Takumi takes off with hyperMILL

A name established from the Japanese term for craftsman or artisan, ‘Takumi’ Precision Engineering has been delivering both craft and artisanship to the shores of Ireland for over 20 years.

The Limerick-based company has invested heavily in recent years with a new factory expansion that has taken floor space to 50,000 sq ft, and over €5m invested in new machine tools and CAM software to further extend its market position on the Emerald Isle.
Takumi Precision is a prominent figure in the medical device, pharmaceutical, aerospace and precision engineering sectors in Ireland. The company manufactures orthopaedic implants and instruments, cardiovascular assembly aids, medical grade rasps, balloon moulds, and delivery system components, as well as aluminium wing and fuselage components for the aero industry, and electrical, electronic, mechanical and optical engineering parts for the precision machining sector.
Down the years, Takumi has invested in turning centres from Tornos, Doosan and Miyano with three- and five-axis machining centres from Doosan, Spinner and, most recently, Matsuura adding to the plant list. One of the company’s core investments has been hyperMILL CAM software from Open Mind Technologies, which was driven by the onset of barrel tool technology, an influx of five-axis machines and challenges with previous CAM systems.
Commenting on the changes at Takumi, managing director Gerry Reynolds says: “Only five years ago, 90% of our work was in the medical industry, with the remaining work being across a number of sectors, including the aerospace market. We had an opportunity to enter the aerospace segment in a more positive way, increasing volumes from 1 to 3-offs, to continuous batches of 10-15-off, on the Airbus A220, previously known as the Bombardier C-Series. We had to invest in five-axis technology to accommodate the ramping-up of this complex aerospace work, so we bought 13 five-axis machines in the past five years.”

The investment has paid dividends, with aerospace work increasing from 5% of turnover to almost 60% in less than five years. However, this success is not to the detriment of the medical business, as Reynolds continues: “Our business has doubled in size over the past three years due to the increased aerospace work, but the medical sector remains crucial to Takumi. Medical components are now 40% of our business; the volume of work has not reduced, it just hasn’t grown at the level of the aerospace work. We now have 87 staff and are targeting a monthly turnover of €1m.
“Around 10 years ago, I didn’t understand CAM and would have argued against it,” he adds. “However, there was a necessity for CAM to run our machines and at the time I called it ‘finger CAM‘, as we were programming at the machine. We progressed to a more comprehensive CAM system and eventually installed eight seats. However, a visit to the AMRC in Sheffield introduced us to Ceratizit’s barrel tools and Open Mind’s hyperMILL CAM system, which changed the game.”
After investing heavily in CAM software, Reynolds was naturally apprehensive at the prospect of changing software again.
“Over the past 5-6 years, we’d spent a lot on CAM packages and what we had, worked relatively well, but there were a few issues with processing speed, occasional crashes and some feature limitations,” he says. “It was the barrel-tool machining features within the hyperMILL MAXX High Performance Strategy that appealed to me, but I wanted my team to take the lead, as they would be the ones using the software.
“The team did their due diligence, taking in hyperMILL demos and then asking our existing CAM vendor if the barrel-tool feature and the mirroring package were available,” adds Reynolds. “Our CAM supplier and other vendors all said ‘it’s on its way’ or ‘it’s in development’ regarding more than just these two features in hyperMILL. That told us all we needed to know about the various vendors in the market, but it told us a lot more about hyperMILL. They are clearly streets ahead of the other CAM developers. We have rapidly moved to hyperMILL; we bought our first seat 18 months ago and now have six seats. Our previous CAM system is currently being phased out.”
Primarily, the reason Takumi Precision invested in hyperMILL was the potential of barrel tools to significantly improve productivity.
Commenting on this capability, Reynolds says: “The hyperMILL MAXX Machining High Performance Package and the respective barrel tools with their innovative geometry allow us to step-down 5 to 10 mm, as opposed to 0.4 to 0.8 mm, when finishing pockets, walls or profiling features. This has instantly reduced finishing cycles by at least 70%, giving us a minimum overall cycle time improvement of 30% on every component.”
However, the benefit is not just the cycle time improvement.

“We’ve historically had a number of staff undertaking finish-polishing of parts to ensure our surface finishes exceed customer expectations,” he says. “Despite the increased speed and step-over rate with hyperMILL MAXX High Performance Machining, the surface finishes are much better than before. This is because the barrel tool has a higher engagement rate that keeps the tool in constant contact with the workpiece.”
Another feature that persuaded Takumi Precision to invest in Open Mind CAM software was the mirroring function, as Reynolds explains: “In the aerospace industry, almost everything is manufactured with a left- and right-hand component. The mirroring feature in hyperMILL is remarkably comprehensive and, with the touch of a button, we’re reducing our programming times on most components by 50%. We have eight programming staff and the mirroring feature in hyperMILL is effectively doubling the productivity of this team.”
Although hyperMILL has reduced cycle times on the shop floor by over 20% and reduced programming times by upwards of 50% in the office, the benefits reach much further.
“Open Mind’s hyperMILL is much faster than previous CAM systems and it handles ‘big data’ much better than we’ve previously witnessed,” states Reynolds. “This has eliminated unforeseen PC crashes and massively improved the reliability, processing and delivery of our data to the
shop floor. Furthermore, Open Mind’s hyperCAD, which is integrated into hyperMILL, is an excellent platform that has eliminated our reliance on CAD packages such as Inventor. We can now expedite jobs through hyperCAD to hyperMILL with ease.”
For further information www.openmind-tech.com

LVD adds to electric series

LVD has added the Dyna-Press 40/15 Pro to its Dyna-Press Series of high-speed electric-drive press brakes.

