St. Paul, MN (February 2, 2019) — The two new Matsuura 5-axis machining centers that are helping to open up new opportunities for Takumi Precision Engineering with help from Ceratizit UK & Ireland.
During its 20-years in business, Limerick, Ireland-based Takumi Precision Engineering has delivered consistent growth working across many sectors, including medical device, pharmaceutical, aerospace and precision engineering.
As it puts the finishing touches to its latest factory expansion that almost doubles floorspace to 40,000ft², the company is also driving its own productivity through adoption of new machining strategies.
The company recently added a Matsuura MX-850 5-Axis Vertical Machining Center and an MX-330 PC10 Vertical Machining Center.
“At Takumi we have always invested in high-end machine tool technology and are aware that there is no point in having this capacity without investing in the right tooling and software to maximize its capability,” says Gerry Reynolds, managing director, Takumi Precision Engineering.
“The combination of tooling, software, and machine capability allowed us to undertake work that previously wouldn’t have been commercially viable. In fact, I think we may simply not have been able to machine the parts full stop without the input from Ceratizit UK & Ireland through Shane their applications engineer, who came in at weekends to prove the WNT tooling and strategy would do what we wanted.”
Making these investments is a major commitment and one that needs a strong appetite for change, suggests Gerry Reynolds: “Change isn’t scary, but you have to embrace it and everyone within the business has to back-up the technology with enthusiasm, which is what we have at Takumi and why everything falls into place.
“Machining technology has moved on dramatically and, with the developments in tooling that we are seeing from WNT and manufacturing software, we aim to stay ahead of the wave. Being an early adopter of these technologies, we intend to make major gains from our willingness to invest.”
An example of this investment payback is in the medical sector, where Takumi has worked with WNT to significantly reduce lead-times by machining artificial femoral component complete in a single operation and at the same time eliminating previously required grinding and hand-finishing operations as Mr Reynolds explains.
“Prior to applying these new machining techniques these femoral components would require multi-machine processing that would result in extended lead-times measured in weeks; we now machine them from raw casting to finished part in under an hour by maximizing the machine tool’s capability with the right cutting tools and software.
“The long lead-times and convoluted supply chain on this project/product have been accepted as unavoidable, until now. By combining our experience gained across multiple industry sectors machining complex components, particularly aerospace where cost-down is accepted as the norm, we can approach any job without fear in the knowledge that we can machine it, and machine it efficiently. This must be a combined effort by all involved though from suppliers such as Ceratizit with their WNT tooling, through all of our people.
Takumi Precision Engineering’s way of working, investing in new technologies and strategies has worked well over the years. A big believer in cellular manufacturing, with typically four machines per cell, the company has driven efficiencies with growth emanating from the scaling up of existing business and the addition of new work.
Its only constraint over the past two to three years has been space, but the current extension that is nearing completion will allow a further two, four-machine cells to be introduced that will provide capacity for planned growth for a few years to come.
“Significant gains can be made if the desire to invest is there – which it certainly is at Takumi.”
Michael Tyrrell, Digital Coordinator at Production Engineering Solutions 2.1.19
Takumi Precision Engineering–www.takumiprecision.com
In the US, please visit MatsuuraUSA.com to learn about Matsuura’s automated palletized machining solutions.
Matsuura Machinery USA, Inc., located in St. Paul, MN is the U.S. subsidiary of Matsuura Machinery Corporation in Japan. Since 1935, Matsuura has been the forerunner in designing innovative technology and manufacturing solutions to a variety of industries around the globe. Matsuura Machinery USA, Inc. delivers unmatched excellence in 5-axis, vertical, horizontal, linear motor, multi-tasking CNC machine tools and machines with a powder bed metal AM platform with machining capability. Matsuura Machinery USA, Inc. provides the service, applications and technical field support that have always been the Matsuura standard for business. For more information on Matsuura products, contact: [email protected] or visit: www.matsuurausa.com.