New Wheel Cell Boosts Productivity

The resurgence in automotive production is both a blessing and a challenge for aluminum wheel manufacturers. It’s driving increased pressure to boost productivity, dial up efficiencies, and find ways to minimize downtime. The good news is…we’ve been working on this.

Automotive Rebirth Puts Increased Pressure on Manufacturers

The automotive industry has enjoyed a rebound in the past year. All of the top automakers across the globe are reporting healthy activity in the North American market. Domestic manufacturers report market share gains. This activity is projected to remained strong in 2013, and record sales are in the forecast. The increase in production impacts automotive suppliers, who now have an urgent need to increase output – either through productivity enhancements or the purchase of additional capital equipment. One major industry feeling the pressure these days is aluminum wheel manufacturers.

Wanted: New Technology With Greater Productivity Impact

Today’s wheel manufacturers are seeking to remain globally competitive by utilizing a variety of available technologies. Automation, Vision Systems, PCD or custom tooling, and specialty workholding all play a role in helping to maximize throughput in automated wheel cells. These can provide some improvements. But what newer technologies exist that could deliver even greater efficiency gains?

The Downtime Dilemma

Let’s examine this key issue first. Cutting wheels is a demanding process that ultimately leads to failures. In fact, failures with the tool changer and the spindle are the most common cause of downtime. We hear of many cases where the spindle doesn’t even last a year. Solve this, and you’re well on your way to maximizing uptime for wheel manufacturing.

What Comes to Mind When You Say “Okuma Lathes”?

The answer to this question is pretty well-known. Okuma CNC lathes are famously reliable. We also have a history of developing leading-edge control technologies. So we realized that solving the challenge of uptime for wheel manufacturing was well-suited to our core competencies. A few years ago we assembled a dedicated wheel cell engineering team to tackle this task. A key part of this team is Gosiger Automation, the largest FANUC robot integrator in the U.S. By teaming up with them through our Partners in THINC program, we expanded our engineering team from 12 to more than 50.

NEW All-Okuma Wheel Cell Solution

After years of rigorous work, we’re launching the All-Okuma Wheel Cell into the marketplace. Here are the groundbreaking components:

• MB-56VA-AW: This new aluminum wheel drilling machine is built based on Okuma’s premier vertical machining center. It takes the very best of the latest technology and tailors the specs around the requirements of aluminum wheel drilling, and the integrated high-speed trunnion table provides full 4th axis machining capabilities.
• FANUC Robot: With proven gripper design – the most used in the industry
• THINC^®-OSP Open Architecture CNC Control: Because all three machines are now Okumas, all three feature our THINC-OSP control which allows fuller integration with the latest engineering simulation tools and throughout your operations. Real-time monitoring and alarm notifications can now be enabled. Cell monitoring and performance reporting functions are more robust. Addition of third-party applications is now possible with this open architecture CNC control.

Get Your Hands On It!

Everything I’ve covered above is all well and good in print, and in theory. However seeing this technology in actual application is the true testament to how it might work for you. We have a wheel cell at our Partners in THINC facility in Charlotte. The CNC lathes and robot are in place, and even more exciting is the new Okuma drill machine.

Quality? In recent months, as part of our test process, we’ve drilled pallets of wheels for wheel manufacturers and measured those wheels on their CMM machines. The new Okuma-drilled wheels were validated and have exceeded expectations, and all been sold to automotive OEMs. We invite you to visit us and witness first-hand this new generation of wheel cell.

What’s your most vexing wheel manufacturing challenge? Feel free to comment below, or contact us and we’ll show you how to boost your productivity.

Gary Snow is Principal Engineer, Okuma America Corporation