofit, we always try to exceed what the original machine could do, and that’s just kind of inherent when you put on a Siemens 840D. Major Tool’s first retrofits were the Cincinnati U5 machines, a bridge model and two gantry models. These are five-axis machines and five-axis is the 840D’s forte. The processing power of the control is so much better, that it just whips through the blocks faster. So right off, cycle time is a major performance enhancement.”
Huber says something else happened this time. As his firm finished retrofitting the first three giant machines with Siemens five-axis controls, drives and motors, the reaction within the company was not just that the machines were now predictably more efficient, but that they performed as very different machines. A new advantage is the ability to interchange machining heads from machine-to-machine, and all driven by the Siemens CNC platform.
Central to MTM’s retrofit program has been the Siemens SINUMERIK 840D sl control, which features the SINUMERIK Operate interface. The highly intuitive interface enables both programmers and operators to easily capitalize on the broad capabilities of the control.
“On many of the U5 machines, the axes come off with the heads,” Huber explains, “and we rebuilt these machines to accept any one of three different heads. That’s one of Major Tool’s key strategies. They insist on having flexible machine capabilities, so that they can run all kinds of different parts. They have straight heads for serious metal cutting, contour heads for five-axis work and finesse work. They have 90-degree heads for more flexibility than a straight head, but it’s also not as fragile as the contour head. And they wanted to interchange all of these heads to automatically go pick up a head out of the shuttle and, on the fly, reconfigure the axes and the zero positions. To do this, the compensation tables all had to be updated. Everything needed to be done with the macro program so that each head came on ready to run.”
The interchangeable head strategy was a challenge, Huber says, because the machines were not originally capable of sharing heads. But with support from Siemens, the strategy has worked, including the ability to interchange rotary tables as well as heads. “Each head or rotary table has a configuration file that has all the settings and compensations and travels with it from machine to machine. So now when you mount that head the control just runs the configuration file that goes with it and its all set up for you. We also incorporated Siemens Tool Management for each machine’s 60-pocket tool chain. We used the feature on these machines to manage all the different tooling MTM uses, both in the automatic tool changer as well as the ones manually loaded.”
Huber says, “MTM’s ability to smoothly transition to more advanced CNC is largely due to the HMI’s ease of use. The Operate interface is a huge help to us and to Major Tool. The HMI helps make better parts. And it didn’t take very long for the operators to fall in love with it.”
Programming as easy as 1-2-3: Using the SINUMERIK Operate interface, a machinist can turn on coolant flow by 1) pressing Cycle Stop to stop the machine, 2) Coolant On, and 3) Restart.
“I had never used a Siemens control before,” admits MTM machinist Mike Burthay. “I have extensive knowledge of G-code and CNC controls and I would say the Siemens 840D sl with the Operate interface is the easiest one I’ve ever run. It’s user friendly, that’s exactly the words for it.”
Burthay reports several ways in which the Siemens SINUMERIK Operate interface has made his life easier. “There’s not as much G-code,” he says. “The control does it all for you as long as you put in the parameters as to size, length, width. Then once you’re in Job Mode, there’s a screen where you can tool change or jog the machine around to certain positions, or turn the spindle on, turn the coolant on, anything that traditionally required G-code. So now you can push a cycle stop button to pause the machine, enter a change such as turning coolant on, then restart the program.
“Another function I love is Block Search, which allows me to start or restart right in the middle of a program. Say you’re finishing a pocket and you have to run the tool two or three times to get a tight tolerance, I can enter in a line number and hit Block Search, the control picks up every line before that, restarts the spindle and everything for you.”
Burthay says the Siemens control also enables him to program parts right on the machine whenever necessary, using a simple yet robust program called ShopMill. “I can go into ShopMill, type in some parameters and it will kick out that G-code program for me automatically. Say I want to drill a hole two inches deep. I open ShopMill, pick my tool, tell it the depth and these steps are all interactive on the screen. It even shows me 3D motion images of the tool path, confirms the drill going down as expected into the part. So I hit go and it puts a drill cycle into the program for me.”
Programmed for collaborative growth
Lead Programmer, Tim Hayden, has from the beginning conducted all processor setups for the newly retrofitted machines. Hayden says integrating the Siemens CNC platform has been an empowering experience he had not expected, given the fact that he had never before set up a post processor to run a Siemens control, nor had he ever before operated a Siemens control.
