Precision Parts Manufacturer Excels with CNC Swiss

Precision Parts Manufacturer Excels with CNC Swiss
  • Industry: Contract Manufacturing
  • Process: Swiss Turning
  • MGI Division: Rem Sales
  • Builder Tool: Tsugami SS-20
  • Outcome: The Swiss Turn's modular tool zone and ease of operation meets C&L Supreme's requirements for future flexibility and adaptability.

 » Challenge

Family- owned Des Plaines, Illinois manufacturer C&L Supreme has evolved since 1957 from a job shop primarily engaged in the production of aftermarket automotive components to a reliable manufacturer of diverse, high quality and complicated precision parts.  Founded as Supreme Manufacturing, the company changed its name to C&L Supreme after acquiring C&L Screw in 1972.  The company then pounded out millions of screw machine parts per year on Brown and Sharp for a full decade until current owners Phillip & Peter Spizziri committed to CNC technology in the early 1980’s. Their adoption of CNC technology before it was widely embraced by other manufacturers exemplifies the organizational quest for continuous improvement that drives C&L Supreme’s success.  Combining a dedication to continuous improvement with a work environment that encourages resilience and flexibility has allowed C&L Supreme to transition smoothly through many phases of change.  With a modern 20,000 square foot facility and staff of thirty-two, C&L Supreme today manufactures a variety of parts from carbon and stainless steels, aluminum and brass, including intricate audio components, shafts, rollers, forgings, castings, valve bodies, mounting plates and brackets.  It operates more than twenty-five CNC machines; utilizes advanced measurement and inspection technology, and holds ISO 9001:2008 certification.  Making the shift in the 1980’s from automatic screw machines to productivity- enhancing CNC lathes established C&L Supreme’s solid reputation as a reliable, quality supplier.  Over the past twenty years, as it became evident that less complex volume work was starting to move not only out of the Chicago area, but also out of the United States, management at C&L Supreme directed its thoughts toward continuous improvement with a new seriousness.  “Jobs for simpler parts were simply disappearing.  We decided that the old way of doing business was disappearing, too" explains Operations Manager Gary O'Gradney.  "Higher complexity components in shorter runs with less lead time were clearly the future."

 » Solution

C&L Supreme’s continuous improvement team recommended switching the production of a family of valve stems to the new Tsugami.  Cut from 303 stainless, the group consisted of four parts ranging in size from 5” to 7” in length.   The parts featured a long turned diameter with threads at both ends and a cross- hole immediately before the larger of the two thread rolled diameters.  Up until this point, the stems were blanked on a gang-tooled lathe in about one minute, prior to thread rolling.  Single pointing was not an option, as the customer spec required a degree of material strength that could only be achieved through thread rolling.  The part was then burnished, an abrasive polishing process, to a 3-micron finish.   Polishing sometimes required multiple passes through the burnishing machine.  “We thought that consolidating as many operations as possible into one machine would significantly improve part quality,” offers production supervisor Jeff Johnson.   “Any time redundant set ups are eliminated, part quality improves.”  Familiar with single pointing but not thread rolling on a Swiss turn, O'Gradney and Johnson turned to Scott Hauser, Rem Sales account manager, for suggestions.  After carefully studying the process, Hauser suggested the integration of two thread rolling heads from LMT Fette.  “The process required axial and tangential thread rolling,” explains Hauser.  “A tangential attachment was affixed to the main gang slide for the front of the part, while an axial attachment was added to the back working arm to handle the end of the part.”  The Fette thread rolling heads proved their worth by eliminating the secondary thread rolling operation entirely.   “By experimenting with different approaches to turning, we were able to produce a near complete surface finish,” said Johnson.  “In most cases, multiple burnishing operations were reduced to one single pass through the machine.”

 » Assessment

To remain successful in an environment that would surely offer reduced opportunity and more competition for production runs, the company focused on providing value- added operations to components and assemblies.  Their goal was to help contain costs and improve quality control by reducing multiple sourcing and handling.  Assembly, painting, plating, and heat treating are some of the processes that C&L Supreme added to its list of capabilities as it acquired new technology and supply chain relationships to achieve that goal. Acquiring a more flexible Swiss CNC business platform was moved to the top of the agenda when C&L Supreme recently re-evaluated its use of technology which already included an impressive array of Swiss and non- Swiss CNC machine tools. Operations Manager Gary O’Gradney identified several areas of need. First, was the part application.  Current methods of turning several parts required secondary operations.  The machine that they wanted would need to have multiple axes; be capable of machining parts up to 20mm diameter, and have a high pressure lubrication system.  Second, programming and operation would need to be easy.  Third, reliable service and training resources were strongly desired.  "When we began looking into the purchase of new Swiss Technology to machine valve stems, we identified specific items that required justification," explains O'Gradney.  “Reducing part operations were the primary concern.”  Headstock stroke length was also important as some of the stem lengths exceeded 7.0" (178mm).  The ability to program parts off line was also essential, as was post sales service support.    “In the end, we selected a Tsugami SS 20 Super Swiss Turn from Rem Sales,” says O'Gradney.  “It satisfied all of our requirements and the SS platform offered the most flexibility moving forward.”

 » Results

C&L Supreme was able to conclude the process prove out rapidly.   The new process removed the secondary thread rolling and shortened burnishing time.  Secondary quality issues were also eliminated because fewer people now handled the parts.  “In the past, parts had often been nicked while queued for thread rolling,” explains O'Gradney.”  “Prior to the development of this new process, quality issues were often identified after thread rolling,” adds Johnson.  “We now have much better visibility of the process and can reduce scrap by making corrections earlier.”  C&L Supreme is pleased with the Tsugami SS 20’s capabilities to streamline operations and its contributions to the company’s goals of reducing production costs and improving part quality.  The new Swiss- turn’s modular tool zone and ease of operation meets C&L Supreme’s requirements for future flexibility and adaptability.  As C&L Supreme’s business moves forward in sync with changes in the marketplace and technology, its long history of success is testament to the value of continuous improvement and management’s recognition that the best businesses and technology revolve around the customers ’ needs, not the other way around.

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