Page 46 - MetalForming August 2013

Tooling Technology
wallets to acquire a 2002-vintage Kita- mura (Wheeling, IL) Mycenter 7X VMC, much larger than the Johnford. Its measurements: 60.2 by 25.6 by 27.0 in.,” just what we need to take on bigger work,” says Ron. “The 40-in. bed on the Johnford isn’t large enough to hold some of the larger die sets we’re quoting.”
“While we know that machine is not the latest in CNC technology,” Ken says, “it’s a top-notch machine. And its
Fanuc 16i control still represents state of the art.”
The Lapossys expect that their John- ford machine operator also will take on responsibility for the Kitamura. The operator also serves as programmer, manning a workstation conveniently located on the production floor between the two VMCs.
“In the old days of CNC, a lot of shops had their programmer located in
the ‘ivory tower,’” says Ron. “They were part of the design team, sending pro- grams down to the shop floor and leav- ing it to the operators to ensure that the programs ran successfully. We don’t believe that’s the best procedure. Right from the beginning, starting with our use of CNC wire-EDM some 20 years ago, we realized that if the machine operator does his own programming, he learns and better understands what works and what doesn’t. The result is fewer mistakes and improved performance.”
Moving programs from the opera- tor’s workstation to the CNC machines, the Lapossys prefer to not use an RS232 connection from computer to VMC control. Instead, the programmer moves programs to a thumb drive, which then is plugged into the VMC controllers’ PC slots, using an adapter. “We also use this procedure to pro- gram our EDM machines,” says Ron.
The Apprentice
Due to some fruitful family real-estate investing, the Lapossys were fortunate to avoid layoffs during the 2007-2009 downturn. Staffing stayed consistently in the 15 to 20 range; the firm employs 17 today, including one tumbling-machine operator, and four who work in the pressroom. Its latest hire: an apprentice brought into the fold early in 2012 and well on his way to earning the required 8000 hours in the shop.
“This is the first apprentice we’ve had in the last 15 years,” says Ken. “He’s moving all over the shop, learning how to run nearly every machine we have. One of our experienced wire-EDM operators has taken him under his wing.”
“Both of our grandfathers were diemakers,” adds Ron, “fabricating and hand-working dies using saws and files. “And I both completed my apprenticeship, graduating to die man- ufacture using profile grinding, manual machining and shapers. Now we’re proud to be able to say we’ve endured and are able to allow our employees, including our new apprentice, to grow into the next generation of die-making technology.” MF
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44 MetalForming/August 2013
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