“Now, when I look at the Siemens control, I think man, it would have been so much better to have had it all along,” Hayden says, “because the other control I’ve been using is just a lot more cryptic. The Siemens control with the SINUMERIK Operate interface is more powerful for writing macros and the language seems modern, whereas the other control seems like it is still based on an old FORTRAN type language.”
Work offsets for compound angles can be scaled and rotated using the Frames function of the Siemens SINUMERIK Operate interface. Many advanced machining operations can be managed simply, without the use of time-intensive manual G-code programming.
Hayden points to the Frames coordinate and offset programming function of the Siemens interface as an example of improved programming convenience.
“We do a lot of work on compound angles,” Hayden explains, “and with the Siemens Frames function, you can scale and rotate your coordinate system on the control, just plug it in with your work offsets. Whereas, on the other control you will see a G54 request, you’ve got to enter G-code. You can’t just plug it into your work offsets like you can with the Siemens control.”
Hayden says the SINUMERIK Operate interface brings greater programming flexibility. The HMI enables him to enter G-code using a comparatively more advanced manual data entry (MDI) function; however the HMI has all but eliminated the need for G-code entry by way of its intuitive design and evolved capabilities.
Another example of such HMI evolution is in the area of data management.
“When we post a program, we no longer have to use a G-code based MDI,” Hayden explains. “We no longer need to type in T= and enter a nine digit number and then enter M6 to make a tool change. With the Operate HMI, you pick your tool off a screen and hit cycle start. It’s just as easy to program going to a position. Instead of doing things the old way by typing G0X0Y0Z0 into the MDI, you open the Operate interface, click position, then click how you want to wrap it and then you just type the numbers into those fields. So it’s a lot more user friendly.”
Hayden says the Siemens CNC platform has supported greater collaboration at MTM between him and the machinists, and this is helping the company find ways to increase performance and efficiency. He agrees with his coworkers’ assessments that shorter setup times and greater operator freedom are making a significant difference.
“One of our production bottlenecks has been programming,” Hayden says. “The machinists that run our machines are professionals, they’re not button pushers, and with the SINUMERIK Operate interface, we can now rely on them to control and program certain parts right on their machines, while we programmers work on the more complex projects.”
“Siemens was the best fit for all of us,” Hayden concludes. “Siemens CNC is set up as an open control, and with that kind of flexibility, it seems anything is possible.”
For more information on Siemens SINUMERIK CNC, visit www.usa.siemens.com/cnc.
For specific product information and inquiries, call (800) 879-8079 ext. Marketing Communications or send an e-mail to: SiemensMTBUMarCom.industry@siemens.com.
Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/SiemensCNC or Twitter: www.twitter.com/siemens_cnc_us.
—
Siemens Industry Sector is the world’s leading supplier of innovative and environmentally friendly products, solutions and services for industrial customers. With end-to-end automation technology and industrial software, solid vertical-market expertise, and technology-based services, the sector enhances its customers’ productivity, efficiency and flexibility. With a global workforce of more than 100,000 employees, the Industry Sector comprises the Industry Automation, Drive Technologies and Customer Services Divisions as well as the Metals Technologies Business Unit. For more information, visit http://www.usa.siemens.com/industry.
The Siemens Drive Technologies Division is the world’s leading supplier of products, systems, applications, solutions and services for the entire drive train, with electrical and mechanical components. Drive Technologies serves all vertical markets in the production and process industries as well as the infrastructure/energy segment. With its products and solutions, the division enables its customers to achieve productivity, energy efficiency and reliability. For more information, visit http://www.usa.siemens.com/drivetechnologies.
Ann Arbor, Michigan – GMTA (German Machine Tools of America) represents various top-quality German metalworking machine builders, including Wera Profilator, K + G, Pittler, Praewema and WMZ, as well as Arnold lasers and Rosink parts washers. These machines are sold to the North American market exclusively by GMTA, primarily for gear and spline production, as well as other power transmission and various metalworking applications. The company’s target markets include automotive, off-highway, energy and other heavy equipment manufacturing. Machines are provided for gear honing, gear grinding, the patented Scudding® process for gearmaking, polygon milling, turning, gear tooth pointing and multi-task machining operations, as well as various laser operations or laser line integration and parts washing. This newsletter is provided to our friends in the media to keep you and your readers updated on News of Note at GMTA.
