Rick Hinderer Knives (Shreve, OH) is well known within

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1 s SHOP SOLUTIONS Problem Solving on the Shop Floor CAD/CAM Software Crafts Fine Edge Custom Knives Rick Hinderer Knives (Shreve, OH) is well known within military and law enforcement circles for its customdesigned and expertly crafted knives. The company began 29 years ago as a one-man operation (Rick Hinderer) that Read more, P46 Hinderer s basic XM18 folding knife is made from titanium and stainless steel and currently sells for $425 vs. $ years ago. Investing in Mastercam has raised profit on the back end. Medical Device Shop Thrives with Multitasking C onstant innovation is the life force behind business success at Conmed Orthopedics in Largo, FL. The company specializes in medical devices for orthopedic, arthroscopic, and laparoscopic surgery. Read more, P49 Conmed produces medical devices for many areas of minimally invasive surgery from gynecology and general surgery to products for shoulder, knee, and hip. Mobile Robots Increase Worker Productivity, Safety mobile fleet of Universal Robots now receives daily work A orders to solve ever-changing tasks for high-mix/lowvolume electronics manufacturer Scott Fetzer Electrical Group (SFEG; Fairview, TN). Read more, P52 Director of operations, Matthew Bush, programs Waldo, the UR5 robot from Universal Robots for new tasks at Scott Fetzer Electrical Group. March 2016 AdvancedManufacturing.org 45

2 Continued from P45 fashioned knives by hand from horseshoes in a shop located within a chicken coop on the family farm. Before long, age would streamline the process further and allow him to chine, Hinderer realized that a CAD/CAM software pack- Hinderer s reputation as a skilled designer and producer of design and manufacture his knives more uniformly, ensuring custom knives grew. After purchasing his first CNC ma- better quality. SMARTER WORKHOLDING PRECISION S PERFECT PAIR Precision shaft grinding applications demand attention to detail. Our AcuGrind Air Chucks deliver single-micron repeatability part after part. Pair them with our easily adjustable SRG Grinding Steady Rests, and you ll have a setup capable of ultra-high precision, worry free grinding. For maximum efficiency, SMW s unique quick reset feature easily resets back to zero in seconds with consistent and predictable repeatability. At SMW Autoblok, we have dozens of ways for you to hold workpieces better, stronger and smarter. Call or visit our website to learn more. At the same time, Hinderer was launching his own business. He was also designing knives for a well-established knife manufacturer and working within Mastercam CAD/CAM software by CNC Software Inc. (Tolland, CT). After trying out a few entry-level packages in his own shop, and experiencing frustration at their design-to-manufacture limitations, Hinderer invested in a seat of Mastercam. Establishing optimal cycle times wasn t really the reason I chose Mastercam. I found that no matter how many design ideas I might have in my head, I needed to be able to put them in a format that we could manufacture from. The entry-level software we were working with did not have the tools to allow me to figure that out before the part was sent to the machine. Mastercam makes it easier to do that, Hinderer said. Ease of use was also important to this selftaught CNC knife manufacturer. I m not a trained machinist, so when I started programming parts and discovering what Mastercam offered, I found that I could try different things to produce more accurate parts and higher quality knives. While Hinderer is designing his knives, he can also program the part for production. If something looks off, he can change the parameters on each toolpath with a few clicks of the mouse. While he is quick to point out that he will never sacrifice quality to boost productivity, it does, in fact, allow Hinderer to optimize quality, material removal, and reduce tool wear simultaneously. Hinderer has become a big fan of the roughing toolpaths incorporating Mastercam s Dynamic Motion technology 46 AdvancedManufacturing.org March 2016

3 because it automatically adjusts tool motions according to conditions ahead of the tool to maintain a constant chip load. This allows him to maintain optimally high material removal rates without the risk of burying the tool. He also said that these tool motions seem to be more efficient cleaning up one area of the part before they move to another and minimizing air cutting time. As for cutting tool costs, Hinderer said, I know that my cutting tool costs have gone down. It is strange because production has gone up quite a bit. So whatever my guys are doing, they are doing it right. Hinderer Knives produces all of its knife components at its Shreve, OH location. There are approximately 30 parts in each knife, depending on which variation of the basic model is being manufactured. According to Hinderer, each and every one of those components must be designed and manufactured to exact specifications to ensure accuracy of the part and knife operation. From within the Mastercam CAD/CAM programming environment, Rick Hinderer has been able to program his equipment and indulge his creative side, resulting in the steady growth of his customer base. We make 100% of the parts, said Hinderer. That way I can control the quality. If I contract out, I can tell someone Grinding Ceramic? You re going to need a STAR FILTER Eriez STAR FILTER, a permanent media filtration system, offers superior performance on precision machining and grinding applications. Filtration to 1 micron, up to 10,000 GPM Star Filter See how it works! Visit HydroFlow.Eriez.com or call AdvancedManufacturing.org March 2016

