|
Following the installation of a Dürr Compact 80C fully programmable automatic component cleaning system at the Reading subcontract machinist factory of Rodmatic Limited, more than 100,000 components a day are being processed. According to Works Manager Terry O'Sullivan: "This machine has made a massive improvement in our quality standards. Any issues we had with customers in the automotive, fluid power, oil and gas and medical sectors over swarf contamination, where chips had been lodged in the machined features of components have disappeared. We even had one customer come back to us suggesting we had produced parts from stainless steel instead of mild steel due to such a high standard of finish on the parts."
|
A Dürr 80C fully programmable cleaning system is processing more than 100,000 components a day at Rodmatic Limited to achieve totally new standards of quality
|
Around 15,000 different components a year are produced on the 38 multi-spindle automatic lathes in the Rodmatic Multico division and at the Rodmatic Hytec division on the same site. This newly formed CNC machine shop has a Puma MX 2000ST and Lynx 220LJ mill-turn centres, a Lynx two-axis lathe, Hitachi Seiki Hi-Tech Turn and two of the latest Star SV-32, nine-axis and SR-20 RIII seven-axis CNC sliding head automatic lathes.
Said Managing Director Brian Steatham: "Because the cleaning system is totally automatic, it has also contributed to improvements in health and safety, significantly reduced noise and eliminated individual manual component cleaning and deswarfing at the various machines. Also, we have been able to dispose of the old cleaning system and have made an important saving on consumption of cutting oil by changing to a lower viscosity, non-chlorinated neat oil coolant. This new coolant tends to drain freely from the work and reduces any tendency for 'drag-over' and subsequent loss."
The high performance Dürr solvent-based system runs 24 hours/day and is used by all the company's operators. Components put through the system range from 6 mm diameter by 10 mm long to 76 mm diameter by 100 mm long. However, washing cycles involving the single loading of larger parts, as produced on the Puma, can also be processed. This is important due to the number of recesses, chambers, intersecting holes and compound angle holes that tend to be included in the 'single hit' cycles performed on this machine.
Parts are transported by trolley from each machine and source tagged for identification as they are loaded into wash baskets at the input conveyor of the cleaning machine. The fully programmable cycle includes high pressure spray, immersion and rotation followed by vacuum drying.
When the cycle is complete, the basket is automatically shipped to the outfeed conveyor where components are off-loaded to customer boxes ready for delivery. If parts require further processing, such as heat treatment or plating, which Rodmatic carry out as part of its added value service, these are off-loaded to a separate container.
As Mr O'Sullivan said: "Swarf was our main problem and as we are continuously running so many machines around the clock, it was difficult to effectively monitor and maintain standards. This is now firmly under our control and the automatic processing ensures we are no longer open to individual interpretation of standards of cleanliness."" He then adds, "You can clearly see the parts that have been processed and with 10 baskets passing through the system every hour, work queuing is eliminated."
|
