A Tale About an Automation Solution Discovered in Production Machining

This parts accumulator is designed to prevent dents and scratches on workpieces as they fall from a machine’s chute into a receptacle plastic tray. Because the tray rotates clockwise, it moves parts away from one another, providing clear space for the next workpiece to drop onto the tray without touching another part. (Photo credit: Terick Solutions)

It’s our goal at Production Machining to be a mechanism for the discovery of new machining equipment, technology, processes and ideas. I recently discovered a post on LinkedIn that offers a great example of that.

Darrin Baker, one of our 2023 Emerging Leaders, took time to create a thoughtful post on how he learned about the Super Ario parts collecting rotary table from Terick Solutions from reading this article about it which appeared in our July 2023 issue. Darrin is CNC Swiss production supervisor for Liberty Precision, the aerospace division of Pindel Global Precision. The shop recently added one of those devices to receive parts machine on one of its Swiss-type lathes.

Here’s how he describes it in his own unedited words in his LinkedIn post:

Sometimes automation can be as simple as this rotary table called the Super Ario we just installed at Pindel Global Precision, Inc. Less than two years ago this product wasn’t distributed in the U.S.A. and we found that the rotary tables that were available here didn’t fit our needs. Luckily reading the July 2023 issue of Production Machining we learned that Terick Solutions had found this product in Japan and started distributing it out of a Wisconsin location. At a fraction of the cost of competitors some quick and dirty math leads me to believe it will pay for itself in 155 hours of operation! That’s an ROI of roughly 10 days!

A family of parts we are currently running have strict call-outs on nicks, dings and dents as well as having .005" max edge break call-outs. What that means is we couldn't just catch the parts in a traditional manner. If two parts touched while falling into the basket they were both deemed scrap. So that meant 1 operator 1 machine 0 Lights out. They'd have to gather each part that came off the machine immediately. That wasn't going to work for us.

A simple solution like this will make all the difference. The speed as well as height are adjustable and it plugs into a standard outlet so we can move it where ever whenever. Now the operator can run multiple machines and we can run unattended for as long as our data tells us we can.

Just thought I'd share this relatively new (to the USA) and super cool product we discovered.

Ironically, the article Darrin mentions above was in the same issue in which the cover story describes how Pindel Global Precision CEO and former U.S. Navy SEAL, Bill Berrien, applies his military knowledge to form an in-house upskilling program that trains all levels of employees for advanced positions.

I very much appreciate that Darrin took the time to tell his LinkedIn followers this tale of discovering a simple yet effective automation solution. If you have a similar tale to tell, shoot me an email. And be sure to follow me and Production Machining on LinkedIn like Darrin does.