The 40-tonne press brake features a 1500 mm working length and a five-axis backgauge, and can bend at speeds of up to 25 mm/sec to generate more parts per hour at a lower cost per part. Dyna-Press 40/15 Pro can be combined with an industrial robot to create a compact, high-speed bending cell (Dyna-Cell) for automated bending operations.
The Dyna-Press electric ram offers a smooth transition from approach to working speed and minimises power consumption through the use of an optimal power to inertia motor ratio. Of note, the coupling between the ram and the servomotors is made using two heavy-duty ball screws to distribute force and tonnage evenly over the working length. As a result, the press brake provides fast, energy-efficient operation across a
range of bending jobs.
Dyna-Press 40/15 Pro is equipped with a five-axis backgauge which provides consistent and repeatable accuracy. The press brake uses vertical removal type tooling for the simple and quick changeovers, even of heavy tools.
LVD ensures a comfortable and safety-conscious environment for the operator. Like other Dyna-Press models, the newest Dyna-Press can be operated in a seated or standing position. The IRIS Lazer Safe guarding system provides an added measure of security.
Dyna-Press 40/15 Pro is easy to operate with minimal training. The 15” Touch-B touchscreen control features an intuitive graphical display and offers additional functionality by enabling the operator to create and simulate 3D designs at the control. Importantly, the controller is compatible with LVD’s CAM software, CADMAN-B.
Dyna-Press 40/15 Pro features a 400 mm opening height and a 200 mm stroke.
For further information www.lvdgroup.com

Tube processing event nears

BLM Group has announced dates for its in-house INTUBE Expo event, which brings together the wide range of tube and flat sheet processing from across the group’s diverse portfolio. The event will take place at the Adige and Adige SYS facilities in Levico Terme, Italy, and run from 30 September to 12 October.

INTUBE 19 will highlight how BLM Group machines have strong environmental credentials. The event will also emphasise the power behind the BLM Group and how it develops long-term partnerships with customers to ensure they are maximising their tube and sheet processing capabilities.
In terms of manufacturing performance, attention will fall on three key machine groups: the Lasertube LT7 fibre-laser processing machine for tubes and profiles; the latest development of the LT-Free series of machines capable of simultaneous five-axis laser cutting of tubes and complex shape components; and tube-bending systems such as the E-Turn CNC mandrel tube benders for pipes and profiles, along with the first public exhibition of the new DH4010VGP twin-turret, twin-head, 3D wire-bending machine.
“These three machine systems are a small sample of the technology that will be on show at INTUBE19,” says Jon Curtis, sales director at BLM Group UK Ltd. “Visitors will see examples of every machine in the BLM Group series of products. Technology will range from sawing, end forming, and all-electric tube and wire bending, through to fibre-laser processing of tube and sheet, as well as process management software, such as BLM’s VGP3D 3D programming software.”
For further information www.blmgroup.com

XYZ names service manager

Peter Falkner has been recruited by XYZ Machine Tools to take on the role of service manager, with a target to streamline service activities and make them more accessible and visible to customers.

The move comes after the company achieved a record turnover in its 2018/19 financial year, which has increased demand on XYZ’s service team due to the number of machines being commissioned.
Joining from the power generation sector, Falkner worked in service orientated engineering/project management roles for a business that generated around 75% of its £250 million turnover from service support. At XYZ he has been tasked with developing a more proactive approach to service, with increased customer interaction. An online portal and app-based user interface form part of that plan.
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

UMEX success story continues

After the grand success of last year’s show, the 14th edition of UMEX is set to get underway at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai, India on 20-22 September.

Some 468 exhibitors participated at UMEX 2018 and its co-located events, attracting some 11,346 focused business visitors from 16 countries. As always, the show is organised in co-operation with MTI magazine.
UMEX is thought to be the only event of its kind in Asia which focuses specifically on pre-owned industrial machinery, and this year will be co-located with five other exhibitions centring on different industry segments, helping to draw even more visitors to the venue. Metalworking and metal-forming machine tools, automation and associated equipment will be particularly prominent at show. At UMEX,
MTI’s friendly team will be busy handing out copies of its show issue, highlighting the industry’s best way of buying and selling machine tools.
For further information www.umexonline.com