  |
||
|
MGS News 2007 11-2007: Gram Technology, MGS Create Alliance Nov 2007: Gram Technology, MGS Create Alliance: Gram Technology Inc. and MGS Manufacturing Group Inc. have formed a partnership aimed at bringing multishot molding to more injection molders. “We can offer turnkey solutions so that they can bring in new technology, but at a lower risk by using existing machines,” Gram Technology President Jes Gram said in a Nov. 6 phone interview. Gram’s capabilities include the SpinStack mold system, and the firm typically has been used by companies seeking multishot molding that requires tight tolerances. Traditionally, the Scottsdale, Arizona based firm has focused on mold makers and molders making high-end, high-volume products, particularly those that can invest in all-new equipment. MGS, a molder and toolmaker based in Germantown, Wis., meanwhile, has created molds and auxiliary equipment, including add-on portable injection units that allow molders to use existing press in multishot production. “What Gram and MGS can do together is walk into any customer, look at any program and, between the two companies, incorporate downstream production, assembly and molding into the press,” said MGS marketing director John Berg. A custom molder may see the benefits to automated, multishot production, but with a contract making only 150,000 parts per year, for instance, cannot afford to invest in a new, dedicated press for that part, Berg said. But that molder could improve manufacturing flow by using existing presses with auxiliary equipment that can be moved from one press to another. “My goal is to keep innovations moving, even on entry-level work,” Berg said. Both Companies have different benefits for their customers, Jes Gram said, but together can present a complete system. The partnership is new, but the companies already are working on finding new ways to use their individual strengths, including a collaboration to build a four-component, in-mold manufacturing system. -------------------- Jul 14, 2007 Today is Our 25th Anniversary: Moldmakers Incorporated officially started business as a Wisconsin corporation on July 14, 1982. -------------------- June 2007: Ghosts in the Moldmaking Machines: ATM—automated tool manufacturing—now allows the same number of moldmakers to produce twice as many technologically advanced molds in half the time it took them to produce half as many. In the future, you’ll only have a man and a dog in a manufacturing plant—a dog to make sure the man doesn’t fool with the machines and a man to feed the dog,” jokes John Berg, director of marketing at MGS Mfg. Group (Germantown, WI). No one needs to feed a dog in the company’s automated tool manufacturing (ATM) room. No dog in his right mind would stay there. It seems ghosts are manning the machines. Since installation began last January, MGS has created CIM (computer-integrated moldmaking) systems for manufacturing electrodes, cores, and cavities that are as close to being closed-loop as today’s technology allows. Integrated CAD/CAM/MRP data drive robotized machining centers, while EDM systems cut hardened steel and graphite around the clock to tolerance accuracies verified by lasers and coordinate measuring machines (CMMs). Constantly monitored via a Web-based video system, everything can be computer-controlled both onsite and off. If you think they spent this kind of money to cut its labor costs, you’re dead wrong. “No one lost jobs as a result of our investments in moldmaking automation. That wasn’t the reason we installed these systems,” says Brian Oelhafen, moldmaking program manager. “We wanted to get more work done with our existing workforce. Our president and CEO [Mark G. Sellers—a toolmaker by trade] wanted it that way. We made the investments necessary to increase our throughput.” “Our goal,” adds Berg, “was to get twice as much done in the same amount of time with the same amount of people.” Closed-loop moldmaking “But,” he continues, “with our more recent investment in tooling technologies to hold tighter tolerances and increase capacities and capabilities, we’ve directed our marketing and sales efforts on developing manufacturing solutions for markets like packaging, caps and closures, medical, dental, consumer disposables, electronics, and aerospace. We’re now dealing with jobs regularly involving molds with up to 96 cavities, molds with aggressive cycle times and lead times. “There’s a different mind set in the tool shop today and we’ve gained tremendous efficiencies with round-the-clock manufacturing.” Oelhafen adds, “We’ve never been late on a tool. Once we set a date we hit it, unless the customer changes it. We’ve been able to expand our capabilities and manufacturing capacity with automation and without necessarily knocking down walls, or adding a brand-new building.” The ATM room area was originally a process development molding lab housing 15 presses. Command and control for the ATM room is in engineering. Engineers, designers, and toolmakers collaborate to generate and verify “reference models” from CAD/CAM/ERP data that are used as templates by the ATM room’s machining centers to manufacture the tooling. They’re also used by the room’s CMMs to check critical dimensions of finished components against the original 3D CAD geometries, thereby closing the loop. “We spend a lot of time up front proving out our programs. After all, our high-speed machines can make scrap as fast as they can make good parts. Our goal is making good parts,” says Berg. Just getting started The room houses six wire EDMs, six sinkers, six high-speed/high-precision machining centers—three for graphite and three for steel—an assembly area at the far end of the room with 20-ton crane capacity, and four integrated CMMs. Oh, and there are robots in there, too . . . lots of robots. All the company’s conventional