Turnaround
Ontario job shops regain momentum with machining capability, capacity
March 1, 2011
Having large equipment gives the shops a competitive advantage.
Lorenzo Di Chiazza of DMI Precision Inc. and Vantage CNC Machining Ltd., both in Mississauga, Ont., had thought he had seen it all during his many years in the machining industry. But when a high-profile government machining contract went overseas, all he saw was red.
“Our industry was traumatized recently, and I sometimes wonder if the government is even aware of what we do and how important jobs like these are,” said Di Chiazza. “We can’t all jump on the ‘green’ bandwagon, there are only so many shops, and not enough work for everyone in that one sector.”
According to Di Chiazza, whenever a single contract is offshored, it hurts not just his company, but the local economy as well.
During the recent downturn, DMI Precision fought hard to keep its employees working. It had to cut employment costs and eventually began to use the government Work-Sharing program.
“We were able to keep all of our workers except in one case, and now we are busier than we have been in two years,” said Di Chiazza. “I wonder if our politicians know how hard we had to fight to stay in business while they are watching work go overseas.”
DMI Precision is a family business, with son Anthony holding the role of plant manager. Another son, Joseph, is also active in the company, managing engineering and CNC programming. Longtime friend John Spizzirri is a business partner and vice president.
“Look at how many jobs we create, not just here at the shop, but in the neighborhood as well,” said Spizzirri. “We are just one shop but we influence all of our suppliers, local businesses, even the coffee truck.”
DMI and Vantage, neighbors since 2009, have a unique relationship. Although they are run as two separate companies, a job often passes through the doors of both shops, and Di Chiazza is a partner in both.
Cylindrical Shaft Production
The company is best-known for the production of cylindrical shafts. In the 20,000-sq.-ft. plant, parts are turned, milled, and ground to completion. Using a self-centering steady rest on a Mazak Slant Turn 50 horizontal lathe enables the company’s machinists to turn beyond the traditional length limits without repositioning the part. The steady rest (see right) is programmable and positions itself automatically during production.
Steady rests are necessary for the manufacturing of long shafts, which can bend when load is applied.
“In our setup, we can pick up a bar from the floor in a raw state and put it back on the floor as a finished part,” said Di Chiazza.
The goal is to completely finish the machining of a part in one setup. This enables DMI to flow parts through the shop in an efficient manner, keep each station busy, and reduce work-in-process (WIP). It also makes delivery times more predictable and reduces the final cost per part.
The biggest shaft that can be processed by the company’s turning centers is 120 in. long with a diameter up to 24 in. Typical shaft work falls into the range of 6 to 12 in. diameter and 60 to 90 in. long, though.
A mix of power generation, aerospace, and injection-molding work keeps DMI’s 18 employees busy, and the company has even been running two shifts on some equipment since November 2010.
“We want to bring in the more complex machining work, because the simple work can be produced elsewhere,” said Spizzirri. “We have the equipment, the staff, and the expertise to work on even the most complex parts in the most challenging materials.”
By making use of the long-bed lathe and also a TOS 2-m cylindrical grinder and Kafo vertical machining center, the company can process all of a part’s critical features in one shop, and the part can be ground to the necessary finish tolerance.
“With these three machines alone we can finish a job completely before it heads out the door,” said Di Chiazza.
The company has an ongoing goal of process improvement, and this means reinvestment through machine tool, tooling, and software purchases. DMI is also looking forward to becoming AS-9000-certified – the basic quality system standard for the aerospace industry.
“Our machines and staff are very suitable for this type of work, and we will always make capacity available for new customers,” said Di Chiazza.
Running a job shop is about more than just machining parts, something the Di Chiazzas and Spizzirri found out early on.
“When we first went into business we were a little nervous because the practice of business ownership was new to us,” said Di Chiazza. “We had faith in ourselves, though; we knew machining. But it definitely was a little leap of faith at the beginning.”
