5-Axis HMCs handle drill bit diversity with flexibility
FA550 & 5-Axis

Challenge

Leading manufacturer and global supplier of complex cutters (drill bits) that are used for drilling gas, oil, mining and other commercial applications believed that the market demanded technology based products that would reduce the overall cost of drilling. Also that manufacturing technology had to respond to short-run, small batch production.

Toyoda Solution

Toyoda FA550 Horizontal machines make it possible to machine all sides of a component and to fixture and complete parts without a second fixturing to drill holes in cones, among other processing advantages. The company can also fixture two different parts, one on each table.

Engineering support supplied by Toyoda and Machine Tool Specialties continue to deliver machines that are ready for production. Before delivery of each Toyoda, the engineering has been proved out to justify cycle times at Toyoda’s Arlington Hts., IL HQ and Engineering Center. Working with actual custom-engineered fixturing (owned by the customer), Toyoda proved out each engineering application.

Results

The 5-Axis machining capabilities of the Toyoda’s have produced important changes in how the drill bits are processed. The number of cutters has been reduced by 95 percent to standard cutting tools and cycle times have been reduced by 75 percent.

Proving their durability, the Toyoda machines are being run on a 95 to 96 percent uptime, three shifts per day.