Article Title: Simultaneous Savings

During its 50 years of operation, Giess & Quanz has become known for its innovative cutting tool designs. The company’s step drills, for example, feature a special burr-removal zone called the “Edge Breaker,” which deburrs both the top and bottom of the hole after drilling. In 2002, with customer demand strong despite a worldwide manufacturing slowdown, Giess & Qhanz sought added tool-grinding capacity and increased productivity. They approached International Tool Machines (Palm Coast, Florida), which had been supplying tool grinders to Giess & Quanz for a decade. As a way to increase capacity and cut cycle times, ITM suggested a multi station rotary transfer grinder. (ITM introduced its first multistation RTG in the mid-1990’s to produce hss drills.)

ITM President Karl Giebmanns (retired) said his company offers a machine that, unlike the old mechanical multistation grinders, is compact and can be set up in minutes instead of days. Ken, sales and marketing for ITM, said setup time for a typical repeat job takes about 30 to 60 minutes. Giess & Quanz purchased a 4-station RTG that enabled it to simultaneously load a HSS step-drill blank, grind the flutes, step grind the OD, point grind and unload the finished tool. The new machine reduced the average cycle time from 5 minutes to 1.5 minutes. Because all operations occur simultaneously, the duration of the longest operation, plus a 3-second index time, determines the total cycle time. In addition, when feed rates for the shorter grinding cycles are adjusted to match that of the longest, wheel life and surface finishes improved.

ITM also provided Giess & Quanz with an AFS-8-200 oil-filtration system. In environmentally strict Germany, the machine’s sludge dryer is an important addition. ITM says the dryer removes 99 percent of the oil from the grinding sludge, producing a dry powder that lowers handling and disposal costs. Giess & Quanz owner and President, Reiner Quanz, said his company “had been looking for a compact machine that would give us more capacity and help us lower our manufacturing costs. The RTG machine was a natural choice.”