Modular pre-engineered system grows to meet changing manufacturing needs
Florence, Kentucky, October 25, 2011 – Visitors to T3 – Tomorrow's Technology Today, a Discover Mazak 2011 event, saw Mazak's PALLETECH system, the latest technology in unattended manufacturing. The PALLETECH manufacturing system consists of one HORIZONTAL CENTER NEXUS 5000-II Horizontal Machining Center, 6 pallets, one load/unload station and pallet loader.
The PALLETECH system offers three pallet stocker configurations – flat/single level, two level and three level. PALLETECH provides flexibility in production and is efficient both in high mix, low volume production or high volume production. And as a company's business grows, PALLETECH can grow with it thanks to its modular, pre-engineered construction. As such, PALLETECH accommodates up to 16 machines, 6 to 240 pallets and as many as 8 loading stations.
Additionally, Mazak offers an expandable tool hive, which easily incorporates into a PALLETECH machining cell to provide flexible machining capability. The hive's basic frame starts with a 180-tool capacity and is expandable to 204 tools or 240 tools after installation. Another basic hive frame offers 240 tools initially and is later expandable to 288, 312 or 348 tool capacities.
Using Mazak's PMC-WEB cell controller software over standard PCs and networks, shop management can monitor operations, view and change schedules on-the-fly, manage part program files from anywhere on the network, track tool life/breakage and issue instructions to the shop floor. Users are able to interrupt a planned machining queue and produce an emergency part to meet demands. Scheduling can be performed by pallet number or workpiece number, and simply pushing the start button initiates cell production.
The base machine in the PALLETECH cell is the HORIZONTAL CENTER NEXUS 5000-II Horizontal Machining Center with 40 hp, 12,000-rpm spindle and table size of 19.7 sq-in (500.3 sq-mm). Machine axis travels, as standard, measure 28.7" (729 mm) in X and Y and 29.1" (739 mm) in Z, with 2,362 ipm (60 m/min) rapid travel rates.