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PCI Machining: Why Buy 4 Machines When 3 Will Do? With a recent Ellison overhaul, this Indianapolis shop has growth in its future. Despite the storied history of PCI dating back to the early 1950s, when Ivan Hess purchased the company in May 2020, it was struggling. Decades-old Haas machines and WWII-era custom cam and gear machines were doing their best, but a change was clearly needed. And fast. Step 1: Identify the OEM Partner In June 2022, Keith Bentz joined PCI as a manufacturing consultant. He and the PCI team reached out to six different manufacturers to look at their part mix and get suggestions on new equipment to invest in. Alex Nowicki, Sales Engineer at Ellison Technologies, did a full assessment to look at profiles, part drawings, and needs. By the time IMTS 2022 rolled around, PCI had narrowed the candidates down to three: DMG Mori, Mazak, and Ellison. PCI and most of their candidate OEMs identified four machines needed to completely upgrade the operation, but their accountants told them they could only afford three... To read more, visit: https://www.ellisontechnologies.com/news/pci-machining-why-buy-4-machines-when-3-will-do
How FZE Uses Cobots To Aid in Machining and Manufacturing Some shops still have yet to welcome automation, but FZE Manufacturing Solutions is not one of them. The North Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin shop offers a robust range of machining and manufacturing expertise, and much of the equipment on their floor is automated in some way. All of their multi-axis Swiss machines and several of their turning centers are bar fed and they have a twin-spindle, twin-turret turning center that is equipped with an overhead gantry robot for loading raw parts and unloading finished parts. Additional CNC turning centers are manually loaded and unloaded by Machinists and Operators. Machining centers feature pallet changers to keep spindles in the cut longer, plus auto doors to remind operators to unload/load parts. And when it came time to add cobots to the mix, FZE reached out to Ellison Technologies... To read more, visit: https://www.ellisontechnologies.com/news/how-fze-uses-cobots-aid-machining-and-manufacturing
Doosan Cobots: The Buzz from Machine Shops Ellison Technologies has been working with Doosan Robotics since 2019. We choose collaborative robots from Doosan because of their quality, impressive technical specifications, and broad product offering. But rather than focus on specs and details, we’re going to share with you what we’ve heard from the machine shops that have taken the plunge and installed Doosan cobots. “We wish we’d done it sooner.” There’s a misconception that automation and robotics are only for high-volume, high-production manufacturing facilities. Cobots are an easy and cost-effective way for shops to automate rote tasks like machine tending and part inspection. They can be profitable even on much shorter production runs. The barriers to entry for a Doosan cobot are low and the upsides are high. They are inexpensive, easy to program, and ready to work. They do the tedious stuff that human operators don’t want to do or don’t have time to do, allowing them to focus on more important value-added tasks..... To read more, visit: https://www.ellisontechnologies.com/news/doosan-cobots-buzz-machine-shops
HERE’S HOW TJB COUPLERS BRINGS THE POWER A whole lot of tribal knowledge, and plenty of support from Ellison. If you want an example of how powerful a strong skill set and a good niche can be, TJB Couplers of North Ridgeville, Ohio serves as an excellent case study. Founded back when Baby Boomers were still whippersnappers themselves, the company has decades of experience dragging a comfortably status quo segment of manufacturing into the future—sometimes while they’re kicking and screaming. Coupler technology is better off because TJB exists, but of course, even the best companies can’t do it alone. That’s a big reason they count on one-of-a-kind machining expertise from Ellison, and powerful equipment from DN Solutions. First Things First: What’s a Coupler? A coupler is really just a plug & outlet combination that all of us know so well, except it’s amped up to an industrial level due to higher voltage and power draw. It’s a crucial component, and TJB Couplers was founded because of a man who knew he could make improvements. “My grandfather, TJ Brenner, founded the company in 1970. He initially worked for a company that made the first cable couplers,” said DJ Fiske, General Manager of TJB Couplers. “He wanted to make some changes, which they weren’t interested in. So he went off and did it on his own.”..... To read more, visit: https://www.ellisontechnologies.com/news/heres-how-tjb-couplers-brings-power
