NAMCO was founded in 1976 to serve the growing demand for precision machine components, custom gears and transmission parts. With locations in Edmonton, Canada, and Chardon, Ohio, the company employs more than 75 skilled workers who manufacture products for customers in the paper, oil and gas, mining, and other industries. Since 2019, NAMCO has invested in 15 CNC machines from DMG Mori, including a DMC 125 FD duoBLOCK for gear milling with gearMILL software and two Taiyo Koki machines for grinding.

“Thanks to gearMILL gear-cutting software, we can now manufacture our special solutions quickly and, above all, easily,” states Bernard Vukovic, managing director NAMCO Machine & Gear Works. “Furthermore, thanks to the mill-turn technology on the DMC 125 FD duoBLOCK, we achieve high precision in one clamping.”

To be competitive on the production side, NAMCO relies on CNC machine tool technology from DMG Mori. Vukovic explains the high investment volume in the past three years with the need to expand production capability: “On one hand, we need innovative machining technologies to manufacture efficiently and in the required quality, and on the other hand, it was a matter of increasing capacity.”

The versatility of DMG Mori machines is reflected in one of NAMCO’s core areas, gear cutting. Here, the team relies on a DMC 125 FD duoBLOCK with the exclusive DMG Mori gearMILL gear-cutting software. The mill-turn centre with pallet changer allows set-up to take place during machining and is designed for high-precision complete machining of rotationally symmetrical components up to 1250 mm in diameter – including five-axis milling and turning. Since everything is done in one set-up, errors due to manual re-clamping operations are eliminated.

For further information
www.dmgmori.com

The use of a Starrag twin-pallet, five-axis STC machining centre is not only enabling Switzerland-based punching technology specialist Berhalter AG to “significantly reduce” machining costs by enabling the machine to be fed with long-running five-axis parts or multiple-loaded work, but the machine’s extensive axes travels and capabilities are also allowing the company to out-compete local competitors by processing extra-large components for its aerospace customers.

It was, in fact, the machining of aerospace parts that initially led the company to the re-engineered Starrag STC 1250, which with X, Y and Z-axis travels of 2200 x 1600 x 2100 mm and a 240-tool tower magazine, arrived in 2020 for processing larger parts.

Starrag developed its STC machines for the economical processing of demanding aerospace structural components, multi-blades and casings with long cycle times. The machines’ static and dynamic properties, as well as their tried-and-tested swivel head, are said to set the benchmark for simultaneous five-axis, heavy-duty cutting. However, such demands are not just a necessity for the aviation and energy production industries, as Berhalter also uses its STC 1250 for challenging machine and pump parts made from stainless steel, for example, which require high stability for the accurate production of large holes. Indeed, a positioning accuracy to 0.01 mm is consistently achieved along the STC’s full travel range. In addition, the option of multiple clamping for small parts adds another level of flexibility.

The five-axis capability of the Starrag machine also put it ahead of the large machining centre previously used by Berhalter. In addition to its three dynamic linear axes, the CNC rotary table acts as the fourth simultaneous axis; it has a high-torque, a high-damping drive and can be clamped hydraulically.

For further information
www.starrag.com