In a new project, it can be better to use existing machines, even if it means reorganising the existing work programme in order to free up sufficient machining capacity for the additional work.When machine tools need to be upgraded to meet new productivity goals the original supplier can often help.

'The combination of robust, versatile and long-lived machines with a substantial, highly skilled and factory-trained workforce enables us to offer a second-to-none support service for customers wishing to increase the utilisation of their existing Heller horizontal machining centres' says Heller managing director Geoff Lloyd.'We have recently refurbished existing machines for a number of customers in order that they might be dedicated to new tasks - often in facilities in other parts of the world - and this can eliminate capital machine costs from the piece part cost.

'Most recently, we have assisted a major automotive manufacturer to make four existing MC 16 machines available for a new contract.'Initially, the manufacturer was to reorganise its existing production programme in order to accommodate work already being completed on the MC 16s.

In order to achieve this, Heller engineers provided a complete fixture design and manufacturing service so that work could move from the MC 16s to a larger MC 25 machine. This made four MC 16s available for the new work.

The task then facing Heller engineers was complex. A mirror project was already operating on Heller machines in the customer's North American sister company and the process had been written out by Heller's North American operation.

The protocol for Heller's Redditch engineers was to duplicate the North American process using four existing MC 16s, which had to be refurbished to achieve Cpk of 1.33 and 1.67.Local requirements also had to be taken into account by Heller's engineers in order to maximise process efficiency and profitability.

A further complication was that, although some of the machines were no longer in use, some were still in production.In addition to a complete refurbishment of the machines, Heller also designed and manufactured the eight fixtures necessary to machine the transmission housing and covers and supplied a full package of tooling.

Heller engineers visited the customer's plant to conduct a complete evaluation on each machine, all of which had been in continuous operation. Following the assessment, the machines were returned to Heller for refurbishment to as new factory specification.

Each of the machines was stripped to their individual components and the raw castings and then rebuilt as if they were new machines, using the same build and inspection routines.All the tables were reground and rebuilt, all the seals replaced, all the hydraulic feeds and interfaces were replaced, the spindle cartridge was replaced, ballscrews and scales were replaced.

The casting was subjected to a thorough geometric check and adjusted where necessary in order to meet the new protocol. All the sub assemblies were rebuilt to as-new spec.

While Heller was undertaking the refurbishment work, the equipment was modified in order to use an automatic loading system. Heller engineers assisted with the integration and commissioning the robot system as well as modifying its fixture design in order to accommodate the requirements of automated loading.

Says Geoff Lloyd: 'We are always delighted with a project such as this one. With our assistance, a customer has a new facility to handle a new contract at substantially reduced cost.

'The service we offer enables customers to attain maximum value from their Heller horizontal machining centres, allowing them to win new contracts or retain existing ones due to competitive pricing combined with repeatable high accuracies and rapid cycle times.'This project has been a good example of the essence of Heller - supporting the customer to achieve his objective easily and cost effectively whatever that objective maybe.'