Article Archives


MAKING PARTS ON A SWISS/LASER MACHINE

Posted on February 2018 by Modern Machine Shop, Gardner Media

Adding laser cutting to Swiss-type machining is helping this shop do more work for its customers in the medical industry. The inherent flexibility of the Swiss-type machine tool configuration has been greatly enhanced with the application of CNC servomotor actuation in the place of mechanical cams. This trend continues with the development of CAD/CAM programming software that makes the transfer from design to tool path ever more efficient and user friendly.

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MEDICAL MACHINING SHIFTS INTO HIGH GEAR – WITH A LASER ASSIST

Posted on July 2018 by Manufacturing Engineering, SME Media

What started out as a 10’x30’ rented space in his dad’s shop has grown to 5000sq.ft. of CNC Swiss manufacturing. Pacific Swiss & Manufacturing has nine Citizen CNC Swiss machines. They added three last summer and expect to need a few more by 2018.

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PACIFIC SWISS AND MANUFACTURING – GOING BIG BY MACHINING SMALL

Posted on June 2017 by CNC West, Arnold Publications Inc.

What started out as a 10’x30’ rented space in his dad’s shop has grown to 5000sq.ft. of CNC Swiss manufacturing. Pacific Swiss & Manufacturing has nine Citizen CNC Swiss machines. They added three last summer and expect to need a few more by 2018.


MOVING INTO MEDICAL MACHINING

Posted on January 2017 by Modern Machine Shop, Gardner Media

A background in aerospace manufacturing provided this company with the skills it needed to begin medical machining. Market diversification is central to protecting a company’s bottom line: If there is a downturn in one area, others will be stable, thereby mitigating any related loss of revenue. That’s why most machine shops are constantly on the lookout for opportunities to enter new markets. Using existing expertise and capabilities as leverage is one way to determine the best market to pursue. Are there similarities between parts you’re already producing and those you’d like to produce? Does your process knowledge form a strong enough foundation to build upon if learning new machining techniques will be required?

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MICROMACHINING ON A CNC SWISS LATHE

Posted on July 2016 by Modern Machine Shop, Gardner Media

By moving up from a standard lathe to a Swiss-type machine, this company can now bid on making small, complex parts it wasn’t able to in the past, while also slashing cycle times on legacy parts. The best thing about keeping a file of bids you couldn’t quote in the past due to part complexity and the limits of your shop’s capabilities is that, once you do invest in the right equipment, you can revisit that record and hopefully win the bid the second time around.

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MACHINE MONITORING IN A CNC SWISS SHOP

Posted on July 2016 by Modern Machine Shop, Gardner Media

Bold moves put this company well on the road to data-driven manufacturing.Gary Bruner, the president of Carolina Precision Manufacturing (CPM) in Mooresville, North Carolina, “discovered” the remarkable value of machine monitoring shortly after he had a system installed late in 2015. CPM is a CNC Swiss shop that specializes in small-diameter, close-tolerance turned parts that it produces for a range of customers, the majority of them in aerospace.

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PROCESS CONTROL IN THE MEDICAL SHOP

Posted on January 2016 by Production Machining

For this shop, successful delivery of medical and dental components is about proper process and machine tools that can handle the job. The journey into medical machining sometimes can be a little intimidating for a shop.

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A SWISS-TYPE TURNING POINT

Posted on January 2016 by Modern Machine Shop, Gardner Media

The lessons this shop learned after purchasing its first Swiss-type turning center nearly two decades ago are now being applied to larger multi-spindle and multi-turret lathes for bigger and more complex parts. Whether it was a big contract, a new machine or technology, a particularly smart hire, or an unexpected epiphany, most machine shop owners can recall a point at which their company embarked on a new course and fundamentally changed in some lasting and remarkable way.

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MARUBENI EXPANDS NORTH AMERICAN HQ

Posted on January 2015 by Production Machining

On Nov. 19 and 20, Marubeni Citizen-Cincom (MCC) hosted an open house to celebrate the expansion of its North American headquarters in Allendale, New Jersey. The guest list of almost 300 was made up of customers, Japanese executives, distributors and current employees from as far west as California and as far south as Florida. This expansion comes on the heels of MCC’s new Mexican office that opened in Queretaro last month.

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SHOP’S SUCCESS TURNS ON SWISS-TYPE TECHNOLOGY

Posted on August 2012 by Modern Machine Shop, Gardner Media

During the past few decades, the Swiss-type lathe has evolved from a niche product to a go-to platform for done-in-one production of small precision parts. This shop has evolved right along with it.

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TECHNICAL MEMBER PROFILE: MARUBENI CITIZEN-CINCOM

Posted on August 2011 by Production Machining

Marubeni Citizen-Cincom (MCC) was founded in 1984 to market and service the company’s line of Swiss-type turning centers. Marubeni Citizen-Cincom (MCC) was founded in 1984 to market and service the company’s line of Swiss-type turning centers.

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WHAT SHAPES A SHOP

Posted on January 2011 by Modern Machine Shop, Gardner Media

Marshall Manufacturing melds CNC machining and 3D bending to create intricate medical components from small-diameter barstock and tubing. Customer needs spurred the shop to carve out what has become a successful medical-manufacturing niche.

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PROBING BEYOND PRISMATIC

Posted on April 2009 by Modern Machine Shop, Gardner Media

This manufacturer has used on-machine probing to help automate setups and maintain process control for prismatic parts produced on VMCs for years. The metrology products maker recently implemented probing strategies that let it achieve similar results on its turn-mills and Swiss-types.

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IT BEGINS WITH BELIEF

Posted on January 2008 by Modern Machine Shop, Gardner Media

This shop’s approach to unattended machining focuses on the big picture. At Highland Products, a Mentor, Ohio-based job shop specializing in CNC Swiss-type machining, unattended production is more than just a process—it’s a philosophy. While high-tech equipment and machining expertise contributes to the shop’s success,

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CAM SOFTWARE AS A CREATIVITY TOOL

Posted on November 2006 by Modern Machine Shop, Gardner Media

This job shop relies on its CNC programming software to unlock the productivity of its multi-axis, multi-tasking machine tools and CNC Swiss-type machines. The formula for this job shop’s success is simple: Be better than the competition at making complex precision parts on complex, high-tech machine tools.

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SERVING THE HUMAN MACHINE

Posted on April 2003 by Modern Machine Shop, Gardner Media

A New Hampshire manufacturer spurs growth by expanding the medical segment of its business. The American metalworking industry thrives on complexity. As the designs of modern products and systems become more sophisticated, the value of precision in manufacturing processes and resource management increases substantially.

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SIZING UP THE MANAGEMENT CHALLENGE

Posted on January 2001 by Modern Machine Shop, Gardner Media

This company, which has a half dozen machining plants in the greater Minneapolis area, excels in numerous metalworking activities and is considered one of the country’s best and most diverse job shops.

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