machines—grinders, mills, lathes, drills, and the like—are in another MGS toolroom. The ATM room produces both the quoted tooling and also “sister tooling”—interchangeable spares, and duplicate core and cavity pods—if ordered. Despite the successes already achieved, Berg and Oelhafen agree their company’s ATM room is a work in process. To eliminate multiple chucking setups, they already plan to replace some three-axis machines with five-axis machines, for instance. Don’t think for a minute that there aren’t any humans in the ATM room. Cell operators write the schedules for their cells, and they check and double-check the CMM’s comparative analyses. “Our technicians know what to check and they like to have final review of the inspection points,” says Oelhafen. “They ensure there’s no variability between what a piece of tooling is supposed to be and what it actually is. Our goal is to keep things running when no one is here.” Guess that dog’s going to get pretty hungry. -------------------- June 2007: Overhead Robot Feed Multiple EDM's, CMM: An overhead robotic system that loads and unloads six wire EDM machines and a CMM machine has enabled a major manufacturer of plastic molds and molded products to increase its level of automation and increase productivity. Moldmakers Inc. (Germantown, WI) is a member of MGS Mfg. Group, a full-service organization that services the plastic injection and blow molding industries throughout the US and globally. Founded in 1982, Moldmakers Inc. provides high-end engineering services and expedited mold-build capabilities, both to MGS Mfg. Group's custom molding operations and to outside customers. The company provides ready-to-assemble mold components accompanied by three-dimensional output that is verified automatically—much like a printer connected to a computer would print an engineering drawing. Moldmakers' John Berg explains: "The goal of our engineers and programmers is to feed 3-D, quality-controlled data directly into the manufacturing pipeline by creating a system that could machine steel or graphite, and subsequently measure and verify the accuracy and repeatability of the machining operations." Originally, the firm used several three-axis robots, each serving two EDM machines arranged in a circular layout to match the robot's reach pattern. "We integrated two wire EDM machines, the robot, and a storage/staging area. A web-based vision system was added to allow off-site monitoring," Berg says. To improve flexibility and efficiency, and optimize use of manufacturing floor space, company management decided to change to a linear layout for the six EDMs and a CMM. Moldmakers selected a Fanuc Robotics M-710iB/45T overhead rail-mounted robot from Fanuc Robotics America Inc. (Rochester Hills, MI). The robot is a six-axis, electric servodriven, articulated gantry robot designed for material handling and machine tending. To design and integrate the system, Moldmakers partnered with Promatech LLC, (New Berlin, WI). A major problem to be overcome was that the wire EDM machines did not communicate the same way because they were not all made by the same manufacturer. As a result, Promatech engineers needed to develop a communications method that could be used with the Fanuc and Mitsubishi EDM machines, as well as with a Zeiss CMM. The entire process of developing the system, from the first quote until the system was up and running, took just over a year. Glenn Szpot, automation/quality control at Moldmakers says: "We're able to run it around the clock now, and it's definitely living up to the expectations we had." The rail on which the robot travels is about 83' (21.5-m) long, not including guarding and other details. The layout is arranged with four wire EDM machines and the CMM on one side of the rail, and two wire EDM machines plus pallet storage on the other side. While the system currently serves these seven machines, it can handle up to 10 stations, allowing expansion within the same space by adding EDM machines or auxiliary equipment. Sean Wells, an automation engineer at Promatech, says the company would have had to set up three separate cells with three-axis robots, each serving a maximum of three EDM machines, to achieve similar results. "The gantry design we used cost about two-thirds as much, and the individual cells would not have interconnected with each other. They also would have required an operator to go from one cell to the next, which would have been less efficient." In addition, he says it would have been difficult to integrate the CMM machine into the process. Promatech developed and programmed the human-machine interface (HMI) that controls the operator interaction. It implements the instructions to the robot, and also manages the status of which cell locations are occupied and which are available for storage. "There are a number of storage/staging locations specifically set aside for an operator to input or remove parts, Wells explains. "Once they introduce a part, everything is automatic until you bring the finished part back out of the system. The system handles it all the way from the storage shelves through the machine, the CMM, and finally to the outbound shelf." The HMI is PC-based. It uses Interact X from the CTC Division of Parker Automation Technologies (Milford, OH), enabling the different machines and the robot to communicate. Wells explains, "Because the machines operate in different languages, we put a Mitsubishi PLC into some machines. This allows the machine to talk to the PLC, which, in turn, communicates with the PC via an Ethernet connection. The PC can be in a separate office or even off the premises." This approach allows Moldmakers to operate the system continuously, even when an operator is not present. Wells says, "They can check error logs or change the status of any operation from almost anywhere." Because the cells are equipped with