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The Best Practices for High-Volume, Precision Machining

Those who manufacture parts for the automotive, defense and industrial industries (among others) are increasingly turning to world-class machine shops that offer a high-volume, precision machining service in addition to a host of supplementary, value-added services.

If you are in search of a new machining partner who can help you reduce cycle times and contain costs, look for one that offers cutting-edge equipment – including both multi-spindle and rotary transfer machines – and a variety of additional services – like secondary operations, vertical integration and in-house engineering, tooling and automation.

An overview of the equipment, services and processes to look for is presented below.

Multi-Spindle Machining

As the name suggests, multi-spindle machines use multiple spindles machine parts. The spindles perform distinct tooling operations on an individual part at the same time. Multi-spindle machines work accurately and efficiently – and are ideally suited to complex, high-volume primary operations. Because of this, they are commonly relied upon to machine parts used in safety-critical applications.  

Multi-spindle machining is flexible and can either be conventional or fully CNC programmable depending on your product needs and specifications.

Rotary Transfer Machining

Rotary transfer machines use various machining stations surrounding a large indexing table to manufacture parts. Rotary transfer machining capabilities include external and internal recessing, drilling, milling, cross-drilling, boring, turning, threading, tapping, and broaching. Once a cycle is complete, the table rotates and delivers the part to the next machining station.

Rotary transfer machines are customizable and commonly used for intricate metalworking jobs. Like multi-spindle machines, rotary transfer machines work quickly – and are, impressively, capable of machining very complex components in seconds. They are frequently used to create high volumes (generally in the millions) of complex parts that demand precision.

Secondary Operations

In addition to multi-spindle and rotary transfer machines, look for a machining partner that offers a multitude of essential secondary operations, including:

Interior (ID) and outer diameter (OD) grinding

Deburring using robotics, electro-chemical deburring (ECD), tumbling, and media blasting

Coin and leak testing

Lapping

Blasting for texture

Sub-assembly

Heat treatment

100% automated inspection

When secondary operations and machining are executed by the same partner, it eliminates the time and costs associated with transportation. As an added benefit, your team won’t have to spend as much time or as many resources managing various vendors and overseeing multiple projects.

Vertical Integration

To further accelerate turn times and drive costs down, look for a machining partner who maintains partnerships with local service providers. Vertical (or near-vertical) integration allows machinists to expedite logistics for most high-volume, precision applications – like machined automotive parts.

In-House Engineering, Tooling & Automation

A machining partner with an in-house design engineering team can increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of machining high-volume, precision parts. By custom designing solutions – and not relying on off-the-shelf solutions – your machining partner can meet exacting needs quickly.

The most valuable partner will have a dedicated team of engineers who create custom EDM technology, CNC tooling grinding, and other tools – and offer custom-built automation equipment and inspection automation.