ShopSolutions - SME · Vermeer provides ag-ricultural and industrial equipment ... Case Histories...

July 2014 | ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com 49

Vermeer Corp., a family-owned and operated company

was founded in Pella, IA, in 1948. Vermeer provides ag-

ricultural and industrial equipment to customers in more

than 60 nations for industries including biomass, landscaping,

pipeline, surface mining, tree care, and utility installation.

For Vermeer, building a quality product for customers

starts with a foundation of well-trained, skilled employees

who are valued as its most important

resource. In keeping with that belief, Ver-

meer provides training to all new welding

operators, and has welding engineers

and technicians who conduct quality

audits throughout the company.

Vermeer has made continuous im-

provement a priority, implementing lean

manufacturing practices to help make

the company and its products the best

they can be. Through that effort, Vermeer

has worked to eliminate waste in its

manufacturing and operational practices,

and established a focus on workplace

organization through lean manufactur-

ing principles that promotes efficient and

effective order in production.

All of those efforts have helped Ver-

meer dramatically reduce the lead time

for many products.

A natural extension of this continuous improvement

process—and a natural extension of how Vermeer strives to

provide the best working environment for its people—was

an assessment of fume extraction in the company’s welding

cells. In an effort to positively impact an already favorable

environment for welding operators, the company recently

installed multiple FILTAIR Capture 5 fume extraction systems

from Miller Electric Mfg Co. (Appleton, WI) in selected weld-

ing cells and facilities.

The FILTAIR Capture 5 fume extraction system captures

fumes from up to 5' (1.5 m) away and reduces operator inter-

action with the extraction arm, providing a cleaner, safer, and

more comfortable environment for Vermeer welding operators.

The larger fume-capture zone created with this new technology

means welding operators don’t have to stop welding as often to

adjust or maneuver the extraction arm, which leads to greater

arc-on time and improved productivity. Vermeer welding opera-

tors in the selected areas that use the systems said they also

notice the fumes being captured faster in their work area.

“Fume extraction is very important. We use a very clean

welding process, but we still want to improve,” says Dave

Landon, manager of welding engineering at Vermeer. “We felt

like the Capture 5 gave us our best option.”

In the selected areas featuring the FILTAIR Capture 5

systems, Vermeer typically uses Pulsed MIG with solid wire as

its chosen welding process. In considering new opportunities

in fume extraction, the company decided on source capture

rather than ambient air filtration.

Source capture allows weld fumes to be removed at

the source before reaching a welding operator’s breath-

ing zone, so it’s considered among the most effective and

Safe, Productive Fume Extraction Technology

ShopSolutionsCase Histories of Manufacturing Problem Solving

The fume-capture zone—up to 3' (0.9-m) wide and 5' (1.5-m deep)—of the

FILTAIR Capture 5 system in the weld cells for Vermeer welding operators is

three times larger than conventional source capture technologies.

practical solutions for fume extraction. However, many

types of source capture require significant and continual

welding operator interaction to position and reposition the

arm over the weld area, which means frequent pauses in

the welding process. This interaction can lead to downtime

and, potentially, weld defects.

At Vermeer, welding operators use a lot of intermittent fillet

welds on large parts, requiring the operator to move around

the fixture frequently. Moving a fume

extraction arm after every movement

would be time-consuming.

ZoneFlow, the Miller-exclusive Cap-

ture 5 technology, significantly reduces

that issue by creating a much larger

fume extraction area—up to 3' (0.9-m)

wide and 5' (1.5-m) deep—three times

larger than the fume capture area cre-

ated by conventional technologies.

“On many of our welding fixtures, the

source capture can be set up in a single

place and the operator can weld the

entire weld without having to move the

source,” Landon says of Capture 5. “It

pulls the fumes away from the welder, no

matter where he is on those fixtures.”

The technology works by way of a

negative pressure zone. Air is suctioned

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Shop Solutions

50 ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com | July 2014

Vermeer is an industry-leading manu-

facturer of agriculture, construction,

surface mining, tree care, organic

recycling and wood waste process-

ing equipment with a commitment to

lean practices, quality products, and

the safety and efficiency of its weld-

ing employees.

See us at Booth #N-6825

into the arm at a standard fume capture rate of around 900

cfm (25.49 cmm), while simultaneously, clean filtered air

moves out of the arm (at a point just above the hood portion

of the extraction arm) at approximately a 90° angle. Addi-

tionally, some of the air that blows out of the extraction arm

“short circuits” and circles back around, effectively allowing a

portion of the filtered air to capture more fumes before being

suctioned up again.

Combined, these actions create a

defined area of source capture, which

funnels the weld fume particulates to-

ward the center of the arm to maximize

the extraction process. The system can

accommodate fumes from stick, MIG,

TIG and flux-cored welding.

