HMC puts rail component producer on the fast track

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END USER: Wabtec Corp.; (864) 433-5900; www.wabtec.com. CHALLENGE: Increase machining productivity for two-piece railroad drawbars. SOLUTION: Dual-pallet HMC with long spindle extension. SOLUTION PROVIDER: MAG; (859) 534-4600; www.mag-ias.com

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Founded as Westinghouse Air Brake, Wabtec Corp. provided the first straight air brake systems to the railroad industry nearly 140 years ago. With 50 manufacturing plants and approximately 7,000 employees worldwide, the Wilmerding, Pa.-based company continues to manufacture railway components as well as power generation and off-highway equipment.

Wabtec’s Passenger Transit Div. plant in Spartanburg, S.C., recently put machining of two-piece drawbar assemblies on the fast track with installation of a new horizontal machining center. Increased demand drove the need for greater productivity on the drawbar machining operation, according to Dale Simms, manufacturing engineer. “We identified setup reduction and machine speed as two areas of opportunity for improvement,” he said.

Courtesy of MAG

A new dual-pallet HMC with spindle extension up to 31.5 ” increased railroad drawbar machining productivity 66 percent at Wabtec’s Spartanburg, S.C., plant.

Wabtec was machining the 400-lb. mild steel parts on a single-pallet HMC with limited reach, resulting in the need for another machine to mill hard-to-reach pads on the parts. “We were looking for a machine with a long spindle extension that would allow us to eliminate a second machine—and 2 hours of cycle time,” Simms said.