4 plus or minus a half thousandth of an inch, but when you receive 4000 parts are you really going to get that? The other reason Hinderer produces everything in-house is because it affords him the freedom to design his own parts rather than being boxed in by equipment limitations of contract manufacturers. Further, a nice byproduct of having the option to do everything in-house is being able to generate a prototype in days rather than weeks. Another is being able to dive in to critical areas of the part and refine its dimensions to improve knife performance. He cited the pocketknife s locking mechanism as an example. If it is off even a little bit, the knife lock can fail. Hinderer has developed several mechanism designs that incorporate small pockets in the blade to improve locking performance. Of course, these add more machining time to the process, but cycle times aren t Hinderer s highest concern. He is most focused on creating high-quality knives. We are constantly optimizing the programs. We will never sacrifice quality for cycle time. We have certain parameters that we stay within for surface finish and, if we need to slow the machine down, that s what we will do, said Hinderer. Modifying the existing program to improve quality can be done quickly and easily in Mastercam because it merely involves finding the critical operations on the part in each toolpath and adjusting them as necessary. Hinderer Knives has grown from a one-man operation in a chicken coop to a 14,000 ft 2 (1300 m 2 ) shop with 15 employees. The popularity of one of our products, the XM18 folding knife, has brought us here. We have added five new machining centers to the production line and we marvel that we are still making the same knife, Hinderer said. Now with 10 CNC machines, Hinderer wants others in the shop to become proficient Mastercam programmers. With this in mind, his Mastercam Reseller, FASTech Inc. (Findlay, OH) has become an important resource. A number of operators and machinists in the shop have attended Mastercam training classes at FASTech and the Reseller is available by phone and the Internet to provide advice and programming assistance to everyone on an as-need basis. Hinderer has been pleased with the result so far. They are getting up to speed with it really well. They have only worked with Mastercam, but knowing what my own learning curve was, they would probably be lost in other software programs. FASTech will also play a part in helping the company integrate Mastercam with the Citizen Swiss and the OMAX waterjet machines in his shop. Mastercam plays a significant role in Hinderer Knife s ongoing success. The company s basic XM18 folding knife, made from titanium and stainless steel, currently sells for $425. Ten years ago it sold for $390. By investing in Mastercam, we were able to raise our profit on the back end rather than raising prices much. You don t need to grow your profit by raising the price, he said. From within a single programming environment Hinderer has been able to indulge his creative side, program his equipment, and grow his customer base. For more information from Mastercam/CNC Software Inc., go to or phone Continued from P45 Medical Device Shop Thrives with Multitasking Constant innovation is the life force behind business success at Conmed Orthopedics in Largo, FL. The company specializes in medical devices for orthopedic, arthroscopic, and laparoscopic surgery. Conmed Largo currently manufactures about 4300 different part catalog numbers and introduces many innovative new products each and every year. Competition is tough, and Conmed must continuously boost efficiency and shorten product development lead times to get its innovations to market as quickly as possible. Conmed produces both disposable and reusable surgical instruments. Many are medical hand tools, but the company also produces pneumatic and battery-operated power hand tools, as well as the implants that are put into the body using those hand tools and other instruments. The company develops products for many areas of minimally invasive surgery from gynecology and general surgery to products for shoulder, knee, and hip. Aluminum makes up about 40% of the parts the shop machines, stainless steel another 40% and brass and titanium the remaining parts. Conmed makes implantable anchors from materials that include a poly lactate acid material the body absorbs after a certain amount of time, PEEK plastic, and special grades of titanium. All products are manufactured utilizing LeanSigma methodologies, and Conmed precision machining typically holds machined part tolerances of ±0.0005" (0.013 mm). In the past, the company organized its shop floor into dedicated production departments based on single machining operations, e.g. milling, turning, grinding etc. But such March 2016 AdvancedManufacturing.org 49

