Creating the future of manufacturing

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END USER: Brinkman Machine Tools and Manufacturing Laboratory, Rochester Institute of Technology, (585) 475-6573, www.rit.edu/kgcoe/ise/brinkman. CHALLENGE: Teach engineering students to use new machining technology. SOLUTION: Integrated machining system, including tool management and tool presetting. SOLUTION PROVIDERS: Okuma America Corp., (704) 588-7000, www.okuma.com; Kennametal Inc., (800) 446-7738, www.kennametal.com; Zoller Inc., (734) 332-4851, www.zoller-usa.com

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If you’re ever skeptical about the future of the U.S. metalworking industry, a visit to the Earl W. Brinkman Manufacturing and Machine Tools Laboratory at the Rochester (N.Y.) Institute of Technology (RIT) might change your mind.

The result of the vision of Bob Brinkman, a leader in Rochester manufacturing, the 3,000-sq.-ft. lab is dedicated to advancing manufacturing technology through applied research, education and industrial outreach. Its machine technology includes vertical machining centers from Okuma America Corp. and other machine tools, a Kennametal Inc. automated tool storage system and Zoller Inc. tool measurement and inspection equipment to help students learn techniques for improving cycle time and ensuring accuracy in the machining processes they design.

“This is where students learn the concepts and fundamentals of machining,” said John Bonzo, director of the Brinkman Lab and facilities manager of the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department at RIT. “They learn that manufacturing is taking something and making it more valuable.” About 250 undergraduate students in the industrial and mechanical engineering programs are exposed to the lab through the materials processing class in the winter quarter. Other undergraduate and graduate students also use the lab throughout the year.

According to Bonzo, the lab’s equipment works together to help students learn about productive metalcutting. “The Okuma THINC open-architecture control allows us to streamline communication between the Kennametal tool inventory system, the Zoller presetter, bar feeders and inspection equipment. This reduces potential errors and wasted time. The main thing our students learn is how to efficiently set up a real-world manufacturing system.”

Students begin by developing a CAD/CAM file and a machining process for a specific part, then request the tools needed to perform the process. Tools are measured, inspected and preset on the Zoller smile unit, and tool offset data is stored in the CNC. The presetter also stores a parts list for tool assembly and tool setting sheets. Measured and set tools are stored in the ToolBOSS tool storage and inventory management system from Kennametal, Latrobe, Pa. During machining, tool-life data is sent to the vision-based presetter and measuring machine, then tools are stored again in the tool inventory system after machining.

The tool presetter and measuring machine can accommodate drilling, turning and milling tools. According to Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Zoller, it is aimed at small job shops, is compatible with all types of machine tools and is easy to operate. The system software can store 99 adapter zero points and data for thousands of tools. Automatic zero-point control prevents the wrong tool from being installed on a machine, helping to eliminate crashes and downtime.