Erecting better productivity: General Industry Coverage

————–

END USER: 80/20 Inc., (260) 248-8030, www.8020.net. CHALLENGE: Overcoming limitations of older machine tools that could each only perform one step when making a part. SOLUTION: New CNC machine tools with more capabilities and flexibility. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Haas Automation Inc., (800) 331-6746, www.haascnc.com

————–

80/20 Inc. is a solutions-based company that offers a modular aluminum construction system it dubbed “the industrial erector set.” The basic frame component is a T-slot extrusion that, combined with brackets and screws, is assembled to make modular products, such as a table frame, machine guard, display case, chair or shelf. “The number of different applications our customers create is expanding all the time,” said Andrew Tate, a member of 80/20’s marketing team.

80/20 employs more than 325 workers and has a 250,000-sq.-ft. facility in Columbia City, Ind.

Courtesy of Haas

Operator Dennis Pease performs a quality check on a part using micrometers. The TM-2 Toolroom Mill in the background is cutting a custom-drawn part.

“It’s a unique culture here,” Tate said, who, like his colleagues, has no official title. “And that comes directly from the top. Don Wood, who founded 80/20 in 1989, is a driven man. He knows the importance of a positive attitude in life. He respects his employees, and he expects them to deliver the same respect and positive attitude to the company’s customers.”

Wood named his company after the 80/20 theory, or Pareto’s law, named after the Italian economist and sociologist Vilfredo Pareto (1843-1923). Pareto discovered a relationship that occurs in the natural world in which 80 percent of results come from 20 percent of effort, or 80 percent of the effects come from 20 percent of the causes. In business, the 80/20 theory can help a company operate as efficiently as possible.

This efficiency philosophy led 80/20 to invest in 16 CNC machine tools from Haas Automation Inc., Oxnard, Calif., over a 3-year period, beginning in 2005. The machines include eight TM-2 Toolroom Mills, two VF-4SS vertical machining centers, five EC-400 horizontal machining centers and one GR-712 gantry router.

80/20’s older machinery wasn’t allowing it to expand manufacturing capabilities. “The older manual machines had the NC power but didn’t have toolchangers,” said Mike Downam, who manages the company’s facility. “All tools had to be changed manually and setups were hard.” He noted operators only knew a worn drill bit needed changing when it took extra effort to pull down on the drill press—”which, obviously, was not very efficient.”

Because each piece of equipment could only perform one step when making a part, 80/20 had to have a lot of machines. The first two Haas machines were custom-built CNC TM-2s with toolchangers and wings on them to handle long bars. The TM-2s alone replaced 18 pieces of equipment.