VMC FOR SECOND OPERATIONS AND GREATER EFFICIENCIES For the past four years Scott Machinery has represented ProtoTRAK CNC machinery in New Zealand and at EMEX 2016 they will launch the first CNC machine that focuses on second operations – the ProtoTRAK 2-OP. A portable vertical machining centre. It’s clear from spending time with Scott Machinery general manager, Christian Scott that he’s excited by these new machines and what they offer to both operators and business owners – simplicity, efficiency and enhanced production and cost-effectiveness. Furthermore – the ProtoTRAK 2-OP is incredibly compact and portable and can be moved easily next to whatever machine is producing the part that requires the secondary operation. “The ProtoTRAK 2-OP is brand new for New Zealand and it’s a very different product. All of the other ProtoTRAK products – the lathes and the mills – are all looking at transitioning guys that are used to manual machines to a more productive CNC machine, whereas this 2-OP product is actually designed to complement the full CNC machines,” Christian says. “What typically happens in a production environment is that people will have a CNC lathe or a machining centre and they’ll put the product in there and they’ll machine the first face and then they’ll often take that out, turn it over and do some work on the back face – so, operation one, operation two. The problem with that is – while the guy is waiting for operation one to do he’s probably sitting there cleaning out the last part, measuring it, waiting for the machine to finish its cycle, so he can load the next part.” Having an operator working two machines means that downtime is cut significantly and productivity is massively enhanced. It means that one of a company’s greatest assets – manpower – is being used to optimum levels to enhance overall efficiency. “The majority of parts that are machined in production actually require that second operation – whether it’s coming off a lathe or a mill. So the 2-OP machines are designed so that you take this machine, with a pallet trolley that it comes with, and you move it over next to another machine, drop it down, he takes the part out of there – puts it onto the 2-OP machine and presses go and starts that second machine in process. So you’ve got one guy operating two machines,” Christian says. “It’s not a new concept – manufacturing in a cell is really common. One guy will have two lathes, often you’ll have all your lathes together and you’ll have a mill over there and you may have a guy operating in a cellular environment. The problem is, in New Zealand we’re doing low batch numbers and products are always changing and different so we often don’t know how we want that cell configuration – whether it’s going to come off a lathe and go onto a machining centre over there, or vice versa.” The ProtoTRAK 2-OP addresses that and allows operators to quickly set up a cell for secondary operations for smaller or shorter batch runs so they can be machined with cell efficiency – dramatically reducing the time for the whole job. “One of the advantages of the ProtoTRAK 2-OP is the size of the footprint – it’s only 775mm wide – it’s tiny – so it can fit into small places and we can have a cell going. That may well work for me here for three days while I’m machining these parts and then the machine might go over by the machining centre or by the next project. “You’re reducing your costs significantly per part and it’s not an expensive machine,” Christian says. The ProtoTRAK 2-OP has a 355 x 305 x 455mm capacity and an 8-station automatic tool changer. It is extremely portable and its footprint of only 755 x 1380mm means it can be moved almost anywhere very easily. It features the easy to use ProtoTRAK control which can be programmed using the simple conversational software or by loading industry standard G-code programs. Christian says that he’s looking forward to demonstrating the ProtoTRAK 2-OP at EMEX and that the new machines are an extension of the other ProtoTRAK products they stock that will also be displayed. “For the last four years we’ve been bringing in the other ProtoTRAK products, which are basically targeted at transitioning operators of traditionally manual machines over to the start of CNC – they can basically move from
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