Livingston-based Ritchie Precision is a precision engineering business that specialises in the laser, medical, photonics, oil & gas, ultra-sonic, optoelectronic, and scientific instrumentation sectors. New investment in the most up-to-date DMG MORI CNC machines and Lang Technik Robo-Trex robotic palletisation system has almost doubled capacity and assured quick turnaround of prototypes and production parts for this Scottish manufacturer.
With high tolerance critical components manufactured on-site, the manufacturing and QC areas are both temperature controlled to ±1°C. Working to tight tolerances, the company has invested in a range of DMG MORI DMU and DMC machining centres and NTX1000 mill/turn machines that are complemented by DMG MORI turning centres as well as a range of Hexagon metrology equipment.
With a high-volume long-term contract being awarded to Ritchie Precision for the manufacture of intricate, multi-feature medical components, the company invested in DMG MORI’s DMU eVo series machine tools. The machines were specified with advanced features such as coolant-preheaters to help eliminate the manufacturing inaccuracies caused by coolant ‘shock’. So challenging were the precision specifications of the components, the new machine tools were installed in a newly refurbished, temperature-controlled factory.
The final elements that enable the new components to be produced in the required high volumes and within the specification are the highly efficient Lang Technik Robo-Trex automation systems that now serve each of the company’s new universal machining centres. Working unattended and fed by the Lang Robo-Trex systems, the company’s DMU eVo series machines run throughout the day. Then, before the end of each day shift the Robo-Trex trollies are restocked with batches of workpieces, enabling each machining centre to run unmanned throughout each night.
Discussing this, Greig Anderson from Ritchie Precision says: “We learned from our mistakes when we started working on tight tolerance jobs on machines without robots. We have to run the machines 24 hours a day once the machines are set, otherwise, temperature control can be a challenge and the sizes can deviate. This results in parts being scrapped. With the robots, we found the temperature control in the factory, and with the robots running the machines constantly that we can achieve the tolerances required at high volumes. We have guys that run the machines on a day shift and when they leave, it runs lights out every night and we can return in the morning to good parts.”
Ritchie Precision has identified that just a short stop in production for as little as 20 minutes can create a temperature deviation and the company has to then re-run the warm-up cycle before restarting production. With the Lang automation system accommodating two component trolleys, one trolley of parts can be removed whilst the second trolley is being utilised for production. As Greig adds: “We can be running the robot all day and when we get to the end of the day, we can pull the trolley out while the machine is still running and reload the trolley and put it back in the automation system, where it is set and ready to go again. This means there is no downtime.”
Looking at the setup of the automation system, Greig comments: “It’s a retrofit system where DMG MORI and Lang set the system up quite seamlessly. We can run programs that we have had for years and simply add a sub-program to initiate the robot. Everything was easy to set up and run – it was as simple as adding a sub-program and loading everything into the robot trolley and ‘off you go’.”
Incorporating a simple-to-operate touch panel enables easy control of the automated Lang Robo-Trex system and, as external access to the trolley is possible, production remains seamless as machining cycles do not need to be interrupted. Control of the zero-point clamping system can be performed pneumatically through the machine tool or mechanically through the robot.
Explaining the benefits gained, Greig adds: “By enabling our machining centres to work around the clock without stopping, our Lang Robo-Trex systems have allowed the maximum productive potential of the machine tools to be realised and impressive volumes of parts to be produced”.