Located in Wichita, Kansas, Perfekta specializes in custom, precision aerospace manufacturing. It offers customers diverse capabilities in milling, trimming, forming, bending and assembly solutions. The company works with a wide range of materials common to the aerospace market, such as aluminum, stainless steel, titanium, inconel, monel, other alloys, phenolic, and fiberglass. It also works with extrusions, castings and forgings.

Wichita is home to many big names in aerospace manufacturing, including Boeing, Learjet, Cessna and Raytheon, which gives Perfekta a home-court advantage when bidding jobs. Nicholas Guerra, manufacturing engineer for Perfekta, describes the company as "a 115-employee manufacturing shop which focuses about 95 percent on aerospace work, and another 5 percent in the medical industry." In all, Guerra says, "Machining is our forte."

Most of the machining done at Perfekta is of small- to medium-sized aerospace structural parts. For the company's production needs, high speed machining has always seemed like an attractive option. Making the transition to high-speed machining to traditional machining performed on a vertical machining center was intimidating for the small company.

HIGH-SPEED MACHINING FOR GREATER PRODUCTIVITY

"We made an analysis on the type of parts we were machining in our current shop and computed the average run time. We discovered that, for the 100 part numbers we examined, their run times were anywhere from an hour and a half to three hours to machine in the conventional way," Guerra says. With that in mind, the company turned to high-speed machining in the hopes of seeing an estimated 300 percent improvement in machining times.

Perfekta then analyzed the machining time to produce these parts using high-speed machining and discovered the potential for dramatic improvement in machining time. Guerra added, "We decided we had to change." The company also analyzed their setup time and found dramatic savings were possible utilizing a managed cell over traditional, stand-alone machining centers. The cell minimizes setup time and controls production, ensuring the parts are produced when they are needed.

For its first horizontal machining center, Perfekta chose the A88E from Makino with the MMC pallet handling system. The Makino system has the Super Geometric Intelligence software (SGI) control feature, which permits much higher feedrates with measurably higher accuracy and shorter cycle times. highly advanced line of A-Series machining centers and a MMC pallet handling system.

"Our new Makino Machining Complex (MMC) with the Model B2 software cell controller provides us with programming characteristics that maximize production output while it effectively monitors multi-machine production requirements," Guerra says. "The PC-based system is designed to handle a wide variety of parts and provide for flexible production management. This means that we have eliminated setup time from 80 operations for as long as we produce the product. As we complete transition of parts to the cell, we expect to eliminate over 200 setups."

By means of example, he describes one case in particular. "We have an aluminum hog-out that we manufacture for Raytheon Aircraft that was taking us two hours and twenty minutes each to produce," he says. "That is because we used to machine the part partially on vertical machining centers. Then, because of a tight tolerance, we had an additional set-up on our conventional machines for a total of four set-ups. Now we machine the part complete in two setups on a horizontal machining center (HMC), and the whole process takes 27 minutes. We can already see the dramatic improvement; it is happening."

PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS

The A88E was ideal for Perfekta because it combines a high rate of metal removal with excellent chip control. Furthermore, their center trough design and chip conveyors have greatly improved Perfekta's chip handling.

The A88E has a 24.8" (630mm) square pallet with a maximum work zone of 39.4"d x 39.4"h (1,000 x 1,000mm) It accepts loads up to 2,640 lbs. (1,200kg). The A88E has an x, y and z-axis which travels 35.4 x 31.5 x 38.2" (900 x 800 x 970mm).

The rest of the Perfekta shop remains a convention shop with low RPM 3-Axis machining centers, meaning the A88E is truly an innovation for the company. Says Guerra, "The A88E is our first horizontal machining center, so we have the challenge of training our operators and our programmers from being in the vertical world and changing over to a horizontal world."

This challenge was further complicated by the adjustment in spindle speed. Perfekta chose the HSK-A100 spindle with the 18,000 RPM spindle option. Guerra says they made the choice for the enhanced metal removal rate and surface quality achieved with high RPM, but admits it caused something of a challenge at first. "Typically, most of our spindles in the shop right now run anywhere from 5,000 RPM to 10,000 RPM. This was another hurdle that we had to jump."

Makino's Super Geometric Intelligence™ (SGI) is another A-Series feature that Guerra appreciates. It permits high feedrates with measurably higher accuracy and shorter total cycle times. "Our current machines have a feed limitation because they can and will overshoot tight corners and tolerances if fed too fast. But Makino's SGI control will recognize when the machine needs to slow down in order to hold the geometrical integrity of the part. This permits the machine to produce a perfect part with maximum efficiency."

Perfekta also benefits from the pallet system, the first it has ever used. "The palletized system is unbelievable," Guerra says. "In just one month, we were running at an estimated 65 percent initial spindle utilization, and hope to achieve 90 percent utilization within the next few months once we convert more parts to the cell and get the machine fully loaded. Everyone here is ecstatic over those numbers considering spindle utilization on our vertical machines is sometimes less than 35 percent."

THE RIGHT CHOICE

Perfekta began the process of choosing a high-speed machining center in March 2000. The search led to some important discoveries, leading Perfekta to consider a wide range of companies and machines. But ultimately, reputation and support were the primary deciding factors. "What we discovered," says Guerra, "is that there are a lot of good machines out there, but we kept coming back to the fact that Makino had the support team that was going to show us how to take our machining to the next level. That is ultimately what made Makino come out on top."

Perfekta was reassured in its decision by Makino's promise to provide the in-depth training its people would need to make the most out of the new high-speed machining center. "We were taking a step into new technology that we were not totally comfortable with, but Makino assured us they would give us the training we would need."

That training consisted of special sessions at Makino's headquarters outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. Nicholas Guerra attended all of the sessions. He says the programmers' technology transfer training covered high-speed machining approaches and taught Perfekta programmers how to work with the company's specific machine. "They invited us to bring examples of the types of parts we were going to machine so we could discuss them in class. It very organized and documented training. Yet they tailored the classes to our specific needs."

Training of the machine operators was hands on. "Our operators went out onto their shop floor, where Makino had an identical model set-up, so they were able to train on the exact machine." Training for the MMC pallet system was done in the same way. "We used a simulator in our three day class, then worked with a pallet system installed on Makino's showroom floor." Guerra adds, "It gives you a whole different take on things when you are hands on, and you actually start to feel comfortable using the equipment."

When the time came to install the new machine, Guerra says the installation went smoothly. "Any problems that arose, they handled." Guerra says choosing Makino was the right decision for Perfekta. "We're very pleased with Makino. We're glad we not only picked them as our vendor, but we partnered with them and plan on doing more business with them in the future."

When acquiring new equipment, Perfekta always considers the machine's return on investment (ROI). With the A88E, the investment's high rate of return is easy to spot. "It is a big move for us because it is a huge investment for a shop like ours, but that investment is already paying off," Guerra says. "Initially, we were planning to pay for it over an estimated five-year period. It looks like if things keep running well, we can pay for it within two of years."

In addition to paying for itself, the machine promises to open up new opportunities for Perfekta. Nicholas Guerra is optimistic about the future. "This new MMC technology with B2 Controller provides us with tremendous potential. It will really open up our shop capacity and our ability to easily expand in the future. We are seeing opportunities from our customers that we have never seen before because of this Makino equipment. They are very excited about the capabilities and possibilities we can now offer them, and we are optimistic."

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