BENCHMARKING YOUR MACHINING BUSINESS
Realizing Success by Applying
Advanced Equipment
By Derek korn
D
avan Manufacturing, located in Washington, Pennsylvania, is this year's
Machining Technology Honors Program
Winner. Mark Vanistendael, company president, says he has continued the approach
to integrating advanced machining equipment
that his father successfully applied.
David Vanistendael started the business
in 1968. Over the years, the shop was
an early adopter of leading technology as
it became available, including NC and
CNC machines as well as horizontal machining centers even though this required a significant investment in capital equipment. The
approach gave the small shop a competitive
advantage over others that used more traditional equipment.
Since Mark took over the company in 1996,
the shop has focused on integrating equipment that enables parts to be completed in
one setup. This has set Davan Manufacturing
apart from others and helped it do more with
fewer employees. This is important because
the shop is located where there is a heavy
concentration of manufacturers with a very
competitive labor market. It's challenging to
draw quality, new employees, so the shop
leverages machining technology that can
perform multiple operations.
Key to this has been integrating turning
centers with live tooling and C-axis positioning capability. The shop has also added
vertical turning capability with live tooling for
bigger work, feeling this is a natural extension
of its approach to smaller-scale jobs. Because
the vertical turning machine can perform
milling and drilling operations, transport of
big parts throughout the shop is minimized.
The shop isn't shy about adding advanced
machining capacity, but it thoughtfully considers whether a new machine is a good fit.
For instance, typical batch sizes are 20 to 50
pieces, so a twin-spindle/twin-turret lathe
wouldn't make sense because the volumes
aren't there. Similarly, the shop doesn't focus
on exceedingly complex parts, instead pursuing more conventional work and trying to
complete it on one machine. Therefore, it
hasn't seen a need for a turn-mill machine
with a B-axis and toolchanger. That said,
Davan Manufacturing has a healthy mix of
machining technologies, and would be open
to integrating a different machine tool platform
if it matches emerging market opportunities
as well as the shop's approach to completing
parts in one setup.
mmsonline.com/topshops MMS August 2013 21