Soldering up 25 years of round the clock production

In 1984, Oglesby & Butler developed the world’s first pocket portable soldering iron, giving engineers the freedom to solder joints in the field without the need to plug-in to electrical outlets.

This brought about the birth of the Portasol brand, global expansion and consequently the requirement for sliding head lathes from Star Micronics GB.

When the Portasol brand was in its infancy in the 1980s, the company was primarily assembling, packing and distributing its products; relying wholly on a subcontract supply chain. The considerable costs and performance of suppliers pushed the Carlow company near Kilkenny to initially buy plastic moulding machines that were soon followed by CAM auto turning centres for production turning of pins, caps, clips, end caps and tanks.

However, the engineering manager at Portasol, Mike Griffin, had a vision of introducing CNC technology as a potential replacement of CAM autos and a trip to MACH in 1992 changed everything for the Irish business.

Twenty years after visiting MACH and buying the first Star GB CNC sliding head lathe, an SR-20; the instigator of the purchase is still buying Star machines with the latest addition, an SR-20RIV Type B arriving in June.

Mr Griffin says: “We bought eight second hand CAM autos that were running 15 to 20 different copper and brass parts in series runs of 20,000 to 30,000. At the time, the CAM autos were more productive than CNC sliders but they had to be continually manned and had excessive set-up times. We gradually gained the confidence to run the first Star SR-20 lights-out, which made it more productive than the CAM auto alternative.

“Additionally, we eliminated secondary operations as the Star had the flexibility to conduct cross drilling, threading and milling. This flexibility also meant the first Star SR-20 was also used as an R&D machine. Remarkably, that first Star SR-20 is still on the shopfloor, running 24/7 after 25 years. It has now clocked up approximately 200,000 hours of production producing well in excess of 15,000,000 and is as reliable as it was on day one.”

The first Star SR-20 was followed by a second machine within 12 months. The CAM autos were soon replaced and the company now has nine Star machines that include an SW-7, a 12mm capacity SV, three SR-20 RIII machines and the latest SR-20RIV Type B machine.

Over the last 25 years, each machine has been specified for a particular need with the SW-7 selected for small parts up to 7mm diameter, the SV-12 chosen for complex parts up to 12mm whilst the latest SR-20RIV Type B was picked for its ability to conduct cross drilling and milling at angles.

Mr Griffin continues: “Sliding head lathes aren’t always associated with flexibility, but the Star machines have been phenomenal for our business. The early machines gave our design department the first real opportunity to incorporate design for manufacture. We went beyond the benefit of reducing subcontract costs, controlling processes and quality by bringing work in-house; the capability of our Star machines gave our engineers the ability to redesign the internal workings of our patented technology. This ongoing process has reduced the number of components and the subsequent assembly processes and times.”

The design for manufacture capability, the reduced stockholding and lead-times, the improved productivity and component quality are just a few of the many benefits that Oglesby & Butler has witnessed since it started buying Star GB sliding head lathes.

“Our product portfolio has expanded exponentially with hundreds of variations of different product lines,” Mr Griffin continues. “From a manufacturing perspective, this means we have to continually look at methods of how to remain flexible, efficient and above all productive. Star has certainly helped us along this path. The newer machines are at least 30-40% more productive than our first 25-year-old SR-20 that still churns out parts all day long.”

Looking at the benefit of the latest Star addition, Mr Griffin comments: “The SR-20RIV Type B has a B-axis that can work in conjunction with X-, Y- and Z1- and/or X-, Y- and Z2-axis that allows both cross working and front facing power tools to be mounted in any station.

“Also having the ability to drill and mill at any programmable angles on both main and sub-spindles has negated the need for secondary operations on many parts. On one aluminium component that is produced in regular batches of 4,000 to 5,000, the SR-20RIV Type B has completely eliminated secondary operation drilling and threading. Previously, this operation would require a full week of labour and machine time. The new Star is saving this labour requirement and giving us added machine capacity, and that is just one component type.”

STAR GB www.stargb.com