As a high precision manufacturer of pneumatic and low-pressure tie-rod style cylinders for the fluid power industry, TRD Manufacturing out of Machesney Park, Illinois serves the MRO marketplace with products regularly specified as OEM components.
The delivery of their made-to-order cylinders were complicated by a wide variety of options and modifications, an ever-expanding product line and a just-in-time delivery schedule. Based on these factors, TRD realized they needed help to increase component production while maintaining fast turnaround times.
TRD turned to Advanced Machine and Engineering (AME), a local fixturing builder and supplier of machine tool components. They challenged AME to provide a solution that could hold 56 workpiece block sizes while running different parts on each side, yet had the flexibility to run multiple pallet loads of the same part in high production.
AME knew they could count on machining centers from Enshu to do the job. Ten custom modular tombstone-style fixtures worked in conjunction with an Enshu GE480H horizontal machining center (HMC) to increase production to the capacity they required. Featuring a 30”x30”x30” travel and a 180-position tool changer, this 40-taper HMC allowed for multiple configurations with the greatest machining flexibility.
With this solution, the Enshu GE480H was able to produce more than 450 final part varieties made from 1018 steel and 303 stainless and handling 56 different block sizes ranging from 1”x2”x2” up to 3”x9.5”x14”. Running two shifts per day, and even 24/7 during peak demand periods, TRD was not only able to reduce startup and downtime, but they’ve been able to improve production by more than 40 percent using the Enshu GE480H.
