Marine Engine OEM Gains Production Flexibility with Automated Cells
due to the fact 1996, the Plant 15 machining operations at Mercury Marine have blanketed a reliance on automatic machining cells. over time, the Fond du Lac, Wis.-based totally manufacturer and distributor of marine engines, components, add-ons and incorporated systems has phased out a few traditional production strategies in want of contemporary cells that provide considerably extra production flexibility to adapt to constantly evolving enterprise priorities and purchaser needs.
outboard motor covers
The company, which produces both inboard and outboard boat cars, is vertically included and manufactures clearly all of its center components, besides for the ones it receives from outdoor suppliers. Mercury Marine considers itself a excessive-quantity elements manufacturer, with component families including core components such as cylinder blocks, adapter plates, power shaft housings, gearcase housings and others. within every product family, parts are segmented by using motor SKU kind and horsepower variety.
without the automated cells, Plant 15 could have all stand-by myself machines with an operator at each to produce its middle motor components. automated cells allow the plant to have one operator strolling more than one machines, getting rid of the need for an operator to manually move elements from one gadget to the following.
“Plant 15 might need a massive boom in setups and furnishings without the automatic cells,” stated Richard near, production engineering manager at Mercury Marine’s Plant 15. “system usage could also be lots much less due to available run time from appearing changeovers on stand-on my own machines.” another advantage: the use of automated machining cells allows Mercury Marine to recognition recruiting and education efforts on different, extra labor-in depth manufacturing operations as a part of its ongoing boom method.
the first computerized palletized machining cellular at Plant 15 changed into for four gearcase element numbers. That line, which is still jogging nowadays, includes 5 horizontal machining facilities (HMCs) that complete elements in single setups—and essentially do the work of the 50 individual machines the plant formerly used. the line has also progressed element tolerances notably.
Plant 15 now has 12 automated palletized manufacturing strains plus robot cells and a total of ninety eight HMCs. Mercury’s computerized cells and machining facilities are PALLETECH systems and HCN HMCs from Mazak Corp., Florence, Ky. In truth, Mercury is Mazak’s biggest person of PALLETECH systems.
well matched with Mazak’s variety of horizontal machining facilities as well as maximum of its vertical, 5-axis and multi-tasking machines, PALLETECH is a modular answer with the flexibility to house most production necessities, together with floorspace, material waft or quantity. The machine’s pre-engineered, modular design makes it smooth for Mercury to add a large choice of loading stations with capabilities such as wash, tilt and precision centering, all of which permit Plant 15 to tempo its capital investments with the boom of its business. In fact, one PALLETECH gadget contains up to sixteen Mazak machines, from six to 240 pallets, and as many as eight loading stations.
most people of Mercury’s HMCs are heavy-duty Mazak HCN-6800 machines that deliver the electricity and flexibility wanted for efficient and particular huge-component machining. Plus, with Mazak’s MAZATROL SmoothG CNCs, the machines provide advanced programming functions and features for ease of use, speed and further more advantageous system overall performance.
The HCN-6800s have special imperative spindle/motor headstocks that limit vibration and warmth generation. they come with 50-hp (37-kW), 10,000-rpm, CAT 50 spindles that deliver brilliant metal removal competencies in an expansion of substances, from steeles to nonferrous metals. NC rotary tables at the HCN-6800s rotate 90o in 1.nine seconds and characteristic zero.001o minimum increments for 4-axis indexing and machining. The tables incorporate 360o position couplings and accommodate workpiece sizes as much as 41.34" (1,050 mm) in diameter and 51.18" (1,three hundred mm) excessive.
outboard motor covers
Why horizontal machining centers? “If we had a mix of different machines, we would lack the level of flexibility had to circulate components round as lots as we do based totally on extent and commonality to better make use of our to be had potential,” stated Adam Weidner, lead production engineer at Mercury. “Plus, maximum parts are performed in simplest one or operations and their features simply wouldn’t lend themselves nicely to five-axis or multi-tasking machining structures.”
The range of machines in every PALLETECH cellular at Mercury varies from three machines with 10 pallet places as much as people with 8 machines and 24 pallet locations. due to the fact that incorporating the HCN-6800s, however, Plant 15 has elevated pallet garage to as many as sixty eight in a few cells. most recently, it introduced approximately 29 new machines, maximum of them HCN-6800s, and two greater PALLETECH systems. one of the cells has six machines, any other has 4 machines with room to increase to six, one has 10 machines and another houses 14 machines. And there's one Mazak HCN-5000 with an included six-pallet changer in addition to 5 other stand-on my own Mazak machines in Plant 15.
inside its PALLETECH structures, Mercury runs two or 3 elements comparable in nature or it will blend and healthy jobs, along with a center thing running next to a cylinder block, to regulate for converting extent needs. components are machined absolutely, then moved to a end-and-paint process earlier than moving on to assembly.
“We will be machining engine blocks inside the morning that would be hooked up into a completed motor with the aid of the quit of the day,” said Weidner. “As our manufacturing wishes change, we will shift the quantity of unique elements being run, but we usually try and have every line machining the equal product as tons as possible. What that does is take away time-consuming changeovers. We set up the machines, run a batch of a selected part, then change to the following requirement.”
while the plant does want to adjust the combination of elements and their man or woman volumes, it does so quick way to its PALLETECH systems. As new device is incorporated, Plant 15 can also shift components from one PALLETECH machine to another, which, in maximum instances and depending at the component, is executed within a couple of shifts. all the new structures the plant provides are strictly to growth capability, replace getting old gadget, lower protection charges and streamline production, consistent with Weidner.
“We continuously try to reduce cycle times, and a big a part of that is gadget usage,” he said. “The PALLETECH systems allow us to determine what component mixes to run, then assign each particular priority, as a consequence balancing cell utilization for the very best efficiency.”
among its automatic manufacturing traces, Plant 15 has set up what it refers to as provider cells and robotic cells. The carrier cells are those who use a 3-degree PALLETECH system with sixty eight pallets paired with 300-device-capability Mazak device Hive tool storage gadgets.
those unique cells allow the store to preserve its equal fashion of producing with computerized cells at the identical time that it keeps fixtures ready and saved in the gadget, casting off the need to tug equipment and/or furnishings in and out of the machines. The plant can then effectively run its high mixes of low-extent components. As product traces evolve and change, legacy parts can circulate to these service cells for machining.
within its robotic cells, Plant 15 makes use of Mazak machines, but as opposed to a PALLETECH gadget, stand-alone robots on overhead rail systems load and unload elements. these parts normally contain multiple machining operations, and volumes are a great deal higher. The robot cells accommodate up to 18 machines every, which is as many as the gantry system can aid.
“regardless of the mobile kind, Mercury’s purpose is constantly to shorten reaction time and decrease fees, all even as continuously innovating and improving quality,” said David Butcher, category manager–oblique procurement at Mercury Marine. “If we don’t have a capable process, which our Mazak system affords, we’re simply growing complications and are unable to run quicker. We don’t want to just reproduce what others do; we broaden new and innovative merchandise constantly, and the purpose is to hold to achieve this and be the industry leader.”
