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Butler Gear |
 MSI’s "Throughput Specialists" would like to thank Butler Gear for the confidence they have placed in MSI, Mazak, MT&S and Systems Financial Credit! Pictured (left to right): Lee Treuden, Patrick Pratt, Jerry Schultz, Tony Bellanti. |
by Scott Rosen Sr. Sales Engineer Brookfield, WI Butler Gear Co. Inc., located in Butler, WI was recently presented with the challenge of expanding their machining operation to accommodate one of their good customers. Butler Gear, founded in 1960 by Hilton Treuden, President and currently managed by his two sons, Tom and Lee, has the capability to gear hob, grind, wire EDM, broach, shape and manufacture gears up to 96 inch diameter. In 1983 they purchased their first CNC lathe and began their production machining division. Through the years Butler Gear purchased a variety of two-axis lathes and three-axis vertical machining centers. The number of parts in their customer’s part family and the resulting small lot sizes, accompanied by frequent set-ups, would force Butler Gear to look at this new project in a different light. |
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Butler Gear’s initial approach was to create a three (3) machine cell consisting of two (2) lathes and a vertical machining center. The parts would require first operation turning with a 4-jaw chuck. The parts would then be transferred to a second lathe with a 3–jaw chuck for a secondary turning operation. Finally, the parts would be fixtured in a vertical machining center for the final operation of drilling holes and milling a keyway. Butler Gear’s challenge was to deal with lot sizes of 25 to 275 pieces, with customer demands requiring very short lead times. Their customer would challenge them further by occasionally asking for smaller lot sizes of three to five pieces. How could they setup three (3) machines, maintain an assortment of tooling, fixtures, special jaws, and maintain the precision tolerances required on these parts while providing a competitive price to their customer? The solution was to purchase a Mazak Integrex 400SY multi-tasking machine tool. The machine was equipped with a 15" 4-jaw chuck on the main spindle and a 12" 3-jaw chuck on the second spindle. Jerry Schultz, Integrex operator and programmer can now machine parts complete in one machine, in one operation. Parts are loaded into the first spindle and transferred internally to the second spindle. The Integrex’s 40-tool magazine gives Butler Gear the ability to have almost every tool needed for any part in the part family resident in the tool magazine. This has significantly reduced set-up time. The 20 horsepower rotary tool function and Y-axis capability allows them to drill and tap holes, mill slots and keyways to precision tolerances. Butler Gear is ISO9002 certified, making quality their top priority. The Mazak Integrex gives Butler Gear the ability to complete their workpieces in one operation, thereby maintaining a higher quality part. Additionally a Renishaw touch probe is used orient parts in the chuck and check part quality during the machining operation. Patrick Pratt, Manufacturing Supervisor, said, "we don’t see ourselves ever buying anything but another multi-tasking machine again. The reduced set-up costs and resulting improved throughput associated with the Mazak Integrex has given us the ability to deliver higher quality parts to our customer when they need them." They hope to add another Integrex to their machining operation in the near future. MSI’s involvement with Butler Gear did not stop
with successful implementation of the Mazak Integrex. Tony Bellanti, Butler Gear Leadman,
has been working very closely with Greg Mazur, MT&S Sales Engineer, our joint venture
partner on a Sandvik tooling standardization program. This will help Butler Gear reduce
their tooling costs and increase their productivity. |
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