Gear Production
Issue link: http://gear.epubxp.com/i/511821
14—GEAR Production Supplement machining solution that offers turning and cutting capabilities, it puts you in a great position for future business." Creative Design Benefts While the company has created a lean hobbing operation with the NT1000, additional benefts came to fruition once the engineers began putting it to work. The advantage of producing different components has helped the organization diversify its product catalog. The NT1000 alone produces a wide variety of gears and couplings daily. One in particular is a beam coupling that is made complete on the machine. Mr. Schmidt says the part couldn't be produced on a standard lathe. He believes it would take four dedicated machines or a four-axis machine dedicated to the specifc part to produce a component like this. He also believes the design engineer is really only limited by his or her imagination. Since the quantities of the gears and couplings may change in the future, the engineers feel that the multi-axis machines are better-suited for this work over dedicated equipment. "We can go from making a gear to a coupling to a part that requires a lot of milling features in the same day," Mr. Schmidt says. "These complex components can be tricky to manufacture and the fact that we can produce several different sizes and confgurations on one unit is a real advantage." After working with DMG MORI on all the machine specs and options that would enhance W.M. Berg's manufacturing operation, the company returned to the OEM when it was interested in a second multi- axis machine. "We purchased the NLX2500 for gear cutting and we're hoping to supplement some of the work we currently perform on the NT1000," Mr. Schmidt says. "This will allow us to bridge some of the gaps between our product lines." Up next, the company plans to discuss the idea of producing spiral bevel gears. "The NT1000 and NLX25000 currently have full production schedules, but we're entertaining the idea of branching off into other areas in the gear industry," Mr. Schmidt says. The NT1000 was suitable for the customer's diverse part needs and contributed to a lean hobbing process that provided higher on-time delivery rates. Multi-axis machining has allowed the company to standardize processes and reduce setups in the manufacture of its helical and spur gears.