Devoted to the Wire

Today, Xact has more than 55 employees working three shifts, and is considered one of the largest wire EDM shops in the country with more than 40 EDMs.Xact Wire EDM Corp. is a unique job shop due to their devotion to wire EDMs. They have been in business for more than 26 years with a focus on wire EDMing. While other job shops try to do it all, Xact prefers to maintain their specialty; this enables them to perfect the art of wire EDMing.

Xact, headquartered in Waukesha, WI, while also having a fully equipped branch in Cary, IL, has 18,000ft2 at the Wisconsin location and another 5,000ft2 in Illinois. John Dora and Jeff Gubbins established Xact in 1984, having seen nearly every wire EDM application from virtually every industry possible. The tooling they have worked on has been used to make everything from mobile phones and car parts to medical devices. Xact also does numerous stamping, trim dies, molds, and extrusion die jobs.

Xact has formed a unique partnership with other job shops both large and small. There are times that shops are over capacity, so they come to Xact for some help. “We want to partner with them as an extension of their own capabilities and not be the competition,” Gubbins states. “If they go to another shop, they might be sending the work to a competitor. With us, they have the peace of mind that we only do EDMing in our shop.”

The extension of a customer’s cabailities that Gubbins mentions is that they collaborate with their customers by offering expertise, capacity, cost effectiveness, and advanced capabilities. Today, Xact has more than 55 employees working three shifts, and is considered one of the largest wire EDM shops in the country with more than 40 EDMs.


Investing
After only purchasing the same brand of equipment for a number of years, in 2004 Xact decided to do some research into other brands. They compared three additional wire EDM manufacturers, beyond the brand they used at that time. This comparison resulted in their decision to purchase three Sodick wire EDMs in 2005. From that point on, Xact has purchased six more Sodick EDMs, and have seen a drastic improvement in productivity.

Gubbins is especially happy with Sodick’s speed and reduced maintenance requirements, such as the linear motors designed into the machine. “Another big benefit of the linear motors is that there is no lube or cleaning, helping employees stay focused on their projects with minimal maintenance or cleaning,” Gubbins says.

The linear motors positioning method is also very accurate, quiet, fast, and vibration-free. The linear motors have an indefinite life expectancy, which allows Sodick to offer a 10-year positioning guarantee on their equipment. Sodick is proud to note that a customer has never invoked the 10-year positioning guarantee since the linear motors are that reliable.

An additional enhancement offered by Sodick Wire EDMs is the super jet threader that incorporates a waterjet and guide pipe to overcome even the most difficult threading application. Dora confirms this: “I have never never witnessed a system so reliable.”

Why Choose Xact
Xact uses the latest computer-assisted design and computer-aided manufacture (CAD/CAM) software. This helps the company read and translate the customers’ CAD files, eliminating many questions on the front-end of jobs. On the back end, Xact has sophisticated inspection equipment; including video inspection equipment, a laser Doppler displacement meter, CMMs, and more. This enables them never to allow a part out of the shop that has not thoroughly passed inspection. They are also ISO 9001:2008 certified.

Learning Curve
One of the challenges Xact faced when they switched to a new brand of equipment was the operator’s learning curve on the equipment. Dora mentioned that their operators were a bit hesitant when they were informed that Xact purchased new Sodick machines, as most of them had not worked with a Sodick before. However, they found the machines very easy to use.

Sodick offers a comprehensive training program that is included with the purchase of any new machine. A Sodick corporate trainer went to Xact when the machines were delivered and a number of Xact operators were sent to the Sodick Schaumburg, IL, facility for training.

Dora states that, “Once the operators completed their training and the installation of the machines was complete, the operators found the EDMs easy to use and were completely satisfied. Both inexperienced and experienced machinists were quickly able to learn the machine.”

One senior member of Xact’s implementation team, who had 22 years of EDM experience at that point, had high expectations and found the machine intuitive and the people at Sodick eager to help.

Commitment
Xact made a big commitment to switch brands and purchase three machines at once, but Xact had a high degree of confidence in the equipment and they wanted to spread the implementation costs over multiple machines.

Five years and nine machines later, Xact is still pleased with their Sodick EDMs, and their linear motors are still going strong. They are now able to take on more jobs than before and it seems that owning Sodick machines has made it possible for Xact to make parts of numerous sizes, widen their customer base, and maintain their position as a top EDM shop.

Sodick EDM
Schaumburg, IL
sodick.com

Xact Wire EDM
Waukesha, WI
xactedm.com