Are you Ready for Some… 5-Axis? Bringing the Best Together for High Performance Machining It’s football season in America, and if you’re anything like us, you’re spending hours a week watching games and setting your fantasy lineup. We’re all dreaming of more players that have that super-human combination of power, strength, speed, and smarts needed to push your team to victory. Have you ever dreamt of a machine that had an unreal combination of attributes? One that had the power, strength, speed, and smarts to combine 5-axis milling and turning to make quick work of complicated large parts in aerospace, oil field, and mold and die industries? The C Series from HELLER is just that machine. Game on..... To read more, visit: https://www.ellisontechnologies.com/news/are-you-ready-some-5-axis
Quality Contour Slashes Cycle Times with Ellison and DN Solutions When Bryan Bernloehr was in high school, he tried to get a job at a local gas station. They told him no, so he went next door to the local machine shop and got to work chamfering parts, sweeping floors, and doing the entry-level grunt work we all know so well. When the shop’s senior machinist found a new job, Bernloehr had done enough work with the Bridgeport Boss 4 machine to convince his boss to let him run the CNC machine that suddenly needed an operator. He took to it like a fish to water. The shop eventually went under, but Bernloehr officially had the skills, and the itch. He opened Quality Contour from his father’s garage in 1983 at the age of 18.... To read more, visit: https://www.ellisontechnologies.com/news/quality-contour-slashes-cycle-times-with-ellison-and-dn-solutions
If You Want To Go From Outsourced To In-House Machining, Read This GEN-Y Hitch has a winning template and an awesome origin story. ball mount machined parts Carl Borkholder didn’t plan on being in machining, but sometimes life throws a hitch at you. It all started when his tree cutting service had multiple trailers that needed different connections. There wasn’t an easy one-size-fits-all solution, so Carl went to work. He designed one hitch system for any trailer you back up to. He cut and welded everything himself and got it to work, and before long his crews and his friends were equipped with the invention. Soon after, he got a patent for it and started building them out of his garage. In 2012, he got out of tree cutting and founded GEN-Y Hitch. Their goal: to be the only hitch you’ll ever need. To read more, visit: https://www.ellisontechnologies.com/news/GEN-Y-Hitch-has-a-winning-in-house-machining-template
The Power of Finding a Way: This is APT Machining After all these years, this 30+ year job shop is just getting started. A quick chat with Brian Mayo, President of APT Machining in Kasota, Minnesota, reveals that he believes loyal customers to be a significant reason for the company’s longevity and success. But of course, loyalty has to be earned, and since 1990, that’s exactly what APT has done. Today, their customers know that there’s a slim-to-none chance that they’ll hear the word “no” coming from APT. Mayo and his staff intentionally keep the schedule flexible to fit in those spur-of-the-moment needs that tend to pop up. “My dad taught me to, no matter what, find a way to keep customers satisfied,” Mayo said. “So across agriculture, transportation, construction, power generation, electric motor, industrial, consumer goods, and medical, we always help customers with what they need. And if for some reason we can’t do it, we help them find someone who can.” It’s a winning formula, and when it’s paired with the reliable support of Ellison Technologies, it results in one of the best job shop partners you can find. To read more, visit: https://www.ellisontechnologies.com/news/this-is-APT-Machining
If You Want To Go From Outsourced To In-House Machining, Read This GEN-Y Hitch has a winning template and an awesome origin story. ball mount machined parts Carl Borkholder didn’t plan on being in machining, but sometimes life throws a hitch at you. It all started when his tree cutting service had multiple trailers that needed different connections. There wasn’t an easy one-size-fits-all solution, so Carl went to work. He designed one hitch system for any trailer you back up to. He cut and welded everything himself and got it to work, and before long his crews and his friends were equipped with the invention. Soon after, he got a patent for it and started building them out of his garage. In 2012, he got out of tree cutting and founded GEN-Y Hitch. Their goal: to be the only hitch you’ll ever need. To read more visit: https://www.ellisontechnologies.com/news/GEN-Y-Hitch-has-a-winning-in-house-machining-template
Want To See What 5-Axis + Automation Success Looks Like? Look no further than Quali-Mac. If you have a need for precision aerospace, industrial, or defense parts, Quali-Mac (Bloomington, Minnesota) won’t let you down. Armed with state-of-the-art equipment and supremely knowledgeable employees, the company maintains 95% on-time deliveries while happily making continued investments in their machines and their team. It’s a recipe that has brought them consistent success, and Brady Bjorgaard (President of Quali-Mac) is not changing the formula anytime soon. “I learned a while back that if you’re not willing to invest in employees and technology, you’re going to be left in the dust,” he said. This is where Ellison and DN Solutions enter the Quali-Mac story. Read more by visiting: https://www.ellisontechnologies.com/news/want-see-what-5-axis-automation-success-looks-like
