LH硬质合金 Maximizes Lights-out Operation and Increases Productivity with Addition of Mitsubishi 电火花s
LH硬质合金, a global leader in the design and manufacturing of precision carbide progressive lamination tooling for industrial, 汽车, 设备, and electric motor manufacturers, was able to expand lights-out operation and increase throughput after replacing outdated equipment with four Mitsubishi wire 电火花s.
Located in Fort Wayne, Ind., LH硬质合金 was founded by Leon Habegger 55 years ago as a manufacturer of carbide precision dies. It is now one of four divisions of the family-run LH Industries, which has grown into a team of 350 employees that designs and manufactures progressive stamping dies, precision-stamped products, industrial control systems, and medical devices. LH Industries holds more than 50 patents for products and processes associated with precision manufacturing of progressive stamping dies and industrial control systems.
LH Industries Department Supervisor Jason Stuller, who has been with the company for 25 years, said LH硬质合金 bought four Mitsubishi 电火花s (three MV2400Rs,一个 MV1200R) to replace 电火花s made by another manufacturer.
“The Mitsubishis have allowed us to expand our capabilities while running unmanned,” Stuller说. “Because of the ease of programming the Mitsubishi 电火花s and the ability to change programs on the fly, we have been able to maximize productivity when we don’t have
一个操作员.”
The flexibility of the Mitsubishi controller makes it easier to combine multiple programs into one for higher efficiency, 他说.
“For a greater unmanned run time, we may retain slugs on multiple parts and then go back and finish
those separately,” 他说. “The controller continues to amaze us on a daily basis.”
With the shift to thinner materials for electric motor carbide progressive stamping, tolerances have become progressively tighter, Stuller说.
“The Mitsubishi machines have allowed us to deliver a higher degree of accuracy, 可重复性, and throughput that we were not able
to achieve with our old equipment,” 他说.
bt365体育娱乐 worked with LH硬质合金 to connect the new 电火花s to one central chiller instead of having the typical stand-alone chiller on each machine.
“We are an outlier because we run a large central chiller that goes to a remote chiller,” 他说. “This presented challenges, but bt365体育娱乐 made it happen. They were more than happy to accommodate what we needed.”
While LH硬质合金 has a team of experienced operators, that may not always be the case—meaning ease of use is important.
“The machines are so intuitive that within the first week we were not only making parts, but we were also very confident in the process. Getting up and running that quickly was impressive. Our experience with bt365体育娱乐 has been extremely positive. One of our main concerns with any machine tool is service and support. bt365体育娱乐 has excelled at this…we have been able to jointly overcome any obstacles that we have encountered along the way.”