‘Less is more’ does not necessarily apply at Werhand in Neuwied, as the company is organised in line with customer wishes. Master mechanic Jörg Hörter has nevertheless been successful at creating more with less. He has significantly reduced the number of tools used for everything from coarse grinding to polishing in order to save time and money.

Weld seam preparation and post-processing, and work on surfaces from coarse grinding to polishing, are the focal points of processes in the workshop.
“We grind a lot and underwent a complete realignment in that area five years ago,” states Hörter. “We simply used too many tools. As a result, our deployment, procurement and warehousing processes were complex and time-consuming.”

Together with the regional Pferd representative, the company streamlined its processes, moving from grinding wheels and flap discs to the Pferd CombiClick system.
“Back then, we usually began processing with the grinding wheel,” explains Hörter. “Next, we removed the grinding wheel from the angle grinder and clamped on a flap disc, before removing the flap disc and putting on a Velcro backing pad. And then we had two additional operations with fleece discs featuring different abrasive grains.”

He adds: “Today, we clamp the CombiClick backing pad to the angle grinder, use the CO ceramic oxide grain fibre disc in grit size 120, and then the Polivlies grinding disc – without having to remove the CombiClick backing pad. Job done.”

With the change, Hörter says the company is not only able to save on many tools, but save the time related to tool changeover.
“Even if a changeover only takes 20 seconds – in my workshop there are 15 people, eight of whom regularly work with the angle grinder. Changeover time quickly adds up over days, weeks, months and years.”

For further information
www.pferd.com

DMG Mori will continue its support for Formula One team Red Bull Racing Honda. The relationship has been in place since 2004, with the machine tool supplier becoming an Innovation Partner in 2012. There are currently more than 20 DMG Mori machines, predominantly five-axis machining centres, at the Formula One team’s manufacturing facility in Milton Keynes. Another large five-axis machine, a DMU 210P with 2100 x 2100 x 1250 mm axis travels, is due for delivery later this year.
With Red Bull Racing Honda’s manufacturing plant working close to 24/7 and dealing with an extensive range of materials and exacting delivery times, the requirement for robust and reliable machine tools is paramount. The five-axis machines provided by DMG Mori play an important role in the efficient and accurate machining necessary to meet the high demands of Formula One.

For further information www.dmgmori.com

Hofmann & Vratny is introducing its new EXN1 series for machining aluminium, plastics and other non-ferrous metals. ‘EX’ stands for expert, the company’s highest quality level, while ‘N’ is the ISO code for non-ferrous materials and ‘1’ stands for version 1.0.

In addition to extensive tests in the company’s own research and development department, wide ranging field tests have confirmed the performance of the EXN1 series, supported by positive feedback from enthusiastic customers in sectors such as food, automotive and aerospace.

H&V’s test phase showed that it is possible to reduce production times significantly by switching to the EXN1 series. With the use of the new Performmaker (end mill), one customer was able to reduce machining time per component by more than 50 % thanks to the application of larger depths of cut and higher feed rates.

During the development of the new series, H&V’s focus was on increasing tool life, surface quality and process reliability. The milling cutters feature a special cutting-edge preparation with defined edge rounding that ensures homogeneous cutting edges throughout, even cutting force distribution and – as a result – reduced wear. The manufacturing tolerances for radius and concentricity are now 0.003 to 0.005 mm, ensuring the best possible level of accuracy.

New high-performance geometry with refined grinding pattern and tuned micro cutting edge ensures a sharp cut and high chip removal. Furthermore, the milling cutters take advantage of a fine-grain substrate specially designed for machining non-ferrous materials. This interaction of geometry and substrate results in high performance, reports H&V.

The portfolio includes 35 article groups (645 individual articles) consisting of end mills, roughing mills, finishing mills, trochoidal mills, single-flute mills, torus mills, full radius mills and micro-milling cutters with diameters ranging from 0.1 to 20 mm.

For further information
www.hofmann-vratny.de/en

By monitoring the vibration of tooling and machinery set ups, manufacturers can avoid unexpected machining trouble and improve accuracy and output quality. To achieve this outcome, vibration analysis has four key principles – time domain, frequency domain, joint domain and modal analysis – each of which provides specific information on the working conditions and features of the vibrating part.

Time domain, for instance, measures the amplitude of a vibration signal. Alone, this can make it difficult to identify where the amplitudes happen and, subsequently, isolate and calibrate machines appropriately. This is where frequency domain comes in, looking at each of these signals – or waves – at set points to understand how its amplitude changes at distinct frequencies. As many vibration-related challenges occur at specific frequencies, its cause can be better identified based on variations in amplitude at certain frequencies, making these two principles of vibration analysis essential – both of which are paired through the third principle, joint domain.

Finally, modal analysis takes into account the natural frequencies of vibration based on the structural materials of the set up, the machine and the workpiece.

Now, with MSC MillMax – the milling parameter selection tool from MSC – it is possible to measure vibration frequencies and optimise setups in a matter of minutes. By equipping operators with accurate insight, machine shops can reduce set up and cycle times, enhance efficiency and elevate output quality.

MSC MillMax measures the frequency of each tool and, in almost real-time, displays the results on a digital dashboard which calculates the precise, stable speed, feed rate and width and depth of cut to maximise performance. Alongside this, the system determines the best speeds for the machine shop’s required levels of surface finish and accuracy.

For further information
www.mscdirect.co.uk/MSCMillMax

The latest Contract Manufacturing Index (CMI) for the second quarter of 2021 showed a 57% increase on the same quarter last year. Although slightly down (-8%) on Q1 2021, the month of June recorded the highest market figures since August last year. Indeed, at the end of June, the market was some 10% higher than in the quarter preceding the pandemic. This strong growth has continued into July but the market is still very sensitive to uncertainty in material supplies, transport shortages and the number of people having to self-isolate due to the Covid-19 ‘pingdemic’.

Sourcing specialist Qimtek produces the CMI, which reflects the total purchasing budget for outsourced manufacturing of companies looking to place business in any given month. This represents a sample of over 4000 companies that could be placing business. Together, these companies have a purchasing budget of more than £3.4bn and a base of over 7000 suppliers.

For further information www.qimtek.co.uk