Technology helps small shop stay ahead of competition.

In the tool and mold-making world today, shops have learned that not only specialization but also providing short lead times help them to stand out from the crowd. This means anything from meeting demanding deadlines to making investments in technology when the competition is not. Connection Mold in Rochester, New York, has embraced both of these tactics with great success.

Less than four years ago the owners of Connection Mold, brothers Reiner and Tom Strecker, were looking into buying a new machine just to cut graphite to free up some of their other machines in the shop. They turned to Makino and haven't looked back.

According to Tom, they are putting out three times the amount of work they were 10 years ago—thanks in large part to the technological gains they've gotten from two Makino machines. In a shop with just four full-time toolmakers, this is key to staying competitive.

"We are much more versatile now with the S56 than we have been before. We can put anything in there, as far as the materials we are asked to work with, and get excellent results."

So how does a small shop justify making these investments in such a short period of time—especially when many shops were facing their toughest times ever? Tom says that is exactly what prompted them.

"We thought it was necessary for us to spend money on technology to stay competitive in the global market," said Tom. "We looked at buying the Makinos to prevent closing the doors on our shop. We also recently moved into our current building and we've committed to spending the money we have to spend to stay competitive. We will keep trying to stay a step ahead of other shops out there."

Technology Transfer [back to top]
Founded in 1986 as a small family business, Connection Mold builds molds and parts for a variety of industries—from automotive to consumer to the medical markets.

While the original intention of using the SNC64, the company's first Makino, was just to cut graphite, the owners found it allowed them to free up other machines on the shop floor for other jobs. And they were thrilled with it.

Christian Payment came to Connection Mold as an employee about six years ago and is now the plant manager. He had worked in other Rochester tool and mold shops and had run Makino equipment, and was adamant about adding the SNC64 for its hard milling and graphite flexibility.

With SGI.3 software controls, Payment says he has "never seen a machine move the way" the Makinos do. "We looked again at all the comparable models out there before buying the second Makino, and every other model was missing something we wanted—or a lot of things—especially support and training."

Payment attended Tech Transfer training at Makino and learned that the SNC64 machine could cut steel just as effectively as it was cutting graphite. "The first year after the Tech Transfer training, we were cutting about 10 percent steel on the machine, and still about 90 percent graphite," Payment said. "The second year we went to about 20 percent steel. Now we are at about 70 percent steel and alloys."

Technological Advancement [back to top]
After the great success Connection had with its first Makino, the shop added another Makino vertical machining center—an S56. So far, the return on investment has been substantial. Furthermore, it has enabled the company to take on work that it would have had to turn down due to size limits and capacity limitations.

"We are much more versatile now with the S56 than we have been before," Payment continues. "We can put anything in there, as far as the materials we are asked to work with, and get excellent results. We are cutting everything from rough cuts to precision finishing work on the machine. And we've been able to take some small-hole work from our wire equipment and run it on the S56.

"I am cutting 80 holes right now that measure 0.055 inches with carbide reamers. Before, we would have had to wire EDM these holes, but the accuracies are so good with the S56 that we have had great success cutting these small holes on it."

Today, virtually every part goes through one of the Makino machines for finishing work before it's ever shipped to a customer. "We're starting to get more and more work from other shops in town that are bringing their tools and molds here for finishing on one of our Makinos," says Tom.

"And we're not using our grinders in finishing electrodes or to grind certain angles and slides as we did before. Plus we are saving money because now we can order saw-cut graphite."

Speed and Accuracy [back to top]
In addition to his duties as plant manager, Payment often serves as lead designer in the shop. "I am probably working on 90 to 95 percent of all the designs that come through Connection today," he said. And having the Makinos has enabled him to do this.

"Before the Makino machines were installed, we'd do the design work based only on customer specs. I am now able to design around the machines on the shop floor."

"Today, I know when we can cut a part instead of running it on an EDM because of the added capabilities the Makino verticals give us," says Payment. "We design in order to use the S56 especially for our jobs because it is so efficient, versatile and reliable. I know what the S56 can do, so we can design without creating stress points or sharp corners that our older technology couldn't handle."

"We're starting to get more and more work from other shops in town that are bringing their tools and molds here for finishing on the Makino."

The owners are very impressed with the speed of the machine and the accuracy they are getting as well as reducing cycle times by 50 to 75 percent. "It's almost ridiculous how fast the Makino VMCs are from start to finish," said Reiner. "While in the past it may have taken us a week to make a complete electrode, they can now be done in less than a day. On molds it's gone from eight weeks to four weeks or less.

"One of our customers came to us and needed a two-cavity mold, full frame, threeplate mold with B-strip and slides, and hardened steel cores for an automotive application," recalls Reiner. "They came to us with this seemingly impossible project and not only did we build and finish the mold in two weeks, in that same time frame we designed it all in house."

Gaining Productivity [back to top]
Connection is also running lights out most nights and weekends. Tom estimates that this has given them a 40 percent gain in throughput. "I highly doubt if we had bought machines other than the Makinos that we'd still be in business today," he said.

While both the Streckers and Payment are thrilled with what they are able to do with the S56 they know they are far from using it to its fullest capability. "We still have some things to learn and we plan to keep taking advantage of Makino's Tech Transfer training to further enhance our productivity." Payment says. "But already we've been able to mill and finish parts on it that before we would burn on our EDM equipment.

"With the reliability and stability of the S56, I can now get the expected results. Other shops in the area are calling us now with questions and because of what we have learned we are happy to share certain things with them."

Tom Strecker says he and his brother have never looked back on the technological investment made in the Makino machines. This has helped lead to implementing other technological solutions in the Connection Mold operation.

Each employee has been armed with a computer and a cubicle to call his own. And, with 90 to 95 percent of all programming and design occurring in house, the computers really have become the backbone of the technologically savvy shop.

"The computer has become the number one tool in this shop as our technology focus has grown," says Reiner. "You may see six or seven toolboxes anywhere you look on our shop floor, but the computers are the most important tool we have.

"As a small operation, you combine that technology focus with the modern machine tools that we have invested in with Makino, and this produces an unbelievable combination for our shop."

For more information on Connection Mold call Tom or Reiner Strecker at 585-458-6463 or reach them by fax at 585-254-7825. The company's address is: 585 Ling Road, Rochester, NY 14612; www.connectionmold.com.

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