The manufacturer’s production engineering division put together a dedicated team to select the new machine, and the team began considering a few options. The replacement machine needed to have certain features and meet certain conditions.
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The replacement machine needed to be a bore finishing machine that satisfied the clients’ stringent bore accuracy requirements.
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Because workpieces had complex shapes, making alignment a time-consuming process, the machine needed to be able to position the components with one-touch.
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To ensure consistent precision, the machine had to be able to automate, and improve on, the subtle adjustments that skilled operators had been performing manually.
The machine needed to both pass client quality tests and satisfy the demands of those on the factory. The team narrowed down the options (for which test would be commissioned) to honing machines produced by three different suppliers.
The team leader recalls:
“Our top priority was passing the client’s quality tests. To this end, we provided drawings to the machine suppliers and had them run trials. Our plan was to install a bore finishing machine that met our functional and other requirements, made by a supplier that passed the quality tests.”
Immediately, the team took the test samples to the client for quality testing. However, counter to their expectations, all three samples were rejected. The team leader was stunned.