5 part processing was slow in terms of response time and involved a lot of WIP, as well as significant amounts of required inventory. So to improve operational efficiencies and boost production responsiveness, Conmed as part of its lean manufacturing initiative added new advanced machine tool technology and transitioned to extremely flexible precision machining flow cells. Conmed precision machining has 30 flow cells, each of which it describes as a one-person autonomous machine shop. Components enter the cells as raw material and exit as completely finished parts ready for their particular surgical device assembly. Not only do the cells perform all Conmed s disposable and reusable surgical instruments as well as implants are precision machined on Mazak multitasking production flow cells which machining operations, but also secondary processes such as deburring, cleaning, and honing the company regards as one-person autonomous machine shops. and any others that are required are performed. including the shop s two newest cells. One of which has been Many of Conmed s precision machining flow cells hinge designated as a developmental machining cell. At the heart on multitasking machines from Mazak Corp. (Florence, KY), of Conmed s developmental cell, or rather its one-machine prototyping cell is a Mazak Integrex i-100s multitasking machine. It features twin turning spindles and a 12,000-rpm milling spindle with B-axis capability, in addition to a 72-position tool magazine. The second cell incorporates two Mazak machines an Integrex 200SY HAIMER multitasking machine with twin spindles : and B axis and a Vertical Center Nexus (VCN) 410A vertical machining center Highest productivity and that provides Conmed fast, efficient security in the hardest setups and ample worktable space for of materials Out of various part fixturing, including rotary this world milling. indexing units. William Mazurek, Conmed director of continuous improvement, said leveraging the precision machining flow cell methodology together with our rapid developmental cell we continue to maximize our customer as well as our business responsiveness. The precision machining factory operates three shifts, five days a week, so most of its cells Tooling Technology the Mazaks basically run 24/7. Shrinking Technology Balancing Technology Measuring Instruments Our goal is to achieve the highest levels of equipment utilization we Haimer USA, LLC 134 E. Hill Street Villa Park, IL Phone: haimer@haimer-usa.com can. We focus on waste elimination, 50 AdvancedManufacturing.org March 2016

6 faster setups/changeovers and less operator intervention. And multitasking capability gained from our Mazaks helps us accomplish all these objectives. Plus, the machines are extremely accurate, provide more part processing flexibility, and fit well with our production flow cell concept, Mazurek said. Once Conmed models a new product in CAD and proves out feasibility, that product segues to the design phase and into a developmental cell. These cells determine manufacturability and ensure a smooth transition of a new product and its components into full production. Conmed runs parts in developmental cells until the product matures, after which the product s components will move to production flow cells to step up throughput and meet the growing market demand. Developmental machining cells get us to market with new products as quickly as possible, while flow cells provide speed and efficiency once those products are in full production, said Rob Kalo, factory manager and chief engineer. During product development, we generate a lot of iterations to achieve optimum designs, and using our dedicated development cell we provide flexibility and speed. Speed is critical, and the Mazak Integrex i-100s developmental cell provides that by allowing us to process very complex components on one machine and in single setups. Our goal is to keep job changeovers in our cells to a minimum, said Kalo. Non-cut times are just as, if not more, critical to us than part machining times. We constantly evaluate exactly how long machines sit idle because the longer they do the more our efficiency suffers. Conmed runs its most recent Mazak production flow cell in two-shift operations. Parts enter the cell as raw material, go from the Mazak Integrex 200SY multitasking machine to the three-axis VCN 410A, then to EDM and honing machines, if needed, and finally to secondary operations such as tumbling surface finishing, washing, and anodizing. All gaging, measuring, and inspection are also done within the cell. YuMi. Creating an automated future together. You and me. March 2016 AdvancedManufacturing.org 51

7 The cell processes a variety of parts, all of which are aluminum. On average, about nine different jobs run through the cell, and job changeovers typically can occur multiple times within the same day to every three or four days depending on business needs. According to Mike McCool, senior manufacturing engineer, production flow cells let them divide part processing among multiple machines that perform the various required machining operations simultaneously. This, he said, makes for faster throughput, and multitasking machines contribute further to that output by providing shorter overall part-machining cycle times. Companywide, Conmed employs a total of 3600 people, and 1100 of those work at the Largo, FL, facility. In the past, the company had one factory and one plant manager but now has nine of what it calls focused factories at the Largo location. Largo precision machining has 18 Mazaks currently being utilized in its cellular manufacturing arrangement. We really benefit from the Mazak controls, said Kalo. With both new and many vintages of Mazaks in our facility, the common control platform is such that our machinists can move from one machine to the next and seamlessly run each of them. Our operators are not dedicated to one piece of equipment, so the control commonality helps us very much in cross training our people. For more information from Mazak Corp., go to or phone Continued from P45 Mobile Robots Increase Worker Productivity, Safety mobile fleet of Universal Robots A now receives daily work orders to solve ever-changing tasks for high-mix/ low-volume electronics manufacturer 52 AdvancedManufacturing.org March 2016

