September 2007 Edition
GRINDING
'Trifecta' Success
A cooperative effort between three manufacturers — two of which are each others' customers — provided a lights-out solution for a tool manufacturer
Melin Tool Co. and Jergens Industrial Supply, both located in Cleveland, have an unconventional, long-standing business relationship: Each is a customer of the other.
Melin manufactures carbide and cobalt high-speed steel endmills, drills, countersinks, and other high-performance and specialty-cutting tools. Jergens is a distributor of Melin tools, but is also a long-time source of abrasives used by Melin to grind tools.
Melin Machine Tools needed a lights-out solution for its weekend tool grinding needs and turned to its distributor for advice
When growing demand for Melin products put pressure on the company to increase production, it turned to Jergens. In turn, Jergens called in another link in the supply chain, Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Inc., Worcester, MA. Jergens sells Saint-Gobain's Norton brand of abrasives. The three companies partnered to increase productivity at Melin while solving some of the toolmaker's related problems.
Melin has a six-day workweek and wanted a way to run specific grinding applications during the weekend. To accomplish that, Melin needed an employee to manually dress grinding wheels every two hours. Someone had to be onsite all weekend. To avoid these labor costs, the company wanted to set up jobs on Friday afternoon that could run unattended until Monday morning.
Searching for the "Ideal"
At the same time, Melin used various suppliers for the diamond and cubic boron nitride — CBN — grinding wheels — more than 60 types — for these specific applications. This wheel-stocking situation created confusion and inflated the company's inventory.
Infeed rate was doubled and traverse speed increased by 50 percent
An ideal solution would:
- Speed up production;
- Permit lights-out operations on weekends;
- Reduce grinding wheel inventories; and
- Reduce the number of grinding wheel suppliers.
Consulting with Jergens and Saint-Gobain, Melin Tool found a solution for all of its requirements. The problem-solvers were Univel G-Force grinding wheels from Saint-Gobain.
G-Force wheels are hybrid, polyimide, superabrasive wheels specifically designed for grinding round cutting tools on CNC equipment — just what Melin wanted to do on weekends. The wheels have a self-dressing, wear-resistant bond that eliminates stick dressing or dressing with a diamond roll after profiling. The self-dressing permitted labor-free, lights-out dressing.
Working with Jergens, Melin arranged special stocking agreements with Saint-Gobain that led to a reduction in the number of different wheels the toolmaker required. The reduction was possible because the hybrid polyimide superabrasive wheels enable faster grinding with less wheel wear, leading to higher quality workpieces, and more throughput. Overall Melin consolidated inventory from more than 60 wheels to 24, and to a single supplier — Saint-Gobain through Jergens as the distributor.
Melin Machine Tools needed a lights-out solution for its weekend tool grinding needs and turned to its distributor for advice
What Success Looks Like
Melin's increased production was exemplified by its switch to Univel G-Force wheels. The operation is O.D. grinding of tungsten carbide endmill blanks — 7⁄8" in diameter by 4" long. The machine used is a five-horsepower Tru-Tech Model TTS-8-20 OD Grinder.
At 6,000 sfpm, the infeed rate doubled and the traverse speed increased by 50 percent to 15 ipm, resulting in a 70 percent reduction of cycle time. The diameter held within 0.0001" across the grid length with a quality finish. Wheel reconditioning with an 80-grit SiC wheel replaced workpiece stick dressing using a coolant-soaked 220-grit WA material.
The new wheels had additional benefits. Because they run at high speeds and produce high-volume output, they allowed Melin to enter into competitive markets other than its traditional ones.
"This was a natural fit," Mike Wochna, Melin Tool president, said of the cooperative effort between the customer, distributor, and manufacturer. "Our productivity is substantially up as a result of our supply-chain partners."
Overall Melin consolidated inventory from more than 60 wheels to 24
"We expect loyalty from our business partners and give it in return," Jon Griffee, Jergens general manager, said. "This approach allowed all the pieces of the supply chain to grow and benefit from the relationships we forged."
"Jergens provides support working in conjunction with the local reps from Saint-Gobain," Wochna said. "We understand the difference between the upfront costs versus the value-added benefits that come from the performance of the tool and the support behind the tool."
Cooperation between the businesses continues. Melin will test a new CBN wheel for Saint-Gobain, while Melin will use Jergens as a beta test-site for new products. Saint-Gobain Abrasives
www.nortonabrasives.com
Visit
www.rsleads.com/709mn-204 for more information
What do you think?
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www.ModernApplicationsNews.com or e-mail the editor at
pnofel@nelsonpub.com.