How did ANCA revolutionize CNC machining and what can that process do for gear manufacturing?
ANCA was founded in 1974, and we’re celebrating 50 years in business by our two founders, Pat Boland and Pat McCluskey, who are still active in the business. We started from the control system side, attaching to different types of machines. Then, in the ’80s, we actually started with our own machines in the tool and cutter grinding space. We come with a very strong software tilt compared to our competitors. We were the first to bring true 3D simulation software to the market in the ’90s, and we were the first to come up with a probing cycle in the tool and cutter grinders in the late ’80s. We are the first to bring in-process measurement within the skiving cutter grinding in process with our ANCA integrated gear tool measurement (IGTM). This has allowed us to bring a number of different innovations to the gear market.
As part of ANCA’s 50th anniversary, can customers expect to see the launch of new products?
We’re excited to come to IMTS in Chicago. One of the new products we’ll be showing is AIMS (ANCA Integrated Manufacturing System) Connect, which allows for a closed loop integrated automation solution. It can digitize the production process through your shop. It will talk to all your different systems you’re using in the production process and prompt the operator to go from marking a pallet, move it to the machine, move it to an external measurement device, and move it to the next process. If the measurement comes out wrong, it will automatically send the compensation data back to the machine so the operator can take the part back to the machine. This improves the efficiency of the shop. Next, we are bringing in some new improvements to the gear tools. You’ll be able to see this on our GCX Linear, which is our solution for gears with a much simplified process.
How has ANCA’s approach to customer challenges changed over the last century?
The industry is forever evolving. An example of this is the tolerance on a cutting tool. As customers continuing to look for advantages in the market, you can really see the drive now for high performance tools around surface finish and accuracy. If you look back in the ’80s when we first were producing machines, it was really just about getting as many tools out as possible, which of course is still the case, but accuracy was not as much of a thing. In the ’90s, with simulation coming on board, the power of the geometry became more understood, and we had to develop the machines to allow for more complex geometries to be produced. In the 2000s, in-process measurement became more of a thing — being able to measure and then compensate within the actual machine. More recently, the drive for tighter tolerances has meant we’ve released a new range of products that have a nanometer feedback resolution in the control system. That allows us to really control the grinding pathway more smoothly because you’ve got control over a nanometer rather than a micron.
Automation is a big one, too. In the ’90s, you rarely sold a machine with a robot on it. Whereas now, it’s rare that we sell a machine without one. More and more customers are coming to us now about automating the whole process of the cutting tool from the picking of the blank to the fully packaged tool.
Another trend in the market is customers are looking at how they can grow, and the core market of cutting tools is still steadily growing, but it is not growing like it was in the ’90s and 2000s. With the growing use of robots and electric vehicles, the use of accurate gears is increasing where the skiving process is becoming more popular. Geometrical tolerances in the gear cutting-tool industry are of their own kind, and this area is where ANCA has set its home base.
We’ve had a number of customers successfully develop their market for skiving tools, but, at the start, not having the volume to justify a full machine, so they can use our machine for producing skiving cutters as well as producing cutting tools without a major setup time because it’s automated. That is allowing them to compete. Over time, they can switch to it being a more dedicated shaper or skiving cutter-producing machine.
What should we expect in ANCA’s next phase?
We’ve got a couple of key areas that we’re focusing on: One of them is around the lowest cost per tool. We understand the globe is becoming more competitive, and we need to ensure our customers in the U.S. have the ability to compete with anyone. Partly it’s to do with automation. Partly it’s to do with faster setup times, less scrap, best grinding practices, and better internal measurement within the machines. The other part of it is looking at the cost of running the machine.
Take Motor Temperature Control, for example: Previously, it took two hours to get the machine into a stable position before you could run the tools from a thermal perspective. With Motor Temperature Control, it takes 15 minutes, and that saves the warmups and can reduce the air consumption on the machines.
The next one is definitely performance cutting tools. We have released a different range of products around this new technology where we have a nanometer feedback resolution, but we believe there’s a lot more that we can do. Some of that is in the software area where we can look at even more complex calculations for more complex geometries. From a gear perspective, we are continuing to develop our platform of products where we believe the gear market is going to grow over time, so we are investing in it.
MORE INFO machines.anca.com
