PCDで最適な深穴加工

Harzgerode工場 で製造されている部品は、アルミダイキャストのクラッチハウジングです。 製造させてました部品は、さまざまな大手自動車メーカーに納入されており、主に 2 リッター エンジンを搭載した車両に搭載されています。 ベルハウジングはトランスミッションをエンジンに接続します。 トランスミッション側はすべてのクラッチ ハウジングで同じですが、もう一方の側は各自動車メーカーのエンジンに適合します。 違いはほとんど小さいため、ベル ハウジングの構造はすべての自動車メーカーで 99% 同一です。

Schlote Harzgerode GmbH社は1 日あたり 4,000 個の部品を生産しています。 現在工場では 80% 以上という非常に高度な自動化が進んでいます。 ハルツゲローデの施設では、120 人の従業員が週 5 日、24 時間体制で働いています。 必要に応じて、生産を週 6 日または 7 日に拡張することができます。

As is the case for the entire automotive industry, the requirements placed on parts are very high here. “The part is not only an adapter flange, but also the back of the transmission. The bearing seats thus require the highest degree of precision”, explains Sebastian Swiniarski, Work Preparation Team Lead at Schlote. The part requires many bores with different tolerances, whereby precision manufacturing is needed down to the thousandth of a millimetre.

MAPAL and Schlote can look back on many years of effective cooperation. MAPAL is therefore entrusted with supplying PCD milling cutters (which create the defined rough surfaces on which sealant is applied), tap drills, reamers and an array of diverse drilling tools. “We offer our customers comprehensive solutions including the development of entire processes”, says Stefan Frick, MAPAL’s technical advisor to Schlote.
 

A watchful eye was kept on the implemented tools from the very beginning. Since Harzgerode went into operation, analyses have been performed continuously to find possible weak points and optimise manufacturing. Within the context of this continuous improvement process, Schlote and MAPAL have together managed to achieve longer tool lives, lower tool expenditures and higher production quantities over years. While 3,600 parts were produced at most per day in the beginning, the limit has now been raised to 4,500 parts – without the need for further machines.

The newest optimisation involves deep drilling for oil channels used to change gears in the automatic transmission. “We evaluate every month with our tool management system which tools have to be exchanged how often”, Swiniarski reports. “Time and again, the deep drills have proven to be particularly sensitive. As these drills are relatively cost intensive, we have concentrated on them to further cut our tool costs.” Quality aspects are also inherent in tool wear as a blunt drill produces burrs at the bore exit.
 

Clutch housing manufacturing at the site was planned to last at least eight years with a peak output of 1.1 million parts per year. This peak was surpassed in 2020. Production has been ongoing for five years in the meanwhile with 900,000 parts produced per year.

Due to continuously improved productivity and the lower production quantities, there has been time to address future trends and produce different parts. The factory is already being modified for this purpose. The first of two new projects involves six different parts that Schlote is to produce for a hybrid model of super sports car manufacturer.

In the other project, Schlote’s expertise as a clutch housing manufacturer is once again called for – this time for an electric car. Schlote draws from the trend toward electric mobility by supplying e-cars with transmissions as well. For an innovative model with three gears, the connection between engine and transmission is to be produced in Harzgerode. Half of the factory capacity is currently being converted. The production of parts for combustion engines is to be ramped down to 50 per cent. In future, hybrid cars will account for 10 per cent and purely electric mobility for 40 per cent. Schlote has already produced the first parts for the new projects.