Vermeer first placed two of the

new source capture units in its Drum

Cell where welding operators work on

components for a brush chipper where

the system effectively impacted fume

reduction in those weld cells.

“We were so pleased with the perfor-

mance that we purchased several other

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ZoneFlow technology of the Capture

5 systems works by way of a negative

pressure zone. Air is suctioned

into the arm at a standard fume

capture rate of around 900 cfm,

while simultaneously, clean filtered

air moves out of the arm (at a point

just above the hood portion of the

extraction arm) at approximately a

90° angle.

units to put into what we call our Model Line, our highest

volume production line for brush chippers,” Landon said.

Vermeer uses Miller Axcess semiautomatic inverter weld-

ing power source machines with solid wire and a shielding

gas of 90% argon/10% carbon dioxide,

generally on mild and low-carbon

steels. On the company’s Model Line,

material thickness varies from 16 gage

up to 2" (51 mm).

With eight Capture 5 units installed

on the Model Line, the technology has

become an important part of continually

improving the environment for welding

operators at Vermeer.

The larger capture zone with the

new technology has made a significant

difference around the welding cells at

Vermeer. “Rather than getting a fog

or mist when you have a lot of people

welding—it’s completely clear in there,”

said Cody Leedom, a weld group leader

at Vermeer.

That effect on the welding environ-

ment contributes to the philosophy of

safety and worker comfort that Vermeer

values. It also helps keep good welding

operators on the job and makes them feel

good about their working environment.

The reduced welding operator

interaction with the fume extraction arm

means Vermeer operators can spend

more time welding, which helps boost

productivity and efficiency.

“When they stop welding, it’s what

we call waste in our lean processes,”

Landon said. “And so we’re always trying

to eliminate waste. We’re always trying to

keep the welder welding. By eliminating

that waste, our productivity increases.”

The fume extraction arm is easy to

operate and move, with full range of

motion, and it stays in position. Arm

adjustments are tool-less and welding

operators can make them by hand.

Vermeer welding operators also save

time with the new technology because their helmet lenses stay

clearer, so they don’t have to change them out as often. The

welding operators like that the fume extraction arm does not

disrupt the shielding gas that protects the weld.


See us at Booth #E-5602

When Landon finds something that works well, he doesn’t

hesitate to share that information with his colleagues in the

welding field. The Capture 5 system is one of those technolo-

gies, providing a better work environment for Vermeer welding

operators and reducing the amount of time they spend reposi-

tioning the fume extraction arm.

“I believe Miller has, in my opinion, hit a home run with

the Capture 5, because it is very much a breakthrough tech-

nology in the area of fume extraction,”

Landon said. ME

For more information from Miller

Electric, go to www.millerwelds.com,

or phone 920-734-9821.

Multipallet HMC Builds KanBan Performance

Kenlee Precision Corp. (Baltimore,

MD) knows very well the demands

that blanket order contracts for multiple

parts and different customers can place

on a manufacturing operation. “Every

week we release a myriad of parts for

customers that require reduced lead

times, exacting quantities and specifica-

tions, on-time delivery and of course,

100% quality,” said Kenneth Lewis Sr.,

owner of Kenlee Precision.

“An operation as complex as this

requires machines and systems with

the utmost performance, precision and

reliability or you’re not in the game,” said

Lewis. Facing capacity issues as well

as these well-known challenges, Lewis

sought a solution to meet the growing

needs of his company’s KanBan system

and found the answer in a six-pallet KIWA

horizontal machining center from Meth-

ods Machine Tools Inc. (Sudbury, MA).

Kenlee has 77 employees at their

50,000 ft2 (4645 m2) facility in Balti-

more, currently operates two nine-hour

shifts and is ISO 9001 certified. With a

mantra of “quality without compromise,”

Kenlee has progressed in large part due

to their commitment to strategic capital

investment in state-of-the-art machining

capabilities in order to satisfy customer

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needs. Since 1969, the company has focused on the custom

manufacturing of precision components and finished assem-

blies in medical, semiconductor, electronic, military, transpor-

tation and other markets.

Early on, Lewis positioned the company as a “one-stop

shop.” Services include CNC machining as well as sheetmetal

fabrication and electro-mechanical assembly, and even testing

and finishing phases. “We are a customer-driven supplier with

a can-do attitude,” said Lewis. “We always say, ‘if you can’t

measure it, you can’t make it’. The best way to compete is by

staying with the latest cutting-edge technology.”

Currently, Kenlee has 50 state-of-the-art, turning, vertical

and horizontal machining centers including 10 new machines

that were added over the last four years, in addition to three

Zeiss coordinate measuring machines. The shop has a full

range of equipment, from basic machines and cells up to ma-

chines with high-end jig borer capability. When a new customer

need arises, Kenlee often looks to their long-standing machine

tool partner Methods Machine Tools for technology expertise

and solutions. Kenlee has 12 machines from Methods, includ-

ing machines from various lines such as FANUC RoboDrill and

Feeler VMCs and a Nakamura-Tome turning center.

