| CSI
Manufacturing, Southboro, MA, is a Swiss CNC screw machine
shop specializing in high precision components for fluid controls,
aerospace, weapons, and telecommunication devices, fabricated
from a variety of metals, including steel, brass, and aluminum.
CSI, a partner in a group of eight companies in New England
and Europe offering one source turning solutions, operates
16 CNC machines 20+ hours per day, 7 days per week. Steve
Doody, President and founder of CSI, says that the intensive
production schedule, while desirable for the health of the
business, presented him with some nagging operating problems.
Because of the volume of relatively small parts running steadily
in the machines, the concentration of small chips and fines
in the oil increased rapidly to interfere with machine performance.
The small chips were entering the gundrills, causing tool
breakage and loss of finish on parts, leading to unacceptable
reject rates and unscheduled machine stoppages. The resulting
cleaning of the machines led to further downtime and also
put additional burdens on the housekeeping crew, since Steve
prides himself on a clean and orderly shop.
Steve
discussed the problem of solids buildup in the oil with
his Swiss machine supplier. The supplier knew that customers
had successfully addressed similar problems using the Keller
Products PFA-1002 pump/filter unit and recommended that
Steve contact Keller. The PFA-1002 can clean suspended solids
and settled sludge from a sump in about 30 minutes or less,
without the need to pump out the machine tool. It contains
a high capacity bag filter to filter as fine as 5 microns
and a pump which recycles up to 20 gallons per minute of
clean oil to the sump. Since the pump is driven by compressed
air and there are no electrical components, the system is
inherently fireproof, an important benefit when processing
straight oils. Mounted on a 20" x 30" cart, the
easily portable PFA-1002 is wheeled to the side of the sump,
the inlet and outlet hoses are positioned in the sump, and
a shop 1/4” compressed air line is connected. Setting
up at a sump requires about 5 minutes. The dirty oil is
pulled from the sump through the 1 1/2" inlet hose,
filtered by the bag filter, and continuously returned to
the sump. The force of the clean discharge can be used to
scour the bottom of the sump to resuspend settled solids
for pickup by the inlet line. The sump is never emptied,
and the machine tool can run for extended periods without
additional maintenance.
|
 |
|
| Steve
Doody purchased one PFA-1002, and he reported that the problems
he was having with solids in the sumps were virtually eliminated.
CSI operates the PFA-1002 for a few hours every day to clean
each of the 16 sumps about once per week. As a result of this
simple and inexpensive cleaning schedule, Steve Doody says,
"Machines can complete their scheduled runs unattended,
quality problems have been eliminated, and tool life is greatly
extended. Our production efficiency is much improved because
we no longer have to shut machines down to service the sumps.
In addition to these quantifiable improvements, the operators
appreciate the elimination of a very unpopular task, and I
appreciate the fact that we have less oil to clean off the
shop floor."
Steve
Doody was pleased to learn of an additional application
for which the PFA-1002 is well suited. He found he could
use the portable pump/filter to remove suspended solids
from the oil reclaimed from the chip spinner, which is typically
loaded with fines. The self-priming pump on the PFA-1002
allows Steve to pump the filtered oil from the chip spinning
process into a 55-gallon drum, which he then moves through
the shop to top off machines with oil as needed.
With
the number of machine tools in service at CSI and the versatility
demonstrated by the Keller PFA-1002, Steve Doody purchased
a second unit to ensure that his shop maintenance needs
are being met. To summarize the impact of the PFA-1002 on
his shop, Steve says, "In my opinion, this is the perfect
example of the application of Lean Manufacturing initiatives––specifically,
the elimination of non-value-added time. My shop was built
on the concept of being able to produce parts automatically,
only to be challenged by solids buildup in the oil. Then,
for a modest investment (about $2,500 each), the two PFA-1002
units have allowed me to increase shop throughput, avoid
unscheduled shutdowns, eliminate several problems relating
to part finishes, greatly reduce labor costs associated
with sump maintenance, and improve overall shop cleanliness
and working conditions. Considering the investment in top-line
CNC machines, tooling, and producing the part itself, ensuring
that we run with clean oil just made sense."
|
|