In the news…
-GMTA has formed an alliance with Star SU LLC in Hoffman Estates, Illinois to manufacture Scudding® tools for the North American market. Scudding® is the radical improvement on traditional power skiving technology for gear production, long proven in the market to be faster, more accurate and versatile in use. Often thought to be limited to internals only, Scudding is fast beginning to compete in certain applications with hobbing on external gears and splines, as well. David Goodfellow of Star SU signed the agreement with GMTA president Walter Friedrich and VP Scott Knoy.
-GMTA continues to expand its representation of K + G (Kristen + Gormann), a tooling manufacturer in Germany that supplies the industry with products for inside grooving, turning, profile milling, facemilling, geartooth milling, chamfering and back angling. K + G became the third line added in 2014 to the family of manufacturers currently represented by GMTA, joining Arnold lasers and Rosink parts washers.
-GMTA now offers a full integration service for production lines on gears, splines and other powertrain components. Bringing the various machine tool, laser and parts washer lines together, along with robotics, transfer mechanisms and other high-end automation, GMTA engineering has the ability to provide nearly end-to-end capability to many shops and production departments at major OEM’s and Tier vendors. As VP Scott Knoy explains, “We now offer our customers a comprehensive package of equipment, application engineering, tooling support, commissioning and after-sales service.”
-GMTA will be exhibiting at Gear Expo and EMO, this year, the latter in conjunction with partner companies in Europe.
-GMTA is supplying Magna Powertrain a variety of machine tools and systems for its Audi Flex program, both in Muncie, Indiana and Mexico.
-Both Ford and General Motors plants have purchased additional Praewema honing machines for various transmission programs.
-Jernberg Industries, Inc. in Bolingbrook, Illinois has added its fifth Profilator machine for ring gear production.
-GMTA hosted a field trip for the students in the German Clubs at two local schools to the famous Kristkindlmarkt at Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago. The festival is a recreation of the classic German street markets set up for the Christmas season, featuring artisans and craftsmen selling their wares, plus music, food and drink for the season, including gluhwein! The students and their leaders had a good time. Froeliche Weihnachten…that’s Merry Christmas in German. Leading the event for GMTA was the corporate treasurer, Claudia Hambleton. A good time and much gemütlichkeit were had by all!
For more information on this announcement, please contact:
GMTA (German Machine Tools of America)
4630 Freedom Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
Phone: 734-973-7800
Fax: 734-973-3053
Web: www.gmtamerica.com
Email: scott@gmtamerica.com
Attention: Scott Knoy, VP
Connect with GMTA online: 
Remember when IMTS 2014 announced their photo contest and we submitted this scrumptious morsel of photography?? For #TBT, I’d like to pay tribute to this delicious day in Bernard & Company history: “Chicago’s Favorites” featuring Bernard & Company, IMTS, Portillo’s Chicago-Style Hot Dogs/Fries and Italian Beef Sandwiches, Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Pizza and Garrett’s Chicago Mix Popcorn.
Click Photo to Enlarge Deliciousness
(Original Tweet here)
Ensuing food hangover included!
(Original Tweet here)
Keep warm and keep having fun, manufacturing world!
– n
Continue readingWhen IMTS 2014 announced their photo contest, we couldn’t wait to get to work!
#IMTS: Everywhere You Look – #Photo Contest! Send us your images spelling out I-M-T-S, we will choose our… http://t.co/pRbDeyo6NS
— IMTS (@IMTSchicago) February 24, 2014
@BernardandCo We are very excited to see how creative our #exhibitors will be. Can't wait to see your #IMTS photos! http://t.co/DRODctM0o0
— IMTS (@IMTSchicago) February 19, 2014
Presenting our entry:
“Chicago’s Favorites” featuring Bernard & Company, IMTS, Portillo’s Chicago-Style Hot Dogs/Fries and Italian Beef Sandwiches, Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Pizza and Garrett’s Chicago Mix Popcorn. What could be better?? Nothing, I tell ya.
