February 2009 eNews

Off the toolpath

by Dennis Seeds, Editor-in-chief

Gearing up for good times during bad times

Forest City Gear is gearing up. The 53-year-old Roscoe, IL, manufacturer of – what else? – gears for diverse industries, has just finished a $6 million upgrade.

Its gears are in telescopes and tractors, artificial elbows, aircraft, military lasers, medical examining tables, printers, plotters, power tools, dental drills, as well as the space station to name just a few.

“We even make gears for our competitors,” said CEO Fred Young, son of founders Evelyn and Stetler Young.

Young said the goal was to expand the company’s manufacturing capabilities and to maintain Forest City Gear’s industry-wide reputation for staying on the leading edge of manufacturing technology.

“Our customers expect Forest City Gear always to lead the way in devising new production techniques to make better gears for them, at a competitive cost and with superior service,” he said.

The company has reinvested an average between 25 and 40 percent of its annual revenue for the last 30 years in the purchase of gearmaking machinery and ancillary equipment. In addition, the company has made major investments in green technology over the last two years.

Among its customers was NASA, for the 2001 Mars Rover, for which Forest City supplied many gears.

Young explained the FCG strategy: “We never wait until we get an order to buy machines with enhanced capability,” he said. “We already have it and have developed it, before we start exploring new opportunities. That’s a real advantage for FCG.”

The capital investments:

• Gleason PSA 500 gear shaper with electronic helical guide to eliminate the need for helical lead guides
• Gleason PSA 300 gear shaper with electronic helical guide and automatic column inclination
• Fellows/Bourn & Koch MS450-125 CNC gear shapers with radial crowning and electronic helical guideless shaping
• Koepfer 200 CNC 7-axis gear hobbers with automatic loading and worm-milling high-helix hob head
• Koepfer MZ130 CNC 5,000 rpm gear hobber with auto-load gear and worm hobber; expands the company’s size range in gear diameter and diametral pitch
• Hofler Helix 400 SK gear grinder, using a 20mm diameter CBN wheel for closer to shoulder tolerances on cluster gears
• Samputensili RI 400 CNC 5-axis twin generating and form gear grinder with linear motors for precise positioning down to 0.001mm, according to the builder
• Samputensili RI 375 CNC gear and thread grinder with internal, spur and helical gear grinding
• Wenzel Gear Tec LH87 CMM with rotary table for inspection of up to 900mm diameter gears and with a large bore to accommodate long shafts
• Wenzel Gear Tec WGT 600 CNC analytical checker with air bearing technology
• Mitutoyo Digimatic Model HDS H24C height gages
• Sunnen SV1005 automated honing machine
• Two Kellenberger Kel-Vista Type UR Model 175-600 universal cylindrical grinding machines
• Centric Senjo Seike PLC 101SAII automatic chamfering machine with swivel
• Hurco VM1 machining centers for increased secondary operations
• Jenfab Mini Belt inline cellular spray washer/dryer with oil scavenge
• Star/SU PTG-1 hob and shaper cutter sharpener; Class AA tolerance work
• Retrofit on an isotropic superfinishing REM tumbler
• Installation of an Oberlin filtration system with environmentally-friendly chiller

“With all this new equipment,” Young said, “we’ve needed substantial training from our suppliers. What we’ve enjoyed as a collateral benefit is the cross-pollination from other customers’ plants around the world. This has made us a better gear company, I’m certain.”

Count Forest City Gear as one of the more progressive manufacturers around. This strategy will bring growth at the pace that matches the innovation. Hats off to Forest City for gearing up.

SILVER ANNIVERSARY – R&T Tool Inc. of Laconia, NH, has just celebrated its 25th year in business. The operation was started as a small machine shop and has evolved into a global player in the field of sharpening indexable carbide and ceramic inserts.

During 2008, R&T completed a large addition to its plant, and added four specialized CNC grinders. Customers include major automotive and aerospace companies throughout North America and Europe.

Michael King, spokesman, said the outlook for 2009 is one of steady growth. “Manufacturing companies looks for a way to reduce tooling costs find insert sharpening an effective choice,” he said.

FOR KRC, IT’S 20 YEARS – KRC Machine Tool Services of Independence, KY, is also marking an anniversary. It was back in 1989 when Scott Ashworth (president), Tom Luzak, Bob Molnar, and Jimmy Trusty had a vision to create a machine tool rebuilding company of world-class quality.

KRC is a 5-Star Retrofitter for GE Fanuc and a Retrofitter of Choice for Siemens Energy & Automation. Current customers include Mazak, GE Aircraft Engines, Boeing, GKN Aerospace and other companies in the aerospace, oil and gas, mining, and heavy equipment industries.

Ashworth’s advice for success? “Have the right people owning the right responsibility to take the right action.”

ANOTHER SIDE FOR HEXAGON – Hexagon Metrology of London, UK, has acquired Technodigit SARL of Lyon, France, to add to its name-brand portfolio. Technodigit is the developer of 3DReshaper software for 3-D point cloud and 3-D cloud mesh manipulation for reverse engineering, rapid prototyping, product design, and industrial inspection.

Among the industries that use Technodigit are medical and dental appliance manufacturing and CAD/CAM applications for industrial markets.

FARO ACCOLADES – While we’re on the subject of 3-D, Faro Technologies Inc. has won the Defense Manufacturing Excellence Award from the National Center for Advanced Technologies.

As part of a team developing an advanced measurement system for naval submarine tapers and carrier propulsion drive shafts, Faro adapted the technology and software for the solution. It yielded a 66 percent reduction in inspection time.

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