Seco Tools earns the ISA American Eagle Value-Added Manufacturer Award by helping a production machine shop eliminate machining chatter and other production problems

by Rich Vurva

As a parts and components supplier for major manufacturers such as Caterpillar, John Deere and Allison Transmission, Morton Welding Company (MWC) faces a wide variety of tooling challenges. Based in Morton, Ill., the company provides precision machining of complex components, tubular fabrication, sub-assembly and assembly, and also designs and builds tooling and fixturing.

“Their ultimate success lies in timely and efficient production of parts, so they appreciate careful planning, reliable tooling, precision programming and state-of-the-art machining techniques,” says Ron Bawol, manager of distributor development for Seco Tools in Warren, Mich.

MWC recently faced a particularly challenging operation on a tight tolerance transmission component. When the shop needed to boost production, they recognized it was time to bring in outside expertise, and turned to Seco for assistance. Seco’s efforts earned it the 2008 American Eagle Value-Added Manufacturer Award from the Industrial Supply Association.

The problem
CNC operators suspected the solid carbide end mills they used to rough out circular pockets in the components were wearing out too quickly. They had made several adjustments to the depth of cut and cutting speed to minimize chatter, which eventually slowed machining time. The pockets were taking approximately 17 minutes to rough out per part. This caused the tool life to drop dramatically, and they were only roughing 12 parts before the end mill had to be resharpened and recoated.

Local cutting tools distributor Sanders Tools and Supplies asked Seco Tools technical specialist Scott Johnson to analyze the operation. Using Seco’s productivity Cost Analysis (PCA) software, Johnson and application engineer Ken Burch found a number of factors that led to the unacceptable tool life.

“They were using a solid carbide end mill and were having some chatter issues,” Johnson says. “Their answer was to add more passes to try to decrease the cutting force. It added a lot of cycle time.”

The solution
Johnson and Burch recommended replacing the solid carbide end mills with Seco Power Turbo indexable inserts. The solution generated dramatic results, reducing cycle time from 17 minutes to 1.2 minutes and increasing tool life from 12 parts to 60 parts, saving $4,900 a year in tooling cost alone.

“Seeing what was saved on this one tool made Morton Welding wonder what could be done if we looked at the complete process, from rough casting to finished part,” says Johnson.

So Johnson and Burch looked at additional machining processes within the shop and discovered four parts being machined using the same circular pocketing. Using the Seco Tools PCA software, they determined which process consumed the highest and lowest amount of machining time, and tested tools to determine the best tool for each machining operation. In the end, their efforts resulted in annual cost savings of $195,000, or a 63 percent reduction in both tooling and machining costs.

“While we analyzed the whole process, we didn’t go in and try to replace every tool. We recognized some tools didn’t have that big of an impact on what they were doing so it didn’t make much sense to replace those tools,” says Johnson.

Bawol says Seco technical specialists are constantly on the lookout for similar cost-savings opportunities.

“A project may take days to complete, depending upon the size of the operation,” he says. When needed, the local Seco sales technician will pull together a team of experts that may include an application engineer or product specialist. Using PCA software, they’ll analyze the cost of the tooling, labor, machining time and other parameters.

“We’ll evaluate the entire operation and come up with recommendations to lower costs,” says Bawol. “If a customer has a particular problem or part he doesn’t have time to test, we’ll actually bring a part back to our lab here and complete an entire process with our technicians and engineers and write up our recommendation.”

Over the past three years, Seco has documented more than $250,000 in cost savings for Morton Welding Co., and provided operator training for 120 MWC employees. As a result of the relationship, Morton Welding named Seco its preferred supplier for carbide tooling.

“I’ve always taken a long-term view. I strive to have long-term relationships with my customers,” Johnson says.

Bawol says Seco technical specialists are required to meet a specified dollar amount of cost savings every year. He says it’s not unusual for a salesperson to turn in annual customer cost savings of $1 million to $1.5 million. In 2007, the Seco sales team provided U.S. customers with $33 million in documented cost savings. Since 2002, Seco generated more than $146 million in documented cost savings, averaging more than $29 million per year.

“Carbide manufacturers all claim that they’re better than the next guy,” says Bawol. “As a result, customers perceive a lot of our products to be the same. Of course, we know that isn’t necessarily true. One way we can prove our case is to differentiate ourselves by offering services like these.”

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