8 Scott Fetzer Electrical Group (SFEG; Fairview, TN). Supplied by Universal Robots USA Inc. (East Setauket, NY; Odense, Denmark), the collaborative UR robots have optimized production by 20%, taking over monotonous and potentially hazardous tasks from employees now reallocated to more rewarding jobs. SFEG was formed in 2010 to bring together the capabilities of three Scott Fetzer Company businesses: France Power Solutions, Northland Motor Technology, and Kingston Products. Located on the outskirts of Nashville, the company designs and manufactures electrical power products, including transformers, power supplies, motion controls, and drive systems. When the first UR5 robot arrived at SFEG, it was quickly named Waldo inspired by the popular Where s Waldo books featuring a friendly fellow that keeps appearing in new places among crowds of people. One day, Waldo would be bending sheetmetal, the next day he would be performing pick-and-place tasks, and the third day we would take him to Manufacturing Day at the local high school, said Matthew Bush, director of operations at SFEG, a manufacturer of a wide range of electrical motors and components. The UR robots are a new type of robot classified as collaborative due to their interactive design. Collaborative robots are easy to set up for a new task and feature built-in safety systems that enable the robot arm to automatically stop operating if it encounters objects or people in its route. Bush came across this new automation solution as he was looking for ways to make SFEG more competitive on the global scale, while taking more advantage of existing machinery. One of our biggest challenges as a high-mix/low-volume producer is that most of our lines don t run all the time. Trying to find a way to put robots on the line in the traditional sense was a very big challenge, said Bush. We wanted to build a mobile, flexible robot force, and the only way we would accomplish this was with a collaborative robot. We only saw a couple of offerings and the Continued on P99 High Performance, Precision and Productivity High Performance Drills High Performance End Mills High Performance End Mills Getting the best quality, performance and cost effectiveness from your production machinery is not just about cutting faster, but machining smarter. Whichever M.A. Ford tooling option you choose, you can be confident that our innovative cutting tool technologies and over 95 years of experience will optimize your manufacturing processes and productivity opening up new potential for improvements in machining time, quality and finish. To learn more and experience the M.A. Ford advantage for yourself, contact us now. Call or sales@maford.com March 2016 AdvancedManufacturing.org 53

9 Continued from P53 UR robot was the only robot that we thought could do the In the past, employees would make up a big batch of job. It s got the speed and precision of a standard industrial robot with the ability to move around and work next to with two-part epoxy and send them down the curing line. circuit boards and would stand there and manually fill them humans, said Bush. Today, the robot does that all day long enabling us to go to a SFEG placed the UR robots on pedestals with wheels one-piece flow. Safety hazards are now avoided on the motor field line by having a UR robot handle the wire cutting. and is now building the fleet of mobile UR robots deployed throughout the sheet metal department. The robots are being It s a potential carpal tunnel syndrome application cutting integrated into the entire production cycle from cutting the about 16,000 wires a day by hand. So we thought that was a initial blank on the blanking press to forming, folding and final great place to put robots let them get carpal tunnel! assembly of the electrical components. Additional robots are We re seeing about 1 to 1 movement of people from planned to help tend the turret presses and press brakes. where we put in a robot that allows us to move a person General Manager Rob Goldiez said, We re seeing about a to another area of the business. We have 14 robots from 20% increase having a pace setter with the Universal Robots Universal Robots right now and as we have all those working hand in hand with our people. The UR robots working the motor field line are a UR5 and a UR10 robot named employees, said Goldiez. implemented, we expect to be able to reposition 14 after their payload in kilos. The robots all feature 0.1-mm repeatability and span in reach from 19.7 to 51.2" ( mm). The UR5 is placed at the end of the line right next to an employee that hands the robot a motor field part. The UR5 picks up the part, puts it in a holder, picks up a wire cutter to trim the wires, and then places the part for the UR10 robot to pick up and place on a conveyor for final assembly. We can interlock multiple robots together and read through Modbus the TCP connections and robot status. We can also pass information along to other software packages, and collect data. It opens up a lot of doors to do a lot of things we re just now beginning to look at, said principal engineer Jamie Cook. Thelma & Louise UR5 and UR10 robots move motor field parts through a A UR robot comes with a touch screen pendant that all programming is done through. Direct- wire cutting application and onto a packaging conveyor for final assembly working in tandem with their SFEG human colleagues. ing the robot arm can be done either through arrow keys on the screen, or by simply grabbing the robot arm One of the next robot tasks currently being developed at and teaching it the desired moves between waypoints. That SFEG is putting c-clips on armatures. At the varnish oven, eliminated the structured text programming Cook usually had two UR10s will be loading and unloading baskets with motors. One UR10 is already deployed at the end of the varnish to code when working with traditional robots. It was really easy to learn and it went much smoother conveyor, working as a simple transfer station, moving baskets between lines. than I anticipated. I would say it took a third to half of the implementation time out of it based on previous experiences We re looking at everything we re designing now new to I ve had, Cook said. make sure we can assemble it with a robot. If we can t put As SFEG looked for tasks to automate, eliminating monotonous and potentially dangerous tasks was the number ing board and try again. that together with a robot, we ve got to go back to the draw- one priority. Another task now handled by the mobile UR For more information from Universal Robots USA Inc., go robot fleet is filling epoxy into circuit boards. to or phone March 2016 AdvancedManufacturing.org 99