Cutting Hours, Selling Time

Cutting Hours, Selling Time

Many predict that time will be the currency of the 21st century. But in mold making the reality of this concept has already come to fruition. “It’s all about time. Everything goes back to time,” explains Richard H. Burman, president of Graphic Tool Corporation, as he looks over his mold making facility in Itasca, IL.

“We used to work on 12 weeks’ lead time,” says Burman. “Today that’s just unacceptable. Customers expect eight weeks and some are demanding four.”

Graphic Tool is a builder of custom molds for cellular phones, electronic devices, automotive products and business supplies. Graphic Tool builds the tooling that custom molders use to supply companies such as Motorola, Delco and Leviton. Burman launched Graphic Tool 18 years ago as a small mold shop located in rented space at the back of a building.

“We do mostly small to medium molds, where accuracy is extremely important,” says Cliff Kroening, Graphic Tool’s general manager. Trying to be fast and accurate has become the defining equation for Graphic Tool as it continues to build for the future.

“Delivery is extremely important, especially in the cellular phone market,” says Burman. “In a constantly changing marketplace, getting new products to market faster has become the crux of the issue for manufacturers. But, as customers demand quicker delivery, accuracy cannot be sacrificed. In fact, the demand for more accurate molds has intensified concurrently with the need for reduced lead times.”

In addition, intense competition in the mold making market has forced mold builders to find ways to remain competitive in their pricing. “My main objective is to cut time out of the build process,” says Burman. “The only way I know to do that is through speed and accuracy. If I can cut hours in the build process and increase capacity with the same workforce while remaining accurate, then I have a thriving operation.”

High-Speed Machining Cuts Time Out of Build Process.
Burman, a 36-year industry veteran, views high-speed machining as the next major advancement in mold building. “EDM was probably one of the first revolutionary breakthroughs, followed by CAD/CAM and computerized machine tools,” states Burman. “Now high-speed machining is positioned to become the next major advancement for mold makers.”

It should come as no surprise from these comments that investments in high-speed machining have been Graphic Tool’s approach to addressing the pressures of reduced time-to-market, improved accuracy and cost containment.

“We recently purchased a Makino V55 vertical machining center, and not long ago a Makino SNC64 graphite mill,” says Kroening. “The V55 permits high-speed machining with greater thermal stability and chip control, resulting in high metal removal rates.”

With its high-speed spindle and through-spindle air system, the SNC64 delivers substantial reductions in Graphic Tool’s electrode production times. “The high-speed machining centers just blow through the work; cut time is nothing,” Kroening comments. “We have a hard time keeping the machines running because they cut too fast.”

“The repeatability and precision of our high-speed machines is dead on, making the transition into EDM seamless,” says Joe Flechsig, Graphic Tool EDM operator. “Our electrodes have to be repeatable. You always need at least two electrodes to burn a job. Good machines can reproduce data flawlessly. It eats up time when you’re inaccurate.”

The Graphic Tool facility is nice, but not large. Therefore, generating more capacity with the same amount of floor space has been crucial to Burman’s decision-making process when purchasing new equipment.

“I can’t afford inefficient machinery,” adds Burman. “When you start cranking up the feedrates, most machines will sacrifice accuracy. It’s all about speed, and you need top-quality equipment.”

Investments in EDM.
Graphic Tool recently made investments in EDM as well. “Through the years the technology behind EDM has continued to raise the bar with regard to quality, accuracy and speed,” says Burman. “We have four Makino RAM EDMs on the plant floor.” In total, Graphic Tool has purchased six Makino RAM EDMs, but through updating, it currently has two EDNC64s, one EDNC43 and one EDNC43S with High Quality Surface Finish™ technology.

“The thin-wall molding we do requires precise accuracy. If you’re off two-thousandths of an inch then you may lose 20 percent of your wall stock,” says Flechsig. “The Makinos are as accurate as they come. We’re actually burning ‘shut-offs’—eliminating the need for handwork and pencil grinders. All in all, we’ve probably seen a 50 percent reduction in secondary operations.”
As EDM operator, Flechsig runs all four EDM machines while conducting lights-out, unattended operation in the evenings and during the weekends.

“If we’re doing some short burns, you’ll see me running a little more,” says Flechsig. “But if I’ve got some long burns, I’ll set up a bunch of tool changes and have work ready to go for the evening. In the morning everything is completed. Sometimes I don’t even burn in accurate mode. I burn a less accurate mold and it’s still within tight tolerances.”

“When you have machines of that caliber, you start designing your molds around them,” adds Kroening. “It changes the way you build tools. The biggest key is lead time. We’ve seen a 30 percent cut in lead time, sometimes more.”

“My ultimate goal is to get increased throughput with the same amount of personnel,” states Burman. “If I can only sell the mold for so much, then I’ve got to find faster ways to build the same mold in fewer hours.

“I purchased the Makinos because I didn’t think I had a choice,” continues Burman. “We sell time in this business. To do that efficiently and profitably, you have to have these kinds of machines. Five to ten years down the road, they’re still going to be paying off.”