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At Kenlee Precision (Baltimore, MD), the KIWA KH-45 ma-

chines the aluminum block on the left from rough to finish

part complete--three operations in only 18.4 minutes--elim-

inating an off-line jig borer operation that was previously

required for this part.

Multipallet machining lies at the heart of Kenlee’s high-mix

order system. “A good example is a customer with a blanket

order for 100 parts, the same parts per month, 1200 parts per

year,” said Lewis. “We probably have 300 different parts tied to

blanket order contracts. Parts are manufactured and inventoried

in two buckets, limited to 200 minimum or 500 maximum per

bucket. Then parts are drawn each week on specific days to

keep a constant flow through the plant. This is very demanding.

We have schedules down to a science, but it all requires highly

reliable, multipallet machining and automation” said Lewis.

To maintain the necessary order pace and ensure a steady

product flow, Lewis sought Methods Machine Tools’ expertise

for recommendations on the best multipallet machining solu-

tion. “We wanted a variety of jobs to be pre-set in advance,

while also having the flexibility of open pallets available,

without tearing down one setup to do another job. By applying

this approach, we are always ready to go, with the ability to

start, stop, or move to another job at any point in time. And

multipallets also allow unmanned operation for profitable,

productive lights-out manufacturing,” said Lewis.

Methods recommended a KIWA KH-45 six-pallet HMC

which Lewis added to Kenlee’s machine arsenal in late 2013.

The 40-taper, 400-mm pallet KIWA in-

creased the number of Kenlee’s HMCs to

13, an unlucky number for some but not

to Lewis. “We’ve had great success with

the KH-45, not only for its speed and fast

tool-change feature which is very impres-

sive, but also for its accuracy and the

large work envelope. The larger travels

and 15,000 rpm are ideal for much of our

aluminum and steel work,” said Lewis.

Kenlee wasted little time putting their

new KIWA KH-45 to the test, running

complex parts in multipallet setups.

Their employees gave the machine high

marks. Don Wheeler, Kenlee setup man-

ager, said: “The KIWA can hold super-

tight tolerances all day of up to ±0.0005"

[0.013 mm] in holes and contours of

challenging parts. It is routinely capable

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in holes and boring with the circular

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parts in 1044 cold-rolled steel and also

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aggressive with the machine, the speed

and performance are great even at feed

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Continued on page 138

An operator at Kenlee Precision sets up the KIWA KH-45.

Lonnie Bray, Kenlee’s manufacturing manager, agreed:

“The KH-45 rapids are very impressive. We are able to easily

get in and out of a job in a shift and a half and increase our

supply of parts much faster. In the same time required, we

noticed the KIWA yielding 32 parts on one particular job com-

pared to 25 parts on our next best HMC.”

Both Bray and Wheeler are also pleased with the Rigid

Big Plus spindle which enables increased speeds, improved

finishes, less chatter and other features that make machining

smoother. “KIWA put a lot into the KH-45 design, from a 200

block look-ahead for performance to the clever time-and-has-

sle-saving chip disposal system, to the user-friendly FANUC

control with simple, powerful editing and recovery features.

They really thought things through,” said Bray.

Kenlee never hesitated on purchasing the KIWA because

they have always relied on Methods’ expertise and support. “If

Methods is behind KIWA, then we are as well—100%,” said

Lewis. “Methods has always believed in us and we believe in

them. Since the KH-45 was installed, which went very quickly

without a hitch, we’ve seen an average production time savings

of 20%, not to mention increased throughput, tooling and pallet

flexibility. At the end of the day [or night] in KanBan operation,

reliability is the ultimate measure. In three months, the KIWA

has never stopped running,” said Lewis. ME

For more information from Methods Machine Tools Inc.,

go to www.methodsmachine.com, or phone 978-443-5388.

Shop Solutions


Continued from page 56

KIWA machines feature multipallet design, which can

be expanded in a day and a half in the user’s shop.

Auto Tranny Gear Can’t Beat Automated Brush Deburring

HHI Forging, the largest supplier of forged and forged/machined steel compo-

nents in North America, produces wheel-end, transmission, drivetrain, and

steering and suspension components for such transportation industry customers

as General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda, and Harley-Davidson. HHI has

the capacity to do high-, mid- and low-volume production at its nine forging loca-

tions, two machining plants and the two other production divisions that fall under

the umbrella of HHI Group Holdings LLC (Royal Oak, MI), a company with nearly

3000 employees.

“We’re 80% automotive. We have some of the higher volume forging capabili-

ties, so we have very competitive pricing,” said Christopher Bass, an application

engineer who has been with HHI eight years and worked in CNC machining for 35

years. “People do business with us because of the quality of the tooling we build,

our quality systems and our capabilities.”

