01.05.2019
Mikuni India steigert Produktivität dank PKD-Werkzeugen von MAPAL
Kombinationswerkzeuge reduzieren die Bearbeitungszeit eines Vergasergehäuses signifikant
Wenn es darum geht, bei bestehenden Fertigungsprozessen die Produktivität zu steigern, setzt Mikuni India Private Limited auf MAPAL. Für die Bearbeitung eines Vergasergehäuses hat MAPAL deshalb neue PKD-Kombinationswerkzeuge konzipiert. Mit Erfolg: Mikuni fertigt heute deutlich schneller, dadurch kann das Unternehmen auf den Einsatz eines kompletten Bearbeitungszentrums verzichten.
Herausforderung: Produktionsmenge an Vergasern erhöhen
In 2017, Mikuni India faced the challenge of increasing the production volume of carburetors. “Mikuni approached us with the request to considerably accelerate the machining process for large-scale production,” Thanigaraj Sripathy, Managing Director of MAPAL India, remembers.
When carburetor housings are manufactured from an aluminium alloy, the challenging machining of the piston bore and throttle bore are the most time-consuming operations and contribute substantially to the overall cycle time. This was reason enough for the tool specialists at MAPAL to scrutinise these two bores and their machining processes. In the machining process used previously, individual tools with ISO indexable inserts were used for finishing.
PCD combination tool for the throttle and piston bores
The MAPAL team determined that there was great room for improvement here. “We developed a PCD tool that fine machines both the piston and the throttle bores in a single shot,” explains Sripathy. As PCD tools are produced at the MAPAL subsidiary in India, the new tools could be delivered after a short lead time and used immediately.
MAPAL designed a two-stage PCD combination tool for fine machining the piston bore. Four brazed PCD cutting edges are used for boring (21 mm diameter) and two are used for spot facing (30 mm diameter). The machining is performed with a cutting speed of 250 m/min and a feed rate of 600 mm/min.
A three-stage PCD combination tool with two boring steps (diameters of 24.016 mm and 24.664 mm) with two respectively four cutting edges as well as a stage for spot facing (34 mm diameter) uses the same cutting parameters to manufacture the throttle bore in one shot.
Save a huge amount of time in the overall process
Krishan Gopal, Production Manager at Mikuni India, is impressed: “The tool solution from MAPAL not only reduces the machining time significantly. We also don’t need to use a further machining centre, which frees up capacities. We work with considerably higher cutting speeds and machine the bores in one shot. This allows us to save a huge amount of time in the overall process, which is excellent.”
The set target was reached, and productivity was increased considerably. The company now manufactures 2,400 housings per day. Following this successful process optimisation, the Mikuni management distinguished the project as the best kaizen improvement project of the year. The whole team at Mikuni India is very satisfied with the results achieved using the solutions from MAPAL. And so, parts of this type are to be machined with MAPAL tools in the future, too.