Having the right equipment makes a difference

Peter McGillivray and Dave Kalina formed Dynamic Engineering Inc. in 1977 and bought its first Makino machine in 1981. The sinker machine was Dynamic's first purchase of Ram EDM equipment and Makino technology.

"We were looking for our first CNC sinker EDM and selected four different machines to test. At the same time, our local dealer also asked us to take a look at a Makino," recalls McGillivray.

"We did the four demos we planned to do. Then with no real expectations, went to Makino, to see its machine in action. We were extremely impressed," recalls McGillivray. "The engineer showed us true unattended machining as he programmed the part and walked away. By that, I mean, once he pushed the button to start the machine, he never came back, and the part was exactly right."

"We knew then that we didn't need to be rocket scientists to run this machine.

So, we immediately bought it, and took an option to buy a second one.

Within six months, we had two machines. We were the first mold shop in the Twin Cities to have Makino EDMs, and today we have eight of them across two businesses."

A few years ago, Dynamic added a robotic cell to its EDM area to automate much of the work that is done on the EDM sinker machines. "The automation allowed us to continue adding work to the Makino sinker machines, stay profitable and run unattended a lot more than we already did," says Jay Williams, national sales manager for The Dynamic Group.

Dynamic made a major change in its approach to work and decided to pursue the concepts of lean manufacturing in the mid- to-late 1980s. The company was divided into different departments based on its different technologies.

"In 1987 we really decided to incorporate lean manufacturing into the company wholeheartedly, by dividing the way we approached our work," McGillivray adds.

"We now have six main departments within Dynamic Engineering: wire EDM;

Ram EDM, including the robotic cell; hydraulic grinding; CNC milling; CNC turning; and CNC programming."

According to McGillivray, it was a major transition in the mold making industry, and we were one of the first mold shops around to divide our workforce to embrace lean manufacturing methods.

As the business grew, McGillivray says it was more and more difficult to switch back and forth, between the multiple-cavity mold work that Dynamic typically produced, and the abundance of prototyping that customers were asking them to do.

Because the prototyping work was getting more plentiful, he and his partner, Dave Kalina, came up with the idea of a spin-off company. Today, McGillivray runs the mold making side of the business, Dynamic Engineering, and Kalina runs the product development side, Dyna-Plast.

Dyna-Plast offers a range of services from design and prototyping to short run molding and final assembly. This FDA-registered division also offers a Class 10,000 clean room facility for additional hard-milling capabilities and improves their current production methods, primarily due to the high speeds the V-Series machine offers.

Dynamic now uses the machine not only for cutting molds but to make electrodes for its Ram EDM department. "It's a high-end machine that continues to justify itself every day," says McGillivray. "Without it, I don't think we could be as competitive as we are today. It does a great job for us. The Makino V-Series saves us about 60% in process time over our previous method and gives us better accuracy," continues McGillivray.

The company now plans to add another highspeed CNC milling machine that will be incorporated into a robotic cell. "Once you're into high speed machining, you quickly realize that you can run one part or 100 identical parts, and you'll be efficient," states McGillivray.

"We plan to keep adding to our arsenal of technology to remain competitive, and we'll look to Makino and Productivity Inc. to help guide us," promises McGillivray.

Makino
Mason, OH.
makino.com