Click Photo to Enlarge Deliciousness
Do NOT miss IMTS this upcoming September!! Our clients, including Siemens Machine Tools, Siemens Production Machining, Rattunde, Advanced Machine & Engineering, Heimatec, TCT Stainless, GMTA, Suhner and Chemtool will all be exhibiting!
And if the photo above did not leave you reaching for a napkin to wipe the drool, IMTS will be home to over 100,000 decision makers showing new manufacturing technology and ideas. So come on over to Chicago and get a taste of everything IMTS will have to offer!
Continue readingWill enable measurement to 2 microns, even on denser parts
Exact Metrology, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, has acquired a new Metrology Grade GE Phoenix v|tome|x m, a CT scanner system with dual tube technology, nanofocus to 180Kv and microfocus to 240Kv, significantly expanding the company’s capability in 3D scanning to 2 microns with sufficient power to measure denser parts. Exact Metrology is the first company in the U.S. to purchase this system, according to company sources.
Exact President Steve Young notes, “We bought the new system because it has significantly greater accuracy, better detail and great reliability. Exact is currently seeking users for this new system.” The system has already received operational approval from the state of Ohio and is installed at the company’s main facility in Cincinnati.
The Phoenix v|tome|x m system features a unique temperature stabilized detector array (up to 30fps) for extremely fast CT data acquisition on workpieces up to 500 mm diameter and 600 mm in height, weighing up to 50 kg (110 lbs). Typical functions performed on this system might include 3D analysis of a scanned turbine blade, automatic pour porosity volume analysis on an aluminum casting and 3D measurements with nominal-actual CAD comparisons on a machined aluminum cylinder head.
Exact Metrology is offering this service for process control and customer R&D functionality, plus scientific research applications.
With full CT automation, click & measure capability and the dual tube technology, this new system can perform analyses on an extremely wide range of samples, from high-resolution nano CT of low-absorbing samples to the high-power micro CT applications such as engine turbine blades.
Other applications for possible utilization of this new system at the Exact Metrology facility include light metal castings, electronic assemblies, thermoplastic molded and composite parts, plus all types of machined metals.
Compared to conventional tactile or optical CMMs, this new scanner system can generate a first article inspection report including internal dimensions in less than one hour, with high accuracy and repeatability.
Utilizing the GE Phoenix Datos|X CT and Volume Graphics software platform further enables full automation of the system at Exact Metrology, thereby reducing the time to perform the testing procedures.
Exact Metrology is an ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company.
To see videos on this new scanner’s capabilities, please visit:
VG GE casting analysis with CT hi-res at Exact Metrology
v | tome | x m CT scanner at Exact Metrology
For more information on this new system or to arrange a demonstration, please contact:
EXACT METROLOGY, INC.
11575 Goldcoast Drive
Cincinnati, Ohio 45249
Phone: 513-831-6620
Toll Free: 866-722-2600
www.exactmetrology.com
stevey@exactmetrology.com
Steve Young, President
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Exact Metrology, with facilities in Cincinnati and Milwaukee and affiliated offices throughout the Midwest, is a comprehensive metrology services provider, offering customers 3D scanning, reverse engineering, quality inspection, product development and 2D drawings. The company also provides turnkey metrology solutions, including equipment sales and lease/rental arrangements.
Contact us to receive this whitepaper as a WordDoc.
Why an Interest in EQ Coatings?
The Steel Industry is a highly competitive world market. The industry is always in search of innovative and fresh manufacturing methods to improve quality and lower costs. One wouldn’t automatically think the metal stud industry utilizes cutting edge technology to create their products, since studs are well hidden and only visible during construction, but this is a common misconception. Progression in the engineering of stud design and stud manufacturing processes has followed a challenging path similar to that of the more well-known automotive industry. Throughout the years, the automotive industry has seen the approval of countless regulatory guidelines, pressuring automotive manufacturers to become innovative in their processing, leading to the creation of better operational processes, new metallurgical steels, new technology development in roll forming and stamping methods, plus the creation of new coatings to provide better corrosion resistance and impart specific characteristics, such as weldability and improved formability. Just as these regulatory guidelines pushed automotive manufacturers to innovate, the metal stud manufacturers were driven by the need to remain competitive against alternative building materials (eg. wood and concrete). Metal studs are sold and priced by the pound, so the need to be market competitive added pressure for stud manufacturers to engineer innovative designs and processes that drive out costs while creating products that are equal to or superior to the products already available. These innovations can be seen through many advancements; one such example being the creation of special tooling that imparts specifically designed shapes and ridges which work to improve strength (yields) while reducing both gauge and weight.
