The prefix “nano” means one-billionth, so a nanometre is a billionth of a metre (10-9 m), which is on the molecular level. Say nanotechnology and many people will think of JEOL, a company established in 1949 under the name Japan Electron Optics Laboratory Co. Nowadays the company is known as JEOL, and is a world-leading manufacturer of electron microscopes and other technological and scientific equipment.
The Yasda H30i fitted with Delphin for maximised productivity
The most advanced equipment is developed and produced at the main plant in Akishima (Tokyo). Other products are made at Yamagata and in China. JEOL has sales and service offices in most industrialised countries on the five continents. A true world player.
At Akishima, under the leadership of Yutaka Matsunaga, General Manager for Machining Dept. of Production Division, JEOL manufactures prototypes and complex parts. Usually on a single-piece manufacturing basis. Seldom more than ten parts. And final assembly takes place in what must be regarded as a laboratory environment.
Group Leader Mr. Fukumoto – “Delphin is perfect for our operations”
Last summer the company decided to start producing in-house a part that had previously been made by a subcontractor. Mr. Fukumoto, Group Leader Metal Cutting, explains – “This is a part that requires about 15 hours (!) of rough machining. It didn’t feel right to use our Yasda H30i, a high-class machine intended for intricate final machining operations, to produce scrap metal, so to speak. But how were we to clamp the rough-machined part without costly ‘dead time’ in the highly-efficient Yasda?”
He who seeks shall find, and within a short time JEOL found the Delphin system, which had just been launched on the Japanese market. So they fitted their vertical multi-operation machine for the rough machining with two Delphin chucks. To these they attach the workpiece, a piece of FeCo steel measuring 400x200x50 mm, with their fixture. When rough machining is complete, the fixture, with the workpiece, is moved to two Delphin chucks in the Yasda – without subsequent alignment. The entire procedure takes only a few minutes, including transport between the machines.
“A perfect solution. Rough machining with a ‘tractor’ and precision machining in our ‘F1 racer’. Everything for maximum productivity. And we found the accuracy of the Delphin system to be a welcome surprise. We began with a 0.5 mm milling allowance for the precision machining, but now we are down to 0.2 mm”, Production Engineer Mr. Yamazaki concludes.
printer friendly version
Related links:
Delphin