Banking, accounting, employee relations, government relations, and corporate taxes were all new to the group.
“Ignorance was probably a good thing,” joked Spizzirri. “Looking back, we probably would do some things differently, but we were determined to make it work.”
Another Vantage Point
Across a narrow, paved driveway from DMI Precision sits Vantage CNC Machining, a custom job shop that has been in operation since 1982. Vantage also produces parts for the aerospace, power generation, and injection-molding sectors, but on a different scale.
Produced at this job shop typically are large-diameter, thin-walled parts.
Di Chiazza previously had worked at Vantage and returned to the company as co-owner in 2007.
“In the beginning we did small parts, but as we brought in bigger machines, we started producing large, complex parts with many hours of machining in them,” explained Vantage co-owner Guido Taglieri. “Customers, especially our aerospace and power generation customers, began to ask for larger and larger parts, and we wanted to be able to provide them.”
Because of these customer requests, most of the company’s equipment has one thing in common: It’s large.
The workhorses of the shop include CNC horizontal boring mills (HBMs) and CNC vertical turret lathes (VTLs).
“These machines have very large work envelopes, and that allows us to produce parts in sizes that our customers are asking for,” said Taglieri.
The HBM has X, Y, Z axis travels of 98 in. by 60 in. by 57 in. and a rotary table that is 54 in. by 60 in. It also has a 60-tool automatic tool changer.
The VTLs have a 12-position automatic tool changer, a maximum swing diameter of 90 in., and can accommodate parts up to 60 in. high.
“Having equipment of this size gives us a very unique competitive advantage compared to other shops,” said Taglieri.
Because Vantage produces parts for the aerospace and power generation industries, the materials being cut on the shop floor can be difficult to work with. INCONEL® alloy 718, Waspaloy®, titanium alloys, and Nitronic® 50 stainless steel all create machining challenges, especially in the thin-walled cutting applications commonly found at Vantage.
“These are very exotic materials,” explained Di Chiazza. “Most people don’t even want to touch this stuff, but this is exactly the type of work we want. We have the equipment and the knowledge base to make parts out of these materials.”
It takes a lot to be able to keep up with the changing needs of industry. New machine tools, software, and cutting tools often can reduce machining times and costs.
“The new grades of cutting tools can handle these materials much better today than in the past,” said Taglieri. “Selecting the proper tool geometry is also essential to be able to remove material with accuracy and speed.”
Large-part Fixturing
When you are creating thin-walled parts, workholding is very important. No lateral force can be applied. Vibration, an enemy in any type of machining, is very difficult to overcome when the part has a large diameter and thin walls.
In addition, when parts take many hours to produce, perfection is often a necessity, because of the costs involved.
“When you do one-offs, you have to be perfect,” said Taglieri.
Also, when you are running a very large part, even a 10 percent saving in cycle time can mean hours saved.
“Continual process improvement is very important in our business,” said Di Chiazza. “We are always trying to reduce cycle times and improve material removal rates.”
For example, the company recently produced a part that was taking 23 hours of machining time to complete. Then, over time, it was able to reduce the cycle time to 18 hours, then to 16 hours, and finally to about 12 hours on one of its VTLs, through the use of new tooling and machining techniques.
“We must always improve or we will be out of business,” said Taglieri. “Even a small amount is beneficial.”
An overhead crane is necessary to move raw material and finished parts around the shop, and safety is a primary concern.
Taglieri admitted the company’s biggest challenges are often overcome by experience. The operators have learned on the job and are not intimidated by the large machines and large parts.
“Safety is a No. 1 concern when large parts are being made. Large parts do not forgive,” said Taglieri.
Even with advances in technology and on-hand expertise, the future of this company depends heavily on outside factors, such as the health of the economy.
“In 30 years of business we never saw it as bad as it was recently. We are glad that it is turning around,” said Taglieri.
For more information, visit www.dmiprecision.com and www.vantagemachineshop.com.
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