Operation autonomous

The manufacturing world today is all about supply chains with companies having to make difficult ‘make or buy' decisions regarding products and processes on a daily basis. Imagine then not having to make those choices because everything you need is on tap and readily available. From carbide manufacture through to manufacturing its own machine tools, tooling manufacturer Guhring has things completely under control.  Established in 1898 in Albstadt, Germany, Guhring is a family run business employing some 4,800 employees worldwide. Originally the company was split into two distinct divisions: cutting tools and machine tools, but today, although the company still manufactures machines, these are exclusively for its own use. The 60-employee, Birmingham-based UK operation is very much a self contained production unit. A vast range of rotary cutting tools is available from stock encompassing drills, gundrills, taps, reamers, milling cutters and HSK toolholders, but a growing part of Guhring's business – around 40% of the total – is providing bespoke tooling solutions for its burgeoning customer base, designed and engineered from the ground up and predominantly for customers in the aerospace and automotive markets. “We were the first subsidiary to be formed outside of Germany,” announces managing director, Mike Dinsdale. “That was in 1973, but our vision, even back then, was to be far more than simply a tooling supplier so we launched a dedicated tooling regrind and modification service. Today, that concept has been enhanced even further and our Birmingham site is a fully equipped manufacturing facility with 30 members of staff directly involved on the manufacturing side. We have 12 Guhring manufactured CNC machine tools, our own coating facility and we even produce our own carbide base material.” “I believe our manufacturing capability in the UK is somewhat unique,” adds national sales manager, Dave Hudson. “Our 9-axis CNC grinders are manufactured by us, for us, and they're specifically designed for manufacturing, modifying and regrinding cutting tools and nothing else. Not only that, but all Guhring production subsidiaries around the world have the same machines and equipment so there's a total uniformity of resource and processes, from the machine tools used, through to CNC programs and inspection equipment.” Going the extra mile Whilst in terms of productivity and efficiency the benefits of manufacturing from a single source are very much company dependant, it would probably be true to say that if it was economically viable, purely from a control perspective, most organisations would prefer this route. For Guhring UK and Mike Dinsdale, it offers degrees of flexibility and reliability that wouldn't otherwise be possible. “We try to be totally honest and transparent with our customers,” he says. “If we commit to a delivery date, we'll move heaven and earth to make sure it happens, and if we can't keep our promises for whatever reason we'll be upfront about it. We have many customers in the automotive and aerospace sectors and if they call us on a Friday afternoon with a broken tool that has stopped the production line, we will 99 times out of a hundred be able to help the customer simply because we have everything we need here under one roof – whether it's repair, refurbishment or a new tool from scratch.” By definition, Guhring is a rotary cutting tools specialist so you won't find it developing large ranges of turning tools, inserts or flat carbide products. But if rotary tools float your boat then Guhring, with its standard catalogue range of 1,650 tool types in a staggering 44,000 different sizes, plus the capability of manufacturing application-specific customised tooling as well as a range of value added ancillary products and services such as project and tool management, has just about every eventuality covered. At its Birmingham facility, the company carries in excess of £2.5 million worth of stock for immediate delivery. On standard products, Guhring markets and sells its products through an extensive UK-based distributor network. “Unlike many other tooling companies, we're quite happy to stock specials as well as standard product,” Mr Dinsdale enthuses. “As a manufacturer, it's far more cost-effective for us to make 12 drills rather than three for example, so providing we can get a commitment from the customer to purchase larger quantities, we'll hold the excess stock here until it's required. Everyone benefits from this arrangement because we can pass the cost savings we make onto the customer, and stock is always available at short notice.” Fine tuning formulations Apart from the sheer vastness of the product range, the other area where Guhring really excels is with materials technology. “We can produce tools in HSS, HSCO (high speed cobalt steel), PCD and CBN but for carbide tools we have our own carbide sintering facility in Berlin backed by an extensive R&D department,” Mr Dinsdale affirms. “This means we can develop and formulate our own grades of carbide, tweaked to suit bespoke customer applications. We tried for years to find a suitable carbide supplier but no-one could provide the variation of grade we needed so in the end we decided to make our own.” “An additional service that generates excellent business for us is coating,” Mr Hudson adds. “Guhring manufactures its own coating chambers and we can offer this either as an option on our own tools, or as a standalone subcontract service. Predominantly titanium-based, our coatings can be formulated for specific applications depending on customer requirements and it's a really cost-effective way of getting better performance from cutting tools, both in terms of tool life and productivity.” So with a policy of keeping as much manufacturing as possible in-house, coupled with a longstanding pedigree based on quality and reliability and an extensive product range, it's pretty plain to see that Guhring's modus operandi is centred firmly around helping its customers operate more efficiently and productively. Mr Hudson is the first to admit that Guhring's products certainly aren't the cheapest, but in the long run, the productivity gains can be considerable. Reaming – on steroids He cites an example using a product recently showcased at EMO in October – the HR 500 reamer. “Reaming products, in terms of visibility get a bit of a raw deal in the marketplace, but they still have a very important role to play. Even though drilling and boring techniques have improved significantly in recent times regarding accuracy and surface finish quality, the same can't be said about the humble reamer, where cutting data and performance has remained largely static. “But with the HR 500, we've really broken new ground,” he continues. “In a recent like for like tool evaluation study we conducted with one of our automotive customers manufacturing con rods on a Heller HMC, the stats are astounding. On a component that required four holes to be reamed at 13.663mm diameter, the cutting speed with the existing reamer maxed out at 16m/minute but with the HR 500 we were able to take this up to 214m/minute. Furthermore, cutting time per hole was reduced from 40.97 seconds down to a phenomenal 0.34 seconds. “Aside from the speed gains, there are also tool life benefits. Using his existing reamer, the customer was able to ream 1,600 holes before regrinding was necessary. With the HR 500, this was extended to 8,000 holes.” Impressive data indeed, but the real bottom line is the cost savings achievable. Although the HR 500 costs two and a half times more than the existing product, the total cost per component manufactured has been slashed from £1.95 to £0.07. This equates to a potential annual cost saving of over £93,000. “In operation, the HR 500 cuts so rapidly that it really has to be seen to be believed,” Mr Hudson reports. “We've conducted trials on a number of materials including titanium and achieved excellent results.” Turning the corner Providing customers with documented evidence that use of its products will bring significant productivity gains is all part of the service with Guhring. “We wouldn't expect a customer to simply change his cutting tool supplier purely on our say so,” Mr Dinsdale concludes. “At the end of the day it's up to us to provide the hard facts, which is why on applicable applications we'll carry out a study and present the customer with a detailed Tool Evaluation comparison report.” Commenting on current business levels, I leave the last word to Mike Dinsdale: “There's no doubt that things have been pretty tough over the past year but we are starting to see real signs of improvement,” he announces. “Our business in the aerospace sector remains strong and automotive work is definitely picking up. I'm happy to say that in terms of order intake, sales for November 2009 were very close to 2008 levels – which is a marked improvement over the early part of this year.” Guhring
www.guhring.co.uk