Marine Engine OEM Gains Production Flexibility with Automated Cells

On the grounds that 1996, the Plant 15 machining operations at Mercury Marine have protected a reliance on automated machining cells. over time, the Fond du Lac, Wis.-based totally manufacturer and distributor of marine engines, parts, add-ons and included systems has phased out some conventional manufacturing methods in choose of contemporary cells that provide substantially more production flexibility to conform to continuously evolving commercial enterprise priorities and customer needs.  outboard motor covers

The company, which produces each inboard and outboard boat automobiles, is vertically integrated and manufactures definitely all of its middle additives, except for those it gets from out of doors suppliers. Mercury Marine considers itself a high-extent components manufacturer, with element families consisting of middle additives along with cylinder blocks, adapter plates, pressure shaft housings, gearcase housings and others. within each product family, parts are segmented by motor SKU kind and horsepower range.

without the automatic cells, Plant 15 would have all stand-alone machines with an operator at each to produce its center motor additives. automatic cells permit the plant to have one operator running more than one machines, doing away with the want for an operator to manually pass elements from one machine to the following.

"Plant 15 could want a extensive increase in setups and fixtures without the automatic cells," said Richard close, manufacturing engineering supervisor at Mercury Marine's Plant 15. "gadget utilization would additionally be loads much less because of available run time from performing changeovers on stand-alone machines." any other gain: the use of automated machining cells lets in Mercury Marine to consciousness recruiting and education efforts on different, extra hard work-intensive manufacturing operations as a part of its ongoing boom approach.

the primary automatic palletized machining mobile at Plant 15 was for four gearcase element numbers. That line, which continues to be going for walks today, consists of five horizontal machining facilities (HMCs) that entire parts in single setups-and basically do the paintings of the 50 character machines the plant previously used. the line has also advanced component tolerances drastically.

Plant 15 now has 12 computerized palletized production lines plus robotic cells and a total of 98 HMCs. Mercury's automated cells and machining centers are PALLETECH systems and HCN HMCs from Mazak Corp., Florence, Ky. In truth, Mercury is Mazak's largest consumer of PALLETECH structures.

like minded with Mazak's range of horizontal machining centers as well as maximum of its vertical, 5-axis and multi-tasking machines, PALLETECH is a modular answer with the power to accommodate maximum manufacturing necessities, which includes floorspace, material drift or extent. The machine's pre-engineered, modular layout makes it easy for Mercury to add a big choice of loading stations with abilities which include wash, tilt and precision centering, all of which permit Plant 15 to pace its capital investments with the increase of its enterprise. In fact, one PALLETECH machine incorporates up to 16 Mazak machines, from six to 240 pallets, and as many as 8 loading stations.

the majority of Mercury's HMCs are heavy-duty Mazak HCN-6800 machines that supply the strength and flexibility wanted for effective and specific huge-element machining. Plus, with Mazak's MAZATROL SmoothG CNCs, the machines provide advanced programming features and capabilities for ease of use, velocity and similarly greater device performance.

The HCN-6800s have special imperative spindle/motor headstocks that limit vibration and heat era. they come with 50-hp (37-kW), 10,000-rpm, CAT 50 spindles that supply incredible steel elimination capabilities in a diffusion of substances, from steels to nonferrous metals. NC rotary tables at the HCN-6800s rotate 90o in 1.nine seconds and function 0.001o minimum increments for four-axis indexing and machining. The tables comprise 360o role couplings and accommodate workpiece sizes up to 41.34" (1,050 mm) in diameter and 51.18" (1,300 mm) high.

Why horizontal machining centers? "If we had a mixture of different machines, we would lack the level of pliability had to circulate parts around as tons as we do based totally on quantity and commonality to higher make use of our available capability," said Adam Weidner, lead production engineer at Mercury. "Plus, most elements are achieved in handiest one or operations and their capabilities simply wouldn't lend themselves well to five-axis or multi-tasking machining systems."

The wide variety of machines in every PALLETECH cellular at Mercury varies from three machines with 10 pallet places up to people with eight machines and 24 pallet locations. for the reason that incorporating the HCN-6800s, however, Plant 15 has extended pallet storage to as many as sixty eight in a few cells. most recently, it delivered about 29 new machines, most of them HCN-6800s, and two more PALLETECH structures. one of the cells has six machines, another has 4 machines with room to amplify to 6, one has 10 machines and any other homes 14 machines. And there's one Mazak HCN-5000 with an incorporated six-pallet changer in addition to five other stand-by myself Mazak machines in Plant 15.

inside its PALLETECH structures, Mercury runs two or three elements similar in nature or it will blend and in shape jobs, inclusive of a middle aspect walking next to a cylinder block, to adjust for converting quantity needs. parts are machined complete, then moved to a end-and-paint system earlier than moving on to meeting.

"We could be machining engine blocks in the morning that would be established into a completed motor through the stop of the day," stated Weidner. "As our production wishes trade, we will shift the amount of precise parts being run, however we continually try to have every line machining the same product as a good deal as feasible. What that does is cast off time-consuming changeovers. We set up the machines, run a batch of a particular element, then exchange to the subsequent requirement."

while the plant does need to adjust the mixture of components and their man or woman volumes, it does so quickly way to its PALLETECH systems. As new equipment is integrated, Plant 15 may additionally shift components from one PALLETECH device to some other, which, in maximum instances and relying on the part, is carried out inside a couple of shifts. all of the new structures the plant provides are strictly to growth ability, replace growing old equipment, lower upkeep charges and streamline production, in line with Weidner.

"We continuously try to reduce cycle times, and a massive a part of this is device usage," he said. "The PALLETECH systems permit us to decide what element mixes to run, then assign every unique priority, accordingly balancing cellular usage for the highest efficiency."

among its automatic manufacturing strains, Plant 15 has mounted what it refers to as service cells and robotic cells. The service cells are those that use a 3-stage PALLETECH machine with sixty eight pallets paired with three hundred-tool-capacity Mazak device Hive tool garage devices.

these specific cells permit the shop to maintain its equal style of producing with automatic cells on the same time that it keeps furnishings geared up and saved in the system, disposing of the want to tug equipment and/or fixtures inside and out of the machines. The plant can then correctly run its high mixes of low-quantity components. As product strains evolve and alternate, legacy elements can move to those carrier cells for machining.

within its robot cells, Plant 15 makes use of Mazak machines, however in place of a PALLETECH gadget, stand-on my own robots on overhead rail structures load and dump components. these components normally involve multiple machining operations, and volumes are a great deal better. The robot cells accommodate as much as 18 machines each, that's as many as the gantry system can support.

"no matter the mobile type, Mercury's aim is always to shorten response time and lower prices, all while constantly innovating and enhancing first-rate," said David Butcher, class manager-indirect procurement at Mercury Marine. "If we don't have a succesful technique, which our Mazak gadget offers, we're simply growing headaches and are unable to run faster. We don't want to just reproduce what others do; we expand new and innovative products constantly, and the aim is to hold to do so and be the industry leader."  outboard motor covers