Mantz Automation Inc.
Mantz Automation Inc. in Hartford, Wisconsin, is a company with several distinguishing features – it has grown constantly since starting in 1989, it has new, smart, purpose-specific premises and, last but not least, it has a flat organisation. Indeed, thanks to the remarkable flexibility of company management and staff, the organization is as flat as the Dairy land’s prairies.
Denise Mantz: “When you invest, the question is not what it costs, but what it costs not to invest.”
Denise Mantz, company president, relates: “When I and my husband, Robert, started the company, we had two unequivocally stated goals. First, to create an open company that had a good team spirit. Second, to be constantly on our toes so that we could rapidly assimilate and use whatever technological development offered us a competitive advantage.”
The first company-owned premises were acquired in 1992. Around that time, the workforce increased from 7 to 20 employees in a single year – a magnificent performance! Growing so quickly is not something that Denise Mantz recommends. In 1997, the company added a mould-making operation with 12 skilled employees in Fond du Lac. Expansion continued in 2002 with the addition of a 5-employee company in Iowa.
Graphite electrode, 220 x 180 mm, produced in a 54 x 54 mm Macro holder.
The majority of Mantz Automation’s moulding tools are for the moulding of consumer items. Production covers a wide range – everything from small moulds manufactured over a weekend to monsters that require more than 3,000 hours of machining. As a rule, approximately one hundred moulds (in various stages of completion) are moving around the shop floor at any time. As delivery dependability is one of Mantz Automation’s trademarks, this places great demands on the work flow.
The new premises have an open fibre-optic network that gives everyone access to the database. Decisions are often made directly out on the shop floor. The operators do the NC programming themselves and a new data system for post-production calculations has just been installed.
Although there are basically two shifts, individual flexibility is so great that operations are run practically 24 hours a day. Denise Mantz: “All our employees are well aware of what has to be produced and when it has to be delivered. When individual employees come and go is of little significance as long as we fulfil our commitments to our customers – freedom subject to responsibility.”
Leo Chilson, head of electrode manufacture, reveals: “To ensure streamlined production of electrodes, Mantz Automation has, since day one, used System 3R’s electrode holder systems. The Mini system in the beginning but, around ten years ago, we switched to the Macro system.”
Extremely potent double cell – two high-speed milling machines and a WorkMaster.
Seven die-sinking EDM machines with 20-position electrode changers require a rapid stream of electrodes. Consequently, to increase capacity, the company invested in a high-speed milling machine in 2001. A Creative Evolution 500 was chosen, primarily because its user-friendly controls, which promote “smooth running” and excellent service support.
After a while, Leo realised that the machine’s capacity was not being used to the fullest. He began considering the acquisition of a robot that would give the factory overnight production. Feeling that System 3R’s WorkMaster was the ideal solution, Leo presented the automation solution to company management, which ratified his solidly based calculations. “When you invest, the question is not what it costs, but what it costs not to invest. The calculations also demonstrated this latter element,” interjects Denise Mantz.
The machine was equipped with a MacroCombi chuck on the machine table and the robot magazine was configured for both MacroJunior and Macro holders. All the high expectations were met. Leo Chilson: “In fact, our entire view of operations changed. Previously, I hadn’t realised how much time we wasted on manual handling. All unnecessary manual intervention has now gone. Electrode blanks are one example. These are now delivered cut, drilled and threaded. Before, we manufactured electrodes. Now, we mass produce them without sacrificing quality.”
This autumn, one thing leading to another, the company invested in an additional, larger Creative Evolution 820. This machine also served by the same WorkMaster automation system – an extremely potent double cell.
The 820 is equipped with System 3R’s patented vibration-damped chuck, Macro VDP. “Superb,” says Leo. He continues: “In rough machining, we increase current feed and cutting depth values by 20 percent. On top of that, we’ve noticed that milling tools remain sharp considerably longer. Here, we also produce far larger electrodes in 70 x 70 mm Macro holders.”
Leo Chilson: “Before, we had four people fully employed in producing electrodes for two EDM machines. Today, we have two who feed electrodes to seven hungry die-sinking EDM machines.”
The counter in the latest machine shows something over 600 spindle hours per month. “The double cell has given the electrode department a real lift. Everything is structured and organised. The job has quite simply become easier and more fun. With half as many man hours, we’re now producing three times as many electrodes,” concludes Leo Chilson.
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Related links:
Mini
MacroJunior
MacroCombi
Macro
VDP
Automation
WorkMaster