 |
|||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||
|
TAS CNC All A Matter Of Control
The company uses Cincinnati machines exclusively because of their high performance and superior Siemens A2100 CNCs.
 |
| Paul Rose (left) and Kurt Tedford prepare various parts for the Sabre® 500 Vertical Machining Center. |
"That’s when I started to think about buying a VMC and machining the dies. Instead of using my computer skills to help other companies, I wanted to use those skills to start my own company," Tedford explained.
Tedford and his wife, Brenda, extensively researched vertical machining centers and initially decided they wanted a small one, perhaps even a desktop model, because the tiny part they were producing required only minimal machining capabilities.
But an analysis of that job proved to them that they lacked enough work to cover the cost of even a desktop machine. Tedford immediately started calling his former clients and other contacts he had made in the machine shop industry to drum up work. After only 45 minutes on the phone, he had lined up $80,000 worth of work.
"That’s when we changed our focus from buying a desktop model to investing in a full vertical machining center," he noted. And the machine he chose as the first for the newly created TAS CNC Company was a Cincinnati Machine Arrow® VMC-750, bought in April 1997.
 |
| All seven of the machines at TAS CNC are equipped with the high performance Siemens A2100 CNC. |
As other measures of the company’s swift growth, TAS CNC started out with one machine in a 1,100 square-foot facility, with an original business plan of $8,000 a month, Tedford said. In November 2000, the shop moved into a new 8,800 square-foot plant with eight employees, and business goals are now $100,000 a month.
The shop’s customer base is broad, he said. "We do work for the tool and die industry, and a lot of jobs for aluminum extruders, specialized dies for the food packaging industry and some work for automotive. We’ve machined aluminum, zinc, nylon, plastic and most tool steels. So all in all, we’re a well-rounded general job shop."
When asked what had so solidly persuaded him to buy the Cincinnati Machine VMCs, Tedford had a two-word reply: the control.
All seven of his machines have the high performance Siemens A2100, a powerful, multitasking CNC that incorporates a unique dual processor design with industry-standard PC technology. The software operates on a Windows NT® platform, providing a familiar and user-friendly system, and an active matrix, flat color screen monitor with touch-screen control and system graphics to enhance ease of use.
"The A2100 has an advanced programming package that no one has come close to equaling," Tedford said, and that is a critical factor in TAS CNC’s success.
The Tedfords’ intense interest in advance programming grew from their specialization in computer and CAD programming, he said.
"We started this company on the strength of programming and not necessarily on the strength of machining. That’s our real niche in the market and that’s why TAS stands for Technology, Accuracy and Speed," he explained.
In terms of control, the greatest benefit he has gained from the Cincinnati machines is the ease in developing code, he said. "Most of our competitors spend as much as 50 percent of their time writing code for their machines. We spend between 10 and 15 percent of our time."
 |
| The new facility in Grand Rapids, with its impressive array of Arrow VMCs and Hawk TCs, often serves as a Cincinnati Machine showroom for existing and potential customers in western Michigan. |
TAS CNC’s niche in the job shop marketplace is high-volume production and low-cost machining, and the Cincinnati machines have made it possible for the shop to carve out a strong position in that market segment.
TAS CNC President Paul Rose noted that about half of the work the company does is specialized machining and the rest is high volume production. "But what sets us apart from other CNC shops is specialty on the production side. Before our shop opened, our customers went to one shop to have dies built, another to have a fixture built and a third to have it machined.
"But with our in-house capability and expertise, we can perform all of those operations. Customers can come to us with a part and tell us what they need done to it. We can design the fixture, build the fixture, prove in rapid production and cut lead-time in half, just because of our expertise and our machines. There’s really no other shop around that can do any of that on the production side," Rose continued.
The decision to buy the Sabre VMC-500 at IMTS last year was based on the machining center’s ability to improve high-volume production cycle times with its rapid, 4-second tool change time, Tedford said.
The Sabre’s electric drive tool changer with a 12 or 30 tool option has acc/dec for smooth operation to and from its spindle. Tool indexing is achieved by a simple geneva mechanism providing random access, shortest path tool search for the 4-second metal-to-metal tool change.
"Cycle improvements as much as 25 percent can be realized with the Sabre’s tool changer, and all fixturing is designed, built and tested at TAS," Rose noted.
The purchase of the Arrow VMC-1250C off the floor at Cincinnati Machine’s booth was based on the machine’s ability to expand the shop’s overall capabilities with its 50" X-axis, Tedford said. TAS CNC already has used the machining center to make a deep-draw die set with a 49.5" requirement.
Another major advantage that Cincinnati Machine Vertical Machining Centers provide is their ability to hold tolerance requirements as tight as 0.00016" and repeatability of ±0.00004 (±1 micron), which some TAS CNC customers require, especially when building 3D check fixtures for automotive applications, Tedford said. And that is critically important in product certification as the company progresses in its QS9000/ISO 2000 certification program.
 |
| Using a VMC-1250C, TAS CNC machines a 3D contoured trim horn, used on deep-draw presses, from 4140 steel stock. |
Traditionally, trim horns were made with shapers but since they are essentially machined by hand, tolerances aren’t precise and they tend to jam easily, Tedford explained. One of TAS CNC’s customers tried to redesign trim horns and make them in two pieces, but that was unsuccessful.
"We worked with the customer and developed a way to machine trim horns out of a solid piece of 4140 steel stock. It’s a 3-D contoured part and the customer is buying all of its trim horns from us now. That’s our showcase piece," he continued.
Trim horns are used on many deep-draw presses to trap scrap material so it will not jam the press. With a one-piece smooth trim horn, jamming is virtually eliminated.
With the range of Cincinnati Machine VMCs on the shop floor, TAS CNC is used by Cincinnati’s Michigan office as a showroom to demonstrate machines for prospective buyers.
"We’ve had several customers here to watch us machine whatever part we happen to be running at the time and see all the capabilities of the different-sized Arrows, the Sabre and our Hawk 150 Turning Center," Tedford noted.
"It’s an impressive sight for prospective customers to see our seven Cincinnati’s lined up in our brand new facility. And we all believe so deeply in the quality and performance of the machines that Paul Rose, our operators and I are pretty good sales representatives for Cincinnati Machine, as well."