END USER: Alecto Industries Inc., (708) 344-1488, www.alecto.biz.
CHALLENGE: Regain business from a former customer by winning bids on a family of shafts with multiple grooves.
SOLUTION: Versatile grooving and turning tools.
SOLUTION PROVIDER: Kaiser Tool Co. Inc., (888) THINBIT, www.thinbit.com.

A job shop typically serves a host of steady but transient customers, and while losing one always creates stress, it rarely spells catastrophe. Losing its largest customer, however, can test a shop's ability to stay in business. Alecto Industries Inc. experienced that scenario and more during the Great Recession, noted Darren Musial, general manager for the Maywood, Ill., job shop. In addition to losing its top customer, Alecto lost several smaller ones and some of the remaining customers drastically cut their orders.

"One customer scaled back from accounting for nearly an eighth of our inventory to only ordering one or two parts per year with runs of fewer than 1,000 pieces," Musial said.

Thinbit Groove 'N Turn tools are ground with a clearance, enabling plunging and turning at diameter to produce the required width.

Alecto primarily serves the hydraulic, antenna, security and printing industries, producing parts from ¼" to 2" (6.35mm to 50.8mm) and larger in diameter and lengths from 0.062" (1.57mm) for washers to more than 17" (431.8mm) for shafts.

In response to the business setbacks, Alecto cut hours and costs as much as possible, according to Musial. Although it no longer received work from the customer that used to provide the most, Alecto maintained the relationship. "From time to time, we'd see quotes but not orders," he said.

That changed when the former customer requested a quote for a family of shafts with two, four or six grooves. Groove widths ranged from 0.025" to 0.200" (0.635mm to 5.08mm), with a tolerance of ±0.0015" (0.0381mm), and diameters from 0.200" to 0.400" (5.08mm to 10.16mm), with a tolerance of ±0.001" (0.0254mm).

Alecto Industries can apply one Thinbit Groove 'N Turn tool to produce grooves with different widths.

"When Alecto President Jim Szwaya asked me if we could run these parts, I instantly thought of Thinbit," Musial said, referring to Thinbit grooving and turning tools from Kaiser Tool Co. Inc., Fort Wayne, Ind.

He added that one Thinbit tool can be applied to produce grooves with different widths, which reduces cycle times and provides savings that can be passed along to the customer.

He noted the shop primarily uses Thinbit Groove 'N Turn tools, which are ground with a clearance, enabling the shop to plunge and turn at diameter to produce the required width. "Depending on the job, we also turn to rough a groove, then take a finish pass to depth, adding chamfers on the sides," Musial said. "The versatility makes my job easier. We are always searching for ways not to pick up more tools or do any more operations or part handling than we have to."

In addition to insert design, insert durability increases throughput by enabling high-speed grooving, according to Musial. Although Kaiser technical support recommends to "run it until you break it," he noted going a bit slower enhances insert life while still boosting productivity by reducing the downtime required for tool changes.

Usually, though, running at breakneck speed isn't an option. "More often than not these days, I'm running into limitations on the machines," Musial said. "Many just cannot run at the recommended speeds."

As a result of having the cutting tools necessary to cost-effectively perform the job, Alecto received purchase orders on some of its quotes for the shaft family, and the former customer once again became a major player at the shop. "Simply put, I'm not sure how I would be able to make these parts without Thinbit tools," Musial said. "Outside of grinding my own HSS 'groovers,' no other company seems to offer the sizes we use."

The Groove 'N Turn line is available in 0.001" (0.025mm) increments, and on the rare occasion when a decimal size is not in stock, the wait time is only a few days, according to Musial. He said: "Perhaps what I like most about Thinbit is the simplicity. The catalog is relatively small and simple. It takes me minutes instead of hours to get the information I need."