When the discussion turns to materials, metal stud manufacturers primarily utilize galvanized substrates. These materials have worked well for manufacturers as zinc premiums have been stable over the past several years. However, in 2014 and 2015, experts project that zinc premiums will drastically increase. As the gauges of the metal studs are reduced, a correlation can be observed where the percentage of reduction in the thickness of the metal studs increases the percentage of zinc to the overall metal stud thickness and therefore increases the zinc premiums. These higher zinc premiums have also contributed to pressuring stud manufacturers to innovate, leading to some metal stud manufacturers taking advantage of purchasing excess automotive, high quality Galvanneal substrates and subjecting those substrates through the process of cold-reduction in order to drive yields up while obtaining equal strength from light gauges. The creation of new processing techniques such as this one led to the design and creation of coatings that were specifically formulated for the metal stud industry and are best known as EQ Coatings. EQ Coatings have been shown to significantly outperform standard metallic coatings such as:
EQ Coatings were developed to provide equivalent or superior corrosion protection, compared to approved metallic coatings that are listed in the ASTM A1003 standard for metal studs. While the “EQ” stands for Equivalent, EQ Coating manufacturers and test data insist that EQ Coatings are nothing short of being superior coatings.
Interior Drywall Steel Stud Framing – Codes and Standards
Over the past several years, there have been countless discussions between metal stud manufacturers and metal stud industry associations over the acceptance of EQ studs and whether or not EQ Coatings conform to industry standards. Some regulating bodies have dealt with these discussions for several years, mostly due to the confusion caused by the distribution of misinformation in the marketplace. The SFIA (Steel Framing Industry Association) Technical Director Pat Ford explained in a recent Webinar, co-sponsored by the SFIA and AWCI associations, that EQ Coatings conform to the many codes within IBC, ASTM, AISI and ICC. Though there are many ASTM standards associated with manufacturing and specifying Cold Formed Members (metal studs), the key standards that are applicable to EQ Coatings are:
Members shall have a protective coating conforming to Specification A653 – G 40 minimum or have a protective coating with an equivalent corrosion resistance.
(Note that this “equivalent” provision has been in the standard for over 20 years.)
9.1.3.1; No more than 10% loss of coating… at the end of the prescribed test duration.
9.1.3.2; Minimum exposure for type NS steels is 75 h.
6.2.1: Use Practice ASTM B-117 (Accelerated Salt Spray Test) to evaluate corrosion conformance…
These standards and requirements have been adopted into the SFIA QC program and serve as the basis for performance requirements for this program. In short, this program states, the requirements for a metallic G40 EQ (Equivalent) coating are:
In summary, for drywall framing, the IBC Code refers to ASTM standard C645 for guidelines. Relative to EQ Coatings, the other standards that reference guidelines for the performance are ASTM A1003, ASTM A1004 and ASTM B117.
How do EQ Coatings Work?
EQ Coatings are primarily (or entirely) composed of metallic compounds and are highly conductive. Due to their unique chemical nature, EQ Coatings require zinc, zinc alloy or zinc-iron alloy metallic coated base substrate to effectively work. EQ Coatings are Not Barrier Coatings, unlike more common coatings such as pretreatments, sealers, TFA’s (Thin-Film-Acrylics), primers and/or prepaints. EQ Coatings permanently (chemically and covalently) bond and integrate into the zinc, zinc alloy or zinc-iron alloy metallic coated substrate and become a singular composite coating system. It is this characteristic that provides the tremendous corrosion resistance properties. In some EQ Coating systems, cut edge and scratch resistance are so enhanced, compared to traditional standard metallic coated systems, that some EQ Coatings can provide self-healing characteristics.
