Thermo Electron Corporation
APPLICATION: Accomodation of Small Lot Sizes While
Reducing Downtime
BACKGROUND: The Sample Preparation Division of
Thermo Electron Corporation manufactures products to support medical sample preparation
and analysis for laboratories and medical institutions. From pipettes and vacuum
chambers to incubators and centrifuges, the Thermo Sample Preparation Division is
focused on ensuring the quality of research while enabling ease of sample manipulation.
ISSUE:
This Thermo Division’s in-house machine shop often receives emergency orders
for out-of-stock parts, causing production runs to be interrupted or halfcompleted.
Thermo needed the capability to accommodate small lot sizes more effectively, with
a specific emphasis on reductions in downtime. The situation was complicated by
an array of machining centers with different horizontal or vertical machining capabilities,
including a Haas VF-3, Hatachi Seiki HC- 500, and a Haas VF-0 (all with rotary indexers)
as well as a Daewoo DMH-400.
- Set-up times took as long as 4-5 hours per machining center
- 5-6 operations required to process small lot sizes
- Lost productivity, high costs associated with operator-required emergency runs
Thermo needed to find an approach that enabled interchangeability among machines,
reduced set-up times and enabled versatility for small jobs. “Halfcompleted
jobs with idles parts lying around simply wasn’t working,” said Wayne
Wentworth, Machine Shop Manager. “We needed a more efficient way to meet customer
demand.”
SOLUTION:
Thermo implemented the Ball Lock Mounting System on all four machines, designing
fixtures around interchangeability to provide for additional capacity and compensate
for any single machine downtime. One key element was the Haas VF-3 with a five-axis
rotary indexer. With the addition of the Ball Lock system, dramatic improvements
were achieved in setup times from the base table to complete preparation for a production
run:
- Changeover times reduced to less than 5 minutes
(previously requiring 4-5 hours to mount, index, trim and get the job going)
- Smaller lot sizes accommodated with 1 – 2 operations
(as compared to the previous 5 – 6)
 |
|
ABOVE: Thermo's Ball Lock System |
|
 No
more half done jobs. The versatility and measurable savings the Ball Lock system
provides is amazing.
— Thermo Machine Shop Manager, Wayne Wentworth |
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