Page 32 - MetalForming March 2012

TOOLROOM TECHNOLOGY Robotic EDM
Hard Milling
and
Promote Press Uptime
Quick turnaround in the toolroom at Wiegel Tool Works supports the company’s own expanding pressroom activities, and those of its customers, allowing the electronic- component stamper to remain globally competitive.
BY BRAD F. KUVIN, EDITOR
Die complexity and size, and the quest for prolonged life of die components, are some of the issues keeping the toolroom at Wiegel Tool Works, Wood Dale, IL, on its toes these days. All the while, the company’s pressroom continues to require its dies to run at faster speeds and provide a higher degree of accuracy. With the acquisition in 2006 of a new 450-ton variable-stroke press—with a 120-in.- long bed—the firm now finds itself quoting numerous projects requiring more complex and larger dies.
Wiegel specializes in stamping pre- plated copper-alloy electrical-circuit components such as fuse relays, with volumes as high as 4 to 5 million per
year. The dies it designs and builds—for itself and for its key customers—now typically comprise as many as 20 pro- gressive stations and are tasked with meeting part dimensional tolerances as tight as ±0.005 in.
Wiegel is fully committed to design- ing, building and maintaining all of its tooling inhouse, and invests as needed in new technology to ensure it meets the needs of its customers—internal and external. Among the equipment in its tooling department are vertical and horizontal machining centers. But what earns the most applause is a cli- mate-controlled wire-EDM department boasting eight machines, including two working in a robot-tended workcell. EDM tolerances on die inserts are measured down to ±0.0001 in.
Recent Expansion
Wiegel works out of a 68,000-sq.-ft. facility, including a recently built 20,000-sq.-ft. addition. It also, in Sep-
Wiegel operates this EDM production cell that comprises two Mitsubishi EDM machines (an FA10P and FA20P) and a System 3R WorkMaster robot. The added flexibility from the automation allows the firm to perform on-demand machining of replacement tools to minimize downtime of its own stamping presses and those of its customers.
tember 2011, acquired a nearby 25,000 sq.-ft. building to house shipping and receiving, as well as warehousing of finished goods and raw materials. The acquisition allowed the company to increase manufacturing capacity in its main building, evidenced with the addition, in December 2011, of a new state-of-the-art high-speed stamping line. The new line features a 180-ton variable-stroke Minster press and a high-end leveler-straightener. The straightener powers 13 rolls and back- up rollers, designed to relieve stresses from higher-strength steels. More capacity means more dies. And, when making large capital investments such as a new press line, ensuring optimum press uptime is critical.
“We’re focused on developing tool- ing that will run faster and longer with- out maintenance, to optimize the uptime of our presses,” says Jerry Hampton, Wiegel Tool Works’ sales and marketing manager. “This directive
30 MetalForming/March 2012
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