Raving Fan: Orbit Machining

	CUSTOMER STORY
	Orbit Passes Saving onto Customers

Orbit1.jpg (24010 bytes)

by Jeff Everett

District Sales Manager

What is more important – being fast, or being productive? The way most companies look at their process, it is the same thing. This article focuses on the transition of one company from a focus on cycle time to a focus on productivity and profitability.

Orbit Machining is a contract machining business located in Franklin Park, Illinois. Founded by Wasyl Zarytsky in 1969 and now owned and operated by his son, George (pictured left). Working with his father since the inception of the company, George has seen more than his share of change in the machining business. Encouraging the original transition to CNC machines and driving the upgrade of machinery on a regular basis, George has maintained a competitive edge for his business. Today Orbit enjoys a position as one of the most technically advanced businesses of its type in the Chicago area.

Trained as an accountant, George was constantly aware that he could increase his profits by decreasing his cycle time and producing more with the same assets. This, as in most shops, became his focus. To this end he implemented the best tooling and regularly upgraded his machine tools to stay at the front of the technology curve. This philosophy also led him to begin purchasing Multi-tasking machinery. Through the use of these more sophisticated machines he sought to generate more productivity from his people and from his investment in the business. This cycle of self-analysis and improvement led Orbit through a succession of increasingly capable machine tools.

The new machine purchases for Orbit followed a progression familiar to those who have followed the development of technology in CNC machine tools. For his vertical machining centers he bought automatic pallet changers and then moved to horizontal machining centers to maximize efficiency. For the largest segment of his business, the turning department, the progression was more complex. Starting with traditional 2-axis machines, the first move was to 4-axis lathes to machine the parts faster. Following that a 3-axis lathe was purchased to make parts with secondary milling operations complete in one operation. Next was a twin turret lathe with milling function to complete complex parts more quickly. Finally they bought a twin-spindle, twin-turret machine with milling capability and as with their other machines added a barfeed. Still, as good as his machinery was, George felt his competitive advantage eroding.

A general lack of skilled labor in the marketplace and a lack of profit margin were hampering the growth of Orbit Machining. George decided that based on his initial success and available work that he would focus on a niche for his business – Multi-tasking. As the name implies, Multi-tasking is the simultaneous performance of different, complex tasks. His objective was to increase proficiency in this emerging technology to generate higher sales volume and profit margin. He projected he would be able to pass some of the savings on to his customers to earn their loyalty and still be able to capture more than enough additional profit to justify the investment. The ideal machine would out-produce a typical work center, complete the parts in a single set-up and not require any significant increase in personnel.

Although Orbit had remained loyal to one machine builder, they decided to research the entire market before making a decision that would affect the future direction of their company. After a great deal of research a decision was made to purchase their first Mazak, a Multiplex 6200Y with GL100F Gantry Robot. This fulfilled their objective to acquire a machine that was flexible for a wide range of work, completed virtually all workpieces in a single set-up and did not require adding any shop personnel. This machine has outperformed even the lofty goals they had for the machine at the outset.

"Even though this was our first Mazak and our first robot, this was the smoothest machine installation I can remember," according to George. Brian Kowal (pictured right), Shop Manager, had the machine producing parts the same day the installation was signed off, which was two days after the machine arrived. Although new to the Mazatrol machine language, Brian has had no trouble adapting. A veteran of G-code language, he programs the machine almost exclusively in Mazatrol because of the advantage it affords in productivity. "Learning the Mazatrol language was a piece of cake," says Brian. "We use it to program the majority of our work, but we still use G-code for some things. The Mazatrol control allows us to make the decision on how to program and easily blends the G-code with the Mazatrol."

According to George this new machine has renewed the edge for Orbit Machining. "Before the Multiplex I would compete on jobs and would be scratching my head trying to figure out how the other guy could make it for that price… now I know. This equipment has opened doors for us and allowed us to change the way we do business. We have been able to compete on a global scale because of our technical advantage. We’ve seen an increase in our profit per employee, productivity, efficiency and quality. All this while we decreased our direct labor and operating cost. Our deliveries have improved and throughput is up 30%." Brian says that "since the robot only takes 5-10 minutes to program we’ve done lot sizes of less than a hundred pieces and been more productive. Having the robot integrated to the machine has been an advantage for us and the whole machine has been easy to set-up and operate."

Because of their great success, they are already considering more multiplexes for the future. The self-analysis and improvement will continue at Orbit Machining, but for now George Zarytsky feels a great deal more comfortable about the level of technology of his shop and the competitive advantage he has earned.

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