Typical G40 HDG or A40 Galvanneal metallic coated substrates are manufactured according to the ASTM A653 Standard for Galvanized Sheet Steel and are expected to have .40 oz./ft² (total for both sides) of coating weight (mass). The standard (A653) allows for a range in the galvanized coating weights but must have a minimum coating weight of .30 oz./ft² (total both sides). In closer review of the standard, the actual coating weight can be as low as .12 oz./ft² on a single side. The photo below shows the full coating weight range of a typical G40 HDG metallic coating that can be purchased from a steel mill and still be within the approved specification range. In review, the coating weights at the lower end of the G40 specification do not perform very well in an ASTM B177 salt spray test. Even coating weights at the high end of the G40 standard show 100% white rust at 48 – 75 hours.
The galvanizing process can create vast valleys, fractures, pits and porosity in the zinc metallic surface. EQ Coatings are applied via a reverse roll coating application on a coil coating line and then cured with an IR or conventional oven. The combination of the coating and the process allows the EQ Coating to penetrate deep into the fractures and valleys within the zinc metallic coating, where it proceeds to chemically react with the zinc, sealing it off from the environment. It is this unique process and reaction that provides the tremendous corrosion protection associated with EQ Coatings. EQ Coating and a zinc metallic coating are more than just a basic coating. When combined, they become a singular permanent integrated composite coating. The unique level of corrosion protection provided by an EQ Coating allows metal stud manufacturers to utilize substrates that do not meet minimum metallic coating weight (mass) requirements of ASTM A1003 but when enhanced with a singular composite integrated EQ Coating system, they can provide extensive corrosion protection that meets or exceeds the corrosion expectations associated with the metallic coating weight ranges referenced above.
Superior Performance of EQ Coatings
As mentioned earlier, EQ Coatings were specifically designed and created for the metal stud industry. They were designed to be applied to excess automotive Galvanneal, HDG or Electro-Galvanized, be cold-reduced by 20% to 50% after coating, slit down and then roll-formed into finished metal studs. EQ Coatings have been shown to outperform other mill applied or other post applied coatings. Some EQ Coatings are formulated to provide superior cut-edge and scratch protection. In the photo, the flat test panels on the top show cut edge and scribe performance, as compared to the G40 control pictured at the bottom.
EQ Coating formulations can be modified to meet the needs of many specialized requirements or applications, such as:
Other Advantages of EQ Coatings
In accordance with the ASTM A1003 Standard; 9.1.1 Not all coatings will react the same under a given set of environmental conditions. These minimum coating designations assume normal exposure conditions and construction practices. When more severe exposure conditions are probable (for example: in coastal areas), consideration should be given to specify heavier coating weights (mass).”
In this section of the ASTM A1003, the standard recommends specifying substrates with better corrosion performance when in severe environments, such as G60 or G90 HDG. EQ Coatings can easily accommodate this requirement at a fraction of the cost, compared to zinc premiums on substrates above G40.
Since September of 2011, when Eco-Green Coatings, a division of Chemcoaters, developed their EQ Coating known by the trade name as InterCoat®ChemGuard, there have been over 500 million linear feet of EQ coated studs sold in the marketplace without a single claim for corrosion in the field.
Other steel product industry segments have found an interest and have accepted the EQ coatings due to their field performance, as depicted in the data above, and the tremendous corrosion resistance. Some of these applications include:
Innovation and Change
It is important for steel driven industries to continue to innovate and stay ahead of the competition provided by alternative materials. The Automotive industry is faced with aluminum and carbon composites competition. The Appliance and HVAC industries are utilizing more plastics. The Building & Construction industry has wood, concrete and composite products to compete against. Many of the EQ Coating manufacturers and applicators service all of the various steel industries. The synergies that exist between all of these steel markets produce unique opportunities for technology advancements, such as EQ Coatings, to service multiple industries rather than a single market. It is advancements like this that will ultimately lead to driving down costs and allow steel products to remain competitive among these vast and diverse marketplaces. Despite some resistance to change, the quality and performance of these innovative coatings are clearly defined in the ASTM standards that have been in place for over a decade and that is because these standards were written to accommodate innovation in coating technologies and provide defined test methods to insure adequate levels of performance for the application.
William R. Capizzano, is President and board member of Eco-Green Coatings, LLC and Chemcoaters, LLC in Gary, IN and has been employed in the coil coating industry since 1978.
