Obtaining productivity through technology

Located in Oklahoma City, Aero Components Inc. came close to going bankrupt in 1989. According to Danny Odom, owner and president of Aero Components, the company started in 1981 with two people, a manual mill and lathe to serve the city's booming aerospace industry.

Until 1989, the company grew steadily on defense contracts. Then the bottom started to fall out in the aerospace industry and cancellation letters on nearly every contract the company had, drove Odom to the verge of bankruptcy. Fortunately, Aero Components was able to secure high-tech semiconductor and medical component work to establish some much needed diversity, and the company resumed its growth.

Today, the company employs 56 people and has acquired more than 50 machining centers, some of which operate 24 hours a day, six days a week producing medical parts.

Among the many medical components machined at Aero Components is a high-tech resin-based medical mamera housing, which is machined on a Mazak Integrex 100 5-axis multi-tasking machining center. The housing is similar to a bucket with a lid and it is used to acoomodate an endoscopy camera. Originally, several different milling machines were needed to completely machine the part. This necessitated movement from machine to machine by an operator. By using the Integrex 5-axis multitasking machine, the overall cycle time was reduced by 20 min. For the camera housing lid, which mates to the housing, Mazak's Done-In- One process further increased productivity by having the lids fixtured three at a time.

Another medical device housing made from 6061 aluminum required four different machines - a lathe, horizontal and vertical mills, and a turning center. Now it is also done on the Integrex 100 in two operations with a 4 min. cycle time reduction just for milling. By eliminating part movement, the company further improved the part's quality by avoiding tolerance stack-ups. Operator time for moving the part was also reduced along with part programming - instead of programming four machines, only one machine program is needed.

Odom believes in multi-tasking. He obtained his first Mazak Integrex 5-axis machine, along with the job it was running, from a bankrupt company and quickly realized the former owner had set the feeds and speeds too low. "I knocked 35% off the cycle time without even trying," says Odom.

Today, the company has 12 Integrexes and all of them are integral to the production operation. In fact, the 25 yr. old company did not have any Mazak machines prior to 1995. Now it operates more than 50 including Mazak's FH5800 Palletech, a horizontal machining center with 12 pallets that operates unattended.

From originally viewing the Integrex as a specialty machine for specialty parts, Odom now sees it as key to his shop's future, particularly in medical parts. "The medical industry is growing and designs change frequently, production lot-quantities aren't big, material prices are out of hand, and customers continue demanding price reductions," states Odom. The only way you can survive is obtaining productivity through technology.

Thanks to the Integrex, parts are completely machined without moving them from machine to machine. With its 5-axis capability, the Integrex is designed to eliminate multiple setups, fixtures, tools, handling, and wait time, all of which adds to manufacturing costs. In addition, Done-In-One machining brings dramatic reductions in leadtime and efficient lot sizes to satisfy customer JIT and cost demands.

In addition to a more powerful milling capability in the Y and B axes Mazak's Integrex 100 multi-tasking machine offers a C-axis for the main spindle rotation powered by a 6000 rpm, 15 hp motor. A Y-axis provides off-the-centerline travel for milling, drilling, and tapping. A 7.5 hp, 12,000 rpm spindle is built in the single-pocket turret (live spindle) which rotates 225° in the B axis to machine angled features in increments of 0.001°. Furthermore, the turret design allows one turning tool to be used for left and right hand operations by rotating the tool 180°.

"By using the technology of advanced machining centers like the Palletech and Integrex, fewer operators are needed," says Odom. Two Palletechs and one operator can do the work of 6 VMCs with 3 operators.

Mazak Corp.
Florence, KY
mazakusa.com