Page 36 - MetalForming April 2012

Kronos Energy Solutions designs and manufactures small verti- cal-axis turbines. Company president and CEO John Bogens- berger launched Kronos in 2009, initially outsourcing fabrication work such as oxyfuel cutting of turbine components.
When wind-turbine manufacturer Kronos Energy Solutions, Cordova, TN, sought to improve its own level of green-fabricating processes, it turned to waterjet cutting to take on a portion of its production, cus- tom and prototyping work. Kronos designs and manufactures small vertical-axis turbines. Company president and CEO John Bogensberger launched Kronos in 2009; prior to that, he worked for a high-production manufacturing company fab- ricating primarily sheetmetal. “I first saw waterjet-cutting machines at an IMTS show in 1998,” Bogensberger says. “I was intrigued with the process because it produced no toxic gases, dust nor dangerous chemicals. But I felt I couldn’t jus- tify the machines in a high-production environment cutting sheetmetal.”
When Bogensberger launched Kronos Energy Solutions,
Bringing Waterjet
Cutting
Inhouse
a Lucrative Decision
A wind-turbine manufacturer makes waterjet cutting a core competency. Bringing the process inhouse has added
20 percent to the firm’s top line, allowing it to pay for its cutting machine in less than 2 yr.
he outsourced most fabrication work, including oxyfuel cut- ting (OFC) of turbine parts. Outsourcing, he felt, offered a cost-effective way for his new company to have parts cut and machined without the upfront capital investment. However, outsourcing can cause production delays, particularly when design changes occur. And, Bogensberger found that the secondary processing required to remove the heat-affected zone and dross caused by the OFC process was time con- suming, as was deburring of stamped parts. He decided to outsource cutting work to a shop using waterjet-cutting machines, which eliminated the need for secondary pro- cessing. “However, there still was taper to contend with,” says Bogensberger. “We use a specialized gear configuration in the wind turbines that requires very tight tolerances and required secondary machining of the waterjet-cut parts.”
Bogensberger took a fresh look at waterjet cutting—and began to think seriously about bringing the work inhouse— after attending the FABTECH 2010 show in Atlanta. There he was introduced to a new waterjet-cutting machine, the Mach 4 model from Flow, outfitted with the company’s Dynamic Waterjet XD technology. “We’ve always known that the water-
34 MetalForming/April 2012
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