(l-r) Cornelius Kiesel, President of Zimmermann, Inc.; Brian Czapla, Director of Sales at Century; Yousif Sallan, Project Manager at Zimmermann, Inc.; and Tom Bradford, Director of Manufacturing at Century
Century machine operator David Hawes sets the tooling on the spindle of the Zimmermann machine.
(l-r) Tom Bradford and David Hawes of Century review a cycle set-up on the Heidenhain TNC7 CNC on the Zimmermann machine. This portal milling machine is among the first in America with this advanced CNC onboard. The cycle can be fully simulated before running.
A 5 m x 4 m x 1.5 m work envelope is available on the Zimmermann machine, which substantially increased the run capabilities at Century.
Typical molds at Century, made from steel or aluminum, are used in compression molding various materials for structures used in automotive, off-highway, consumer durables, and more.
Overall view of the Zimmermann FZU37 portal milling machine
The Century campus in Fenton, MI. Century is part of the Tool Tech Group.
Zimmermann, Inc. has installed and commissioned its FZU37 portal milling machine, with a 5 m x 4 m x 1.5 m workpiece capacity, at Century Tool, a major tool and die manufacturer in Fenton, MI, and part of the Tooling Tech Group.
The machine has already proven its worth, according to the customer's Director of Manufacturing, Tom Bradford, who noted, "The table size, speed and accuracy of this Zimmermann machine have already increased our capabilities by 30% or more."
Bradford and the machine operator, David Hawes, further note the benefits of the Heidenhain TNC7 control, one of the first machine tool installations in America for this advanced CNC, as a key factor in production planning, CAD/CAM integration, cycle performance, and data logging. The CNC also features a visual simulator of the cutting path for cycle validation and in-process monitoring.
According to Cornelius Kiesel, President of Zimmermann, Inc., his company was approached for the discussion of a new machine, which would be replacing an existing, smaller machine that was no longer in operation, plus expand the capabilities of other machines on the floor at Century.
"We determined the spec of the new machine and its tasks for finishing and semi-finishing," said Kiesel. "The primary goal was to cut down the immense number of hours for such processes on the very large workpieces at Century, while enabling them to run the roughing process on their existing equipment."
Kiesel continued, "To keep things simple, we selected the FZU37 machine, so the foundation of the replacement machine could be filled up to make it flush without a major foundation rework. After several conversations and a few adjustments on the accessories, we were able to lock in the layout. These layout improvements allowed us to go even wider for a total of 5,000 mm x 4,000 mm x 1,500 mm (197 in. x 157 in. x 59 in.) of travel, which was 79% more travel in the same amount of floor space. The FZU37 was subsequently ordered with the state-of-the-art spec for an advanced machine shop such as Century, including our tool changer, top cover, mist extraction, high-pressure coolant, tool laser, touch probe, and more. Century Tool also wanted to step up its control to the new generation Heidenhain TNC7."
Lastly, Kiesel noted, "Zimmermann also integrated an extended spindle housing for deeper cavities, plus the side walls were raised to create enough clearance and the machine table reinforced for the challenging molds our customer expects to produce on this machine. When all these machine parameters got worked out and finalized, we completed the machine rather quickly, commissioned it, did the training onsite, and helped Tom and his team start up."
Bradford cited Alfio Campagna, Project Manager for Zimmermann, for his critical help in getting the machine into production at Century, as this was the first Zimmermann portal mill purchased by the moldmaker.
Bradford also commended the Heidenhain team, who provided three days of training on the CNC at their Chicago location and two more onsite at Century.
Hawes commented that he had substantial experience on Heidenhain controls, so the training went quickly for him, although the new control has numerous new features, including Smart Programming, a graphical programming feature that allows the user to draw contours directly onto the touchscreen, after which the CNC converts the results into a Klartext (German for clear text) program. Century uses Visi as its main CAD program and Tebis as its CAM software. Bradford noted the seamless matching of these programs with the onboard CNC software to configure programs, and posts made startup and run a smoother process.
In addition, the new CNC offers the Component Monitoring feature, which can protect the spindle bearing from overloading, while also detecting increased component wear in the drive train, all while the machine is running. This feature provides valuable data for predictive maintenance and evaluation of the process capability of the machine. This is vital at Century, which uses the Zimmermann machine exclusively for large, one-off mold prep, often removing over 90% of the material from a workpiece over multiple days of machining.
Also, the ergonomics of the CNC are extremely user-friendly. Screen layouts and touchpad controls can be adapted to suit user preferences.
Finally, the intuitive contour programming is enabled by symbolic gestures on the touchscreen. Since Klartext remains the main format for files and exporting from the Heidenhain control, existing NC programs can continue in use.
Currently, the Zimmermann machine at Century is running on two shifts, often remotely tended in a low-light or lights-out mode.
Bradford commented on the Zimmermann machine performance: "We do a lot of large tools for compression molding of composites and other substrates. We work for a variety of industries, from automotive to heavy truck, off-highway to agriculture, power sports to infrastructure such as water tanks. Century specializes in Class-A exterior body panels, so the surface finish is critical. During the very long runs we do on the Zimmermann, maintaining tight tolerances is key, and the machine plus its onboard control technology make that happen for us."
Brian Czapla, Director of Sales at Century, added, "The trend toward high-strength, lightweight composites and large dimensioned, unitized parts for auto and heavy truck make this machine a real asset in our operation."
In use, the typical workpiece on the Zimmermann is P20 steel, the industry standard for molds, as well as various aluminum materials. HSK 63 and HSK 80 are the primary toolholder types, used for cutting and laser touch probing. Standard carbide cutting tools and inserts are typical, as well.
Bradford further noted, "As a tooling source, we serve the Tier 1 and OEMs in the manufacturing space. We have a strong reputation in automotive and heavy truck, and we are looking to expand into aerospace and other consumer products as well. As Brian noted, our core strength in composite molds gives us a real advantage in entering these other markets. The Zimmermann machine helps us achieve superior RA finishes with consistent quality, even on much larger structures."
For more information contact:
Century Tool
200 South Alloy Drive
Fenton, MI 48430
810-629-0784
www.toolingtechgroup.com
Zimmermann Inc.
30587 Century Drive
Wixom, MI 48393
248-956-8511
sales@zimmermann-inc.com
www.zimmermann-inc.com