Web cams, they also can see what is happening in real time. Once a Moldmakers' programmer downloads a program to a machine, that machine asks the robot for whatever part it needs for the operation. Operators can load parts into the system at a limited number of locations, from which the robot picks them up and moves them to a machine or storage. "The operator goes to a screen and tells the robot what piece is being loaded into a cell. The robot then stores it and remembers its location." If the CMM, for example, calls for a certain pallet, the robot brings it to the machine and the machine doors close. The operator then runs the necessary procedure, and the CMM computer calls for the pallet to be removed and another one delivered." Data are memory-resident in the system, so a power loss will not cause a loss of the storage location data. Promatech engineers designed the system with a passageway or tunnel underneath the rail at the center of its length to eliminate the need for operators to walk all the way around when they need to reach the other side. Wells points out that the tunnel also was designed to withstand impact from the robot in case of any program malfunction. Safety is provided by light curtains and safety keys from Sick (Minneapolis). Wells notes, "We have a safety door at each machine location that is equipped with safety sensors that allow the door to move down so the robot can go over the side of the machine. The operator is in front, and if the operator goes through the light curtain, the robot will pause. As long as the door is closed, the operator can do whatever is necessary, but when the door opens, the light curtain becomes active to prevent anyone from reaching into the machine." This approach makes it unnecessary to completely block the machines with a light curtain, which would prevent interaction and shut down the entire system instead of the individual machine. In addition, the light curtain helps provide added flexibility for the system. "They can take a machine out of the system and operate it manually, to run a prototype, for example. Each wire EDM unit is part of the system, but it also can operate independently, because the light curtain guards each machine rather than the whole side of the system," says Wells. Berg says that one major benefit of the new system is its ability to work around the clock and provide ongoing, comprehensive reports of its activity. "When the programmers and toolmakers open their e-mails in the morning, they receive automatically generated reports. They can go through them quickly, and inspect the data to verify that the materials moved through the system and were measured to ensure the accuracy of the machining operations to meet customer requirements. -------------------- June 2007: Future Investments: In response to the shrinking pool of skilled labor in the United States, the MGS Foundation, an organization formed by the MGS Mfg. Group, has donated more than $150,000 in scholarships and grants to students, schools, and colleges located in Wisconsin in recent years through its MGS Scholarship Fund. Mark G. Sellers, president and CEO, established the MGS Scholarship Fund to provide financial assistance to students pursuing careers in manufacturing — underprivileged students, in particular. The Foundation, which also actively educates teachers and parents about exciting and rewarding career options available to them in manufacturing, promotes manufacturing careers at high school functions and college fairs. It helps to convene workshops and joint ventures between high schools and technical colleges. It provides financial support for high school technical education departments to purchase modern technical tools and equipment. And it also provides financial support for the certification of technical instructors, according to John Berg, director of marketing for the company. The MGS Mfg. Group also provides technical support through workshops, internships, and apprenticeships under the State of Wisconsin Indentured Mold Making and Design Apprenticeship programs. Berg says that more than 45 of the company’s toolmakers and mold engineers received their Journeyman Certification—a five-year program involving 10,400 hours of formal education and on-the-job training—while serving and completing their state apprenticeship at MGS. Also, both the MGS Foundation and the MGS Mfg. Group are active members of the Germantown Chamber of Commerce. Berg cochairs the Germantown Chamber’s Manufacturing Alliance focus group, which includes several local manufacturers working with local schools to develop programs that will promote the community’s appreciation of the impact of manufacturing on local education, labor, and economics. The focus group, which has sponsored job fairs and plant tours, meets regularly with school administrators, teachers, and students. -------------------- June 2007: Worker Skills Make MGS Automation a Success: This is what mold-making automation looks like: On one side of the MGS Mfg. Group’s tooling operations, six Fanuc wire electrical discharge machines are lined up – four on one side of the enclosed manufacturing cell, two on the other. An overhead rail and robotics system moves molds from one station to the next, taking them down the line in perfectly controlled movements. At the end of the line, each mold goes through a complete computerized measurement inspection. An Internet-linked video camera tracks the progress, allowing anyone the chance to check in on production. A few steps away, there are three separate automated high-speed milling cells in action – each with two machines, more integrated robotics and coordinate measurement machine inspection equipment. All of that equipment – all of those machines – is not there to remove the human skills from mold making though, MGS maintains. Instead, it is using technology