Late last year Carlson purchased a Hermle C42UMT, a five-axis mill/turn machine. Once fully operational, it is expected to dramatically improve the time and efficiency for several of our key customers. “A lot of parts require lathe and milling operations, and we can do both on this new machine which eliminates the need for a second setup” said Rob Deming, CNC Manager. “The mill/turn combo on one machine will help us improve our efficiency and lead times.”
Initially delivered and installed in November, the machine had to be moved after it was discovered that the concrete under it was not stable. The machine was set aside while the new foundation was poured and cured, then re- installed in January, and is now very stable.
One of the biggest customers for the machine is KW which makes plastic containers for the paint industry. Work has been growing in the area and Deming is happy to have a superior machine to help with the backlog. “This is a nice upgrade,” Deming said. “We’re hoping to gain anywhere from 15% to 20% on blocks with the setups and hopefully we can gain even more efficiency.”
Adding multi-use machinery to our plants has been an ongoing trend at Carlson in recent years. The recent addition of lathes with live tooling capabilities in the Machining Division also decreases total job times by doing more in a single machine. Additionally, the increased capabilities allow greater versatility as to where different types of work can be completed.
Here’s a cool video from Hermle themselves showing the capabilities of the C42UMT!