Productive Times: Sold on a cell

Outsourcing machining services enables a manufacturer to avoid purchasing capital equipment, but lead times tend to be longer and the outsourcing company loses some control and flexibility.

Niagara Gear experienced that scenario and determined that the benefits of having more in-house machining capabilities outweighed the capital expenditures.

A year ago, the Buffalo, N.Y.-based division of Gear Motions Inc., Syracuse, N.Y., bought a VF-2 vertical machining center from Haas Automation Inc., Oxnard, Calif. The company selected that VMC after running test parts on a VF-2 housed at nearby Erie Community College, which offers a CNC machining program. The sample test gears had tapped holes that were 5 diameters deep—a challenging requirement—and the college’s VMC was able to effectively tap the holes along with machining other part features, said Paul Andruszko, vice president of Niagara Gear.

The turning portion of Niagara Gear’s work cell includes a Yama Seiki GLS-200 (left) and a Yama Seiki A-3300. All images courtesy of Niagara Gear.

He added that the company produces spur and helical gears made from a wide variety of materials, including 8620 steel and various tool steels, for Gear Motions’ numerous divisions and customers.

“That gave us a pretty good confidence level that we would be able to drill and tap through the thicker material that we generally run here,” he said. “The machine performed very well, and we worked out the details to purchase the new machine from Haas.”

But Niagara Gear still sent parts to three or four area machine shops for turning, Andruszko said. As a result, lead times were 7 to 8 weeks.