Okuma TechTrek Showcases Manufacturing Solutions

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In a three-day event December 6-8, 2011, Okuma America Corporation and their distributors hosted over 200 manufacturing professionals at the Okuma and Partners in THINC facilities in Charlotte, North Carolina. With 24 machines on display and 29 Partner representatives on hand to address questions, attendees had the opportunity to truly explore potential manufacturing solutions and discover ways to improve their productivity.

Tim Thornton, controls product specialist, provided information about Okuma’s intelligent technologies and helped attendees understand how the THINC®-OSP control monitors and analyzes information from machine performance to improve productivity by reducing chatter, managing thermal deformation and helping to prevent catastrophic machine crashes.

Larry Schwartz, chief strategy officer, challenged manufacturers to question the status quo and utilize existing technology to reduce costs, improve quality and increase productivity. He shared insights from his 43 years of experience in manufacturing to illustrate how easy it is to become complacent by doing what we’ve always done. His viewpoints and insights inspired event participants to seek out the Partners and explore ways to improve their processes.

Partner equipment on display included the Iscar Matrix tool management system; MacMan-Net from dataZen; TMAC auto-compensation software from Caron Engineering; workholding solutions from Busche, Kitagawa, Koma Precision, SMW Autoblock, Schunk, Riten, and WTO; automation equipment from KUKA Robotics, LNS, Edge Technologies, Gosiger Automation, and IEMCA; tooling from Sandvik, Command Tool, and Kennametal; gauging from Renishaw, Zoller, Marposs, Blum, Edmunds Gages, and Hexagon Metrology; coolant solutions from MP Systems, Chipblaster, and Qualichem; and CAD/CAM systems from Esprit and Mastercam.

As a showcase for Partners in THINC, the event provided an education for many attendees as they discovered the depth and breadth of companies represented. One participant said “I wasn’t aware of all of the different companies operating as one in the same building. The fact that you can bring together so many suppliers that are competitors and have them working together is a great resource for the end customers such as myself.”

Featured equipment included an MCR-A5C double-column machining center, Multus B-750 horizontal lathe, a GA-26T grinder and the new Okuma AMPS flexible manufacturing system which is connected to 3 MB-4000H horizontal machining centers.  Applications engineers and product specialists were on hand to personally discuss manufacturing problems and work with customers and partners to solve specific operating and processing issues. In addition to the equipment and Partners, attendees were treated to a full tour of the Okuma facility.

Okuma will host more learning events in 2012, including a series of Lunch & Learn events at the Partners in THINC facility and at the Okuma Tech Centers in Chicago and Houston. Go online to www.partnersinthinc.com and www.okuma.com.