After replacing outdated equipment with four Mitsubishi wire EDMs from MC Machinery, LH Carbide was able to expand lights-out operation and increase throughput.
Located in Fort Wayne, IN, LH Carbide designs and manufactures precision carbide progressive lamination tooling for industrial, automotive, appliance and electric motor manufacturers. It is one of four divisions of the family-run LH Industries, which has grown into a team of 350 employees that designs and manufactures progressive stamping dies, precision stamped products, industrial control systems and medical devices.
LH Carbide replaced EDMs made by another manufacturer with four Mitsubishi wire EDMs: three MV2400Rs and one MV1200R.
"The Mitsubishi wire EDMs have allowed us to expand our capabilities while running unmanned," said Jason Stuller, LH Industries Department Supervisor. "Because of the ease of programming the Mitsubishi EDMs and the ability to change programs on the fly, we have been able to maximize productivity when we do not have an operator. The flexibility of the Mitsubishi controller makes it easier to combine multiple programs into one for higher efficiency."
"For greater unmanned run time, we may retain slugs on multiple parts and then go back and finish those separately," added Stuller. "The controller continues to amaze us on a daily basis."
With the shift to thinner materials for electric motor carbide progressive stamping, tolerances have become progressively tighter, Stuller noted. "The Mitsubishi machines have allowed us to deliver a higher degree of accuracy, repeatability and throughput that we were not able to achieve with our old equipment," he said.
MC Machinery worked with LH Carbide to connect the new EDMs to one central chiller instead of having the typical stand-alone chiller on each machine.
"We are an outlier because we run a large central chiller that goes to a remote chiller," Stuller said. "This presented challenges, but MC Machinery made it happen. They were more than happy to accommodate what we needed."
While LH Carbide has a team of experienced operators, that may not always be the case-meaning ease of use is important.
"The machines are so intuitive that within the first week we were not only making parts, but we were also very confident in the process," said Stuller. "Getting up and running that quickly was impressive. Our experience with MC Machinery has been extremely positive. One of our main concerns with any machine tool is service and support. MC Machinery has excelled at this. We have been able to jointly overcome any obstacles that we have encountered along the way."
For more information contact:
MC Machinery Systems, Inc.
85 Northwest Point Blvd.
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
630-616-5920
mitsedm@mcmachinery.com
www.mcmachinery.com