Technical requirements for mechanical parts used in the transport sector have become increasingly stringent in recent years. The manufacturer was keenly aware of this trend, and the relevant team members discussed what they could do.
An employee from the production division recalls,
“In addition to improving precision and guaranteeing quality, we also had to reduce processing times.”
As part of the solution, the manufacturer switched from an internal grinding to a single-pass honing. However, as it progressively transitioned its machine to the new approach, reviewing processes as it went, it became aware of several issues.
“Because single-pass honing is faster than internal grinding, it offers the possibility to boost productivity. Accuracy, however, in terms of roundness and cylindricity, was inconsistent. While roundness deviation should ideally be within than 1 micron, and cylindricity deviation within than 1.5 micron, we were not able to consistently deliver that degree of accuracy,” explains the employee.
This was because to ensure consistent accuracy operators had to perform manual adjustments that were dependent on the intuition and techniques of skilled operators, as well as testing the degree of ‘bite’ of electroplated tools each time. In the hope of solving the problem and achieving more consistent accuracy, the production team began gathering information on bore finishing machines and case studies from other factories. However, no useful information was forthcoming, and the team became increasingly anxious about the plans to increase capacity.