to multiply the individual mold makers’ capabilities. “He has more than 20 years of experience,” John Berg, marketing director, said, pointing to a mold maker overseeing an automated EDM cell during a May 15 tour of MGS’ Germantown operations. “We don’t want him standing next to a press with a clipboard in his hand just inputting the numbers into just one machine. We want him everywhere.” Ninety percent of the molds built at MGS go through some element of the automated production line. It is not a question of just replacing skilled workers with machines. MGS has 100 mold makers on staff. It has not lost any of them to automation, he said. And the firm still produces specialized tools that need more hands-on expertise. With automation, mold makers can do both. “We use brainpower and experience where it counts the most.” MGS is one of a handful of firms that have created fully automated lines, said Jeff Mengel, a principal with consulting group Plante & Moran PLLC in Southfield, Michigan. It has taken technology further by thinking of itself less as a mold maker and more as a complete systems supplier for customers. MGS has a history of shifting with changing business climates. When its primary customers in the telecommunications industry moved production overseas, the firm had to find new contacts. Its expertise in complex, high-volume, multi-cavity mold making led it into consumer products, packaging and medical industries. It also has a built-in customer in TecStar Manufacturing, its sister molding operation located just across the parking lot. But TecStar buys only 20 percent of MGS’ molds, so it cannot carry that business single-handedly. Technology and automation became a new competitive tool for MGS and its 100 mold makers as it faced pressures to cut costs and speed delivery. “We’ve had to reinvigorate the business, “Berg said. “We’ve had to reinvigorate the business, “Berg said. The ideas to automate came from the mold makers themselves. They came up with the plans for the six-machine EDM cell, they selected the robots, they planned the layout. Mold makers also created the automation cells for high-speed machining. They are not sole systems for every project, though, Berg noted, but they are used extensively, with about 90 percent of all MGS molds going through some stage in the automation cells. And they are a key sales edge for high-volume, multi-cavity molds in which customers require the first cavity on the first tool precisely match the 14th cavity on the third tool. Automation reduces the potential for human error. -------------------- Mar 2007: Thinshot at the MGS Mfg. Group: Among recent installations of the Thinshot systems one application stands out. Polyshot recently constructed a 32 Thinshot valve gate system (2 rows of 16 nozzles) for a consumer application that was ordered from MGS Mfg. Group in Germantown, WI. This vertically molded application includes an overmold of a pre-stamped, .0015" thick stainless steel strip that is fed into the mold in a "reel to reel" fashion. The mold clamps over the strip and the material (K-resin) is injected through the Polyshot hot runner system, into .037" diameter valve gates and finally the 32 individual mold cavities. The strip is supported in the mold cavity by 14 strategically placed core pins. The fill pressure is critical to this particular application as the wall thickness of the overmolded material is as thin as .021". The hot runner system also features a dual rack actuated valve gate mechanism, which is hydraulically driven with a single cylinder off to the side of the hot half system. This system was needed because of molding machine shut height limitations that required the valve pin actuation to be extremely thin. The MGS Mfg. Group is no stranger to challenging applications. With several divisions that include: Moldmakers Incorporated, TecStar Mfg. Company and Statistical Plastics Corporation, MGS Group is a big operation that has a reputation of being able to deliver on complex turn key projects with a specialty in multi material molding and equipment. Of particular note is the Universal Multishot Systems (UMS) Portable Injection Unit/UMS Rotary Platen Unit MGS manufactures, that allows a conventional molding machine to be converted into a multimaterial machine. MGS also supplies complete automation services and equipment to complement its line of molding machinery. Polyshot has had past experience running its hot runner systems on machines fitted with the UMS system and is particularly impressed with its ability to easily interface through the existing machine's RS232 port. The multimaterial injection unit bolts to the machine (typically the top) in about an hour, gets plugged in to the RS232 and is ready to go. -------------------- Jan 2007 Germantown Manufacturers Alliance Tours: On Saturday, January 27, 2007, we were one of seven Germantown area manufacturing facilities that opened our doors to provide tours to interested students and parents. The tours presented information regarding the many career opportunities available in the local manufacturing community, and provided a look at the technologies Germantown companies use to do business locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. The final event of the day featured a presentation by a representative of Milwaukee Area Technical College who discussed educational opportunities. This event was sponsored by the G-Town Manufacturers Alliance, a dedicated group of Germantown business professionals whose goal is to increase and improve community awareness of manufacturing's impact on local education, labor, and economics. --------------------
|
MGS MFG. GROUP MGS Home Markets We Serve Program Management Awards/Acclamations Community Involvement Certifications Contact & Facilities Request For Quote News & Events Literature Employment Educational Tools FAQ's |
