The need for specialised machining centres & CNC technology in aerospace & similar applications is giving relevance to high-speed machining in India
by Mitalee Kurdekar
Manufacturing capability is often judged by the strength of a country’s machine tools industry. According to the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association (IMTMA), the machine tools industry in India has come of age and now boasts of manufacturing almost the complete range of machine tools. Therefore, it is truly driving the largest and fastest growing industries of our economy, and for India, those primarily happen to be automobiles and aerospace.
These industries require the use of high-speed machining, a point that has been driven home in modern times. As a result, high-speed machining (HSM) has grown by leaps and bounds. It is no longer restricted to mean machining with a high-cutting speed or a high-spindle speed. It has long evolved to include machining operations that are performed with the use of well-tested methods, often with computerised numerical control (CNC), and high-precision equipments.
Today, fast changing customer requirements are making high-speed machining more relevant than ever before. This is obviously for easily achievable benefits such accuracy, reduced machining time, quality of work pieces, and reduced costs, which enhance efficiency tremendously. Another key feature of high-speed machining is that it is continuously evolving, with a lot of investment in research and development being made by industry players towards improvement of quality, enhancement of efficiencies and initiatives surrounding cost optimisation. One distinct advantage seen over conventional machining is in the form of finishes and super finishes achieved in the machine parts.
Driven by User Need
Customer specifications and changing customer requirements are guiding forces. Outlining these beautifully, Ashwani Bhargava, director for enterprise supplier management, Boeing India, says, “India is coming up the value chain. To compete globally, we require suppliers to be cost effective and also handle higher volume (particularly in commercial airplanes). This, in turn, requires suppliers to work with high-speed machines that help them with reduced cycle time.”
The design of the machines is driven by the customer/market requirements in terms of parts manufactured and manufacturers have kept pace with the changing environment. “Higher rpm machines allow suppliers to handle parts of higher complexity in a cost effective way. In future, suppliers will invest in higher speed machines (~30-35K rpm). This will allow them to handle more complex parts,” states Bhargava.
Some users have tweaked their own needs to match availability through specific strategies. Ashwath Ram, VP – engine business & Tata Cummins operations, Cummins India, explains this: “While the terms high-speed machines and CNC machines are not entirely interchangeable, we at Cummins use high-speed machining on our CNC machines. Earlier, Cummins plants put in high-volume transfer lines using special purpose machines dedicated to manufacturing a specific model of engine. With the time to obsolescence becoming shorter and new platforms being launched in much shorter time spans, Cummins has migrated to procuring more and more CNC machining centres for obvious benefits such as programmability, scalability, uniformity and portability.”
Besides long term economic viability arguments in favour of high-speed machines, Rajesh Khatri, executive director & CEO, TAL Manufacturing Solutions, puts forth the case of optimisation of space saying, “Another often overlooked area is the space requirements, which gets optimised by less number of machines required when using high-speed machining versus conventional machining.”
Pressure to Evolve
It is quite interesting to note how vendors keep pushing the boundaries for their products and services in terms of versatility and capabilities. Sameer Kelkar, CEO, Grind Master Machines, suggests that since the inception of his company in 1984, it has continuously kept innovating according to the needs of the industry.
He explains, “Modern manufacturing demands more flexible and faster manufacturing technologies using smart machines, robotics & automation. The majority of industries are upgrading their manufacturing setup from a traditional setup consisting of manual processes or semi-automatic processes to either smart CNC machines or to robotic automation.” He proudly proclaims that his company stands apart from rest of the robotic system integrators due to our machine tools manufacturing experience, process know-how and engineering capabilities.
Commenting on multi-processing requirements, Praful Shende, chief sales and marketing officer (CSMO), Bharat Fritz Werner (BFW), says, “We are convinced that there’s a clear trend for ‘multi-tasking’ and ‘multi-processing’ driven requirements, especially in customer segments such as Aerospace, Automotive, Die & Mould, Power & Transmission. We are one of the few Indian manufacturers with viable capabilities in offering machining solutions in both milling & turning domains and customised solutions. Thus, we believe that we are ideally placed to offer Turn-Mill as well as Mill-Turn offerings, which are indeed the need of the hour.”
Micromatic Machine Tools (MMT) is focussing on the SME sector. TK Ramesh, CEO, MMT, states, “We are trying to make the machines more intelligent, which means we can equip the machine so that it can be hooked up to a tab or to a cell phone or to a computer, such that the machines can give information and ask for help as needed. We are pushing the limits by making machines more intelligent so that they can interact better with the people who manage them.”
