July/Aug 2004 ISSUE

COVER STORY

Turning On To Compact Bar Feeders

Compact bar feeders deliver the performance and capacity needed for this turning cell to run in a largely unattended mode.

FEATURES

A Crisis Management Lesson from a Professional Violinist and the San Francisco Symphony

This contingency plan ensured that the soloist and senior violinist had working instruments, allowing the performance to continue. Another part of the organization made the needed repairs on-time and on-site.

Between A Rock And A Hard Place

When the subject of 'material challenges' or 'material difficulties' is brought up in manufacturing, one instantly suspects difficulties in machining or cutting the material. But the real material challenge facing the industry today is the following 1-2-3 punch.

Single & Multi-Spindles

Complex Angular Dental Implants...on Multi-Axis Automatic

Just like a car or a machine, the human body benefits from the technological progress of small parts turning equipment. Precision and stringent requirements for safety and stability are essential in the medical industry. In fact, the demands made on surgical screws (bone screws, maxillary-facial screws, implants and so on) and bio-implants can be much greater for the human body than for many industrial and commercial product applications.

EDM Drill Solves Oil Passage Problem

This manufacturer was having a problem machining a 0.025-inch diameter oil feed hole at an angle in a hardened steel component called the Bronson Roller. The 30-degree angle of entry and the hardened condition of the roller body made it a difficult task for conventional drilling. The part was one of a family of parts that vary in OD and oil hole angle of entry.

Education And Networking—Hawaiian Style

Combine PMPA’s 71st Annual Meeting, October 16-20, 2004, at the Westin Maui, Lahaina, Hawaii, with a structured business program, and you have the ultimate senior management retreat!

Turning Machines

Lights-Out Machining Boosts Turning Capacity

A Colchester Tornado A50 CNC lathe, equipped with a bar feed, Renishaw probing, tool monitoring, pickoff unit, swarf conveyor and production-scheduling software, is providing lights-out production capability for Altex Engineering, a (Calne, Wiltshire) U.K. precision subcontractor that specializes in turning and milling in addition to sheet metal fabrication using laser cutting, punch press and folding equipment. With the new CNC lathe, Altex has increased productivity by more than 50 percent on a range of turned components, some 80 percent of which are now completely machined in a single setup.

Member Profile: RB Royal Industries

In 1942, John Neumann Sr. founded the company that would become RB Royal Industries, Inc. In the early days, Mr. Neumann produced fuel and brake lines in the basement of his home and sold them—along with brass fittings—from his car.

Preparing Your Crisis Control Plan

Effective management of risk, commitment to serve the customer and get to a win-win resolution, and a truly competent, empowered team are key to succeeding in crisis situations. But the organizational steps you take before any crisis occurs are the real keys to your company’s crisis control success.