With annual production volume of 500–600 million pieces, HHI needs reli-

able processes and equipment to help meet the output and quality demands of

its customers. The CNC turning process HHI uses in production generates small

burrs—raised edges or pieces of material often as small as two to five-thousandths

of an inch thick—inside many of the parts. The process of deburring removes these

pieces and smooths out rough edges or ridges. Customers provide specific instruc-

tions to HHI on the deburring of their parts. A contract may require no sharp edges

larger than a specific size or no burrs at all, for example.

HHI Forging

uses an automated

deburring pro-

cess with ceramic

brushes from Wei-

ler Corp. (Cresco,

PA) for high-vol-

ume production of

transmission parts

in some facilities

that has resulted

in productivity and

quality gains. “We

have to get in there

and ensure with

our process that

we remove every

burr we generate.

You look at the

quality, and that’s

the critical part,”


An example of a Weiler brush being used to deburr a

transmission component in an automated setup. In recent

years, HHI has seen productivity and quality gains by

implementing automated deburring processes.

Bass said. “The parts we’re generating are inside the trans-

mission housing, so if burrs are breaking off, they can be a

catastrophic failure for that transmission. You cannot have any

burrs in a transmission.”

“When you automate and put it in a production line, you’re

pretty much guaranteed it’s going to get deburred, so it’s a

more controlled process,” he said. “We looked at the pro-

cess; we’ve never made this type of part before. We realized

an automated system would ensure a more robust process

and the quality of deburring would be better. We never even

considered manual for this product.”

Those types of parts, asymmetrical with teeth and castel-

lations on them, are harder to deburr by hand, especially in a

high-volume production situation. The ability to automate the

process reduces fatigue and wear and tear on employees, so

it benefits safety along with productivity. “When you’re doing

the high volume we have, you have to have a consistent sys-

tem that you can rely on,” Bass says.

The automated deburring system used at the Cloyes pro-

duction facility was designed and manufactured by Cleveland

Deburring Machine Co. (CDMC; Cleveland, OH), so Bass

approached that company about designing and creating

deburring equipment for the two HHI machining facilities in

Bolingbrook, IL, and Fraser, MI, that would be making the

transmission parts. CDMC frequently uses Weiler brushes in

its equipment and deburring applications. For HHI’s needs

in this case, CDMC determined a brush made from ceramic

material would provide the lowest cycle time.

At HHI, about 10–15% of the products machined in-house

require automated deburring. Of those, the majority are using

a deburring process with brushes—mostly Weiler brushes,

Bass said.

The two lines that use the automated brush deburring

process—in place for about two years now—at HHI’s facilities

in Bolingbrook and Fraser each produce about 700,000 units

annually. That’s full production of three shifts a day, five days

a week.

The automated deburring equipment used by HHI has

multiple stations and tools that run simultaneously, so three

or four brushes hit different parts of the burr at the same

time. The parts are put into one end, and they come out the

other end complete and deburred. “So every 10 seconds you

index a complete part,” Bass said. “The operator never has to

intervene. We want the workers to worry about the process as

a whole, not to worry specifically about deburring.”

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The brush life is metered based on amperage draw from

the motors. When the machine starts to draw more current

because the brush is wearing and it takes more effort to

remove the burr, it’s time to change out the brush. It’s also key

to monitor tool life upstream in the pro-

cess, otherwise when tooling is allowed

to wear too long upstream, the burrs

can get too large to be removed under

the parameters set for the automated

brush deburring process. The expected

size of the burrs to be removed is what

determines the type and size of brush

used in deburring.

“The wheels are quick changeovers

typically, in and out in a matter of

minutes,” Bass said. “You’re metering

tool life, metering brush life,” Bass said.

“It’s a living cell, things are always hap-

pening, and it’s up to the operator to be

aware of it all.”

Anytime that rotating tools are used

in production, safety issues can be

a concern. The self-contained auto-

mated deburring units used by HHI

remove that issue from the equation,

with the operator safely standing away

from the process.

“When you look at it from an er-

gonomics standpoint and an operator

safety standpoint, it’s just tenfold the

savings,” Bass said. “You take all of that

out of the equation.”

“To me, the difficulty of the part

you’re deburring and the volume of

parts you’re going to handle are the big

issues to consider,” Bass said. “Then

look at man versus machine, the wear

and tear.”

An automated deburring process will

always be the first option for consider-

ation in future production opportunities

for HHI.

“We see transmission components

as being a big part of our opportunities

going forward,” Bass said. “If we are

awarded more components that require deburring, then we

will stay with automating.” ME

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ShopSolutions - SME · Vermeer provides ag-ricultural and industrial equipment ... Case Histories...

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