The Cost Factor
Despite this, in a country like India, we still have manufacturing companies that prefer to use conventional machine tools or tweak them with minor component improvements to save on cost. Pardeep Aggarwal, general manager, Gleason Works India, elaborates on this: “The decision for an enhancement, retrofit or a new machine always depends on the application and the quality required. There are many cases in which an older machine can do the job, but there may come a time when an upgrade is required to assure the quality level or productivity needed.”
Gleason supports the gear industry with a wide array of services for updates, upgrades or complete remanufacture of older Gleason, Pfauter and Hurth machines, for cylindrical and bevel technology alike. Says Aggarwal, “At our Indian facility, we have a knowledgeable team that can turn an old asset into a valuable resource. We try to make our customers competitive with little investment and a greater goal of achieving minimum cost per piece.”
While acknowledging that the cost of investment is a major issue in moving towards high-speed machining, Kelkar of Grind Master suggests, “Many small scale companies don’t take into account the machine lifecycle cost. Many times the conventional machine that is locally modified lags in quality, productivity and efficiency, making the company less competent compared to the others who opt for quality machines.”
Confirming a gradual, yet sustained shift, Shende of BFW predicts, “We see the utility of conventional machine tools/tweaking scenario as a transitional phenomenon, which will eventually lead the way for greater reliance on multi-tasking and multi-processing machine tools.”
Built to Skill
It is without a doubt that with high-speed machining involving computerised controls for producing precision and quality output, vendors have recognised that the skill emphasis has also shifted from user production sites to design centres in their own backyard. There is an understanding that a versatile and well-developed computer programme would now do the trick with minimal intervention from operators at user sites. Vendors now work on varied strategies to upskill their workforce of programmers and transfer knowledge to users by way of a supportive after-sales model.
Explaining Grind Master’s strategy in this context, Kelkar elaborates, “More and more machines are becoming smarter and users are able to interact with these smart machines in a similar way we interact with smart phones. Industry 4.0 or the fourth industrial revolution is the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. It uses cyber-physical systems and cloud computing.” Grind Master has also developed Industry 4.0 compliant control systems and robotic automation systems, besides taking up the initiative with educational institutes to establish a state-of-the-art Robotic Centre of Excellence where engineering students as well as working professionals are being trained.
BFW’s Shende explains their take, saying, “We have invested in a Technology Centre of Excellence – the Dr Kalam Centre of Innovation, established in the early part of this year, which is engaged in core research in energy efficient and alternative machine tools. BFW has currently allocated 10% of its turnover for Research & Development activities, of which a sizeable chunk is also devoted to developing & sustaining ‘technologies of the future’. We have also launched Regional Tech Centres to provide localised and application support to our customers.”
On the other hand, according to Aggarwal, Gleason’s design approach to software controls in the manufacture is also very beneficial for training purposes as it allows customers to train operators and team members faster than ever before.
There are companies who now specialise in an operator-less environment of high-speed machining. Hwacheon Machine Tools, for instance, has developed the SMART-Ua, a dedicated controller in their machine that drastically reduces the set-up time and also allows 24-hour machining without operator intervention. Kuka Robotics also has robots that promise flexibility of use, without compromising on precision. These robots also ensure 50% higher throughput due to round-the-clock operation.
Embracing Change
Even though shifting gears to high-speed machines ensures enormous present and future benefits over the life cycle of the product, the cost of initial investment is a huge deterrent, especially among Indian SMEs. However, there are multiple large players who are understanding of the investment involved in order to compete better and grow faster.
Bhargava of Boeing offers frankly, “The costs of the machine have not changed significantly, however currency fluctuation and change in labour rate index in the developed countries (Europe/Japan/USA) can affect the landed price of the machine. The organisation decides on higher technology machines depending on a few parameters like volume of the part/longevity of order, accuracy required and productivity benefits. Higher accuracy machines allow higher productivity and enable suppliers to compete better. So, overall, it should not impact the cost versus return paradigm.”
Giving a collaborative take on this aspect, Ram explains, “At Cummins, we embrace the R&D investment effort of our vendors as we are a beneficiary of this research. At the corporate level, we have strategic agreements, which are valid globally, with CNC machine suppliers. This partnership helps them invest in R&D, and we benefit by getting the best and most relevant technology at a competitive price. We buy equipment to serve us for the next 15 to 20 years. Long term investment being the strategy, the benefits of procuring high-quality, rigid equipment far outweighs the difference in initial capital cost between suppliers.”
Khatri of TAL agrees, “With the high productivity, our experience is that the operational advantages outweigh the initial acquisition cost and present a compelling proposition for the buyer. Higher investment is justifiable with an aim of being future ready.”
The industry has learned to challenge the status quo and gradually move away from conventional ways of machining. It is crucial that the manufacturing sector keeps true to this goal and leads automation, something that will be imperative for the country’s economic development.