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Webinar Originally Presented on Oct. 15 and 17, 2013 by:
Bill Capizzano, President
Chemcoaters, LLC & Eco-Green Coatings, LLC
Input from Patrick Ford, P.E. Matsen Ford Design, Technical Director, SFIA
Presentation converted to paper by Bill Capizzano on June 13, 2014
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No. 814 is a 500ºF (260ºC), electrically-heated cabinet oven from Grieve, currently used for various plastic and metal part heat treating operations at the customer’s facility. Workspace dimensions of this oven measure 22” W x 21” D x 85” H. 18 kW are installed in Nichrome wire tubular elements to heat the oven chamber, while a 750 CFM, 3/4-HP recirculating blower provides a vertical downward airflow to the workload.
This Grieve cabinet oven features 4” insulated walls, aluminized steel exterior and interior, three integral metal shelves, plus all safety equipment required by NFPA Standard 86 for handling flammable solvents, including a powered forced exhauster, airflow safety switch and purge timer.
Other controls on No. 814 include a fused disconnect switch, digital temperature controller and manual reset excess temperature controller.
For more information, please contact:
THE GRIEVE CORPORATION
500 Hart Road
Round Lake, IL 60073-2898
Phone: (847) 546-8225
Fax: (847) 546-9210
Web: www.grievecorp.com
Email: sales@grievecorp.com
Attention: Frank Calabrese, VP
Press conference at IMTS 2014
Ann Arbor, Michigan – GMTA (German Machine Tools of America) represents various top-quality German metalworking machine builders, including Wera Profilator, Pittler, Praewema and WMZ, as well as Arnold lasers and Rosink parts washers. These machines are sold to the North American market exclusively by GMTA, primarily for gear and spline production, as well as other power transmission and various metalworking applications. The company’s target markets include automotive, off-highway, energy and other heavy equipment manufacturing. Machines are provided for gear honing, gear grinding, the patented Scudding® process for gearmaking, polygon milling, turning, gear tooth pointing and multi-task machining operations. This newsletter is provided to our friends in the media to keep you and your readers updated on News of Note at GMTA.
In the news…
-GMTA had an extremely successful IMTS, running a media event, highlighted by the introduction of the Moduline® machining center. This unique machine, built for high-production runs of various end products, offers customers an unmatched flexibility in their manufacturing. In single work envelope, a wide variety of machining operations can be performed on a workpiece in single setup. Of greatest significance is the fact those machining operations can be adapted, changed out, re-sequenced and completely reconfigured, all on the same machine. The result is highly flexible production in a small footprint, with a single CNC controlling the overall machine and individual PLC’s running each optimized machine function per part.
Alfredo Contreras, manager of new GMTA office in Queretaro, Mexico
-During the IMTS press event, presentations were given by GMTA President Walter Friedrich, VP of Sales Scott Knoy, GMTA Product Manager for lathe technology Stefan Kloos and, visiting the show from Germany, DVS group VP for Sales & Marketing Bernd Rothenberger. Highlighting the presentation was the announcement of the new GMTA facility in Queretaro, Mexico, recently opened by Regional Sales Manager Alfredo Contreras, who will be responsible for company sales and service in the fast-growing Mexican market for the company. See VIDEO of the press event here and an interview during IMTS with Walter and Scott, here.
-GMTA now represents K + G tooling in North America, including the company’s complete line of products for inside grooving, turning, milling, profiling, bit production, facemilling, gear tooth milling, chamfering, back angling and more.
-A definitive explanation on the trademarked Profilator Scudding® process for advanced gearmaking is now available from GMTA. Please contact Scott Knoy at GMTA (below) for details.
-GMTA recently sponsored Eastern Michigan University’s German American Day, held for the 10th year at EMU’s Student Center for the dual purpose of cultural heritage celebration and business recruitment. This year’s event happened on October 6. GMTA has an ongoing relationship with EMU, supporting various degree programs in the graduate and business schools to help prepare students enter careers with enhanced technical and language skills.
For more information on this announcement, please contact:
GMTA (German Machine Tools of America)
4630 Freedom Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
Phone: 734-973-7800
Fax: 734-973-3053
Web: www.gmtamerica.com
Email: scott@gmtamerica.com
Attention: Scott Knoy, VP
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