Chimera Co. Ltd.
Chimera Co. Ltd. is an extraordinary company. Named after the fabulous creature of Greek mythology, it took an ambitious an exciting decision to invest in automated production. But this was no ‘run of the mill’ investment – not just a single cell, not even a double cell, but two triple cells for EDM and a double cell for milling. Three multi-cells in a single, giant step that would leave the rest far behind!
Inside the new factory – the double cell for milling.
The company's President, Tomohide Miyazaki, explains: "We produce complex parts for moulding tools and these are typically ‘one-offs’. Many of our customers are, of course, toolmakers and we offer them high precision and rapid delivery. As regards precision, we are as good as it is possible to be but we felt that we could improve our throughput times."
Two generations at Chimera – President, Tomohide Miyazaki (left) and the founder, Hideki Miyazaki.
The investment has paid giant dividends. According to Miyazaki, current utilisation of these cells is 1,200 hours per month – compared with only 300 hours previously. Once a little tweaking with the company's production control system has been completed, the target is 1,500 hours.
The improvement in deIivery times has been ‘fabulous’.
The company's chairman, Hideki Miyazaki, founded Chimera at the start of the 1980's in Yokohama. A policy of continuous development and growth saw them move to Muroran on Japan's northernmost island, Hokkaido at the end of that decade, to take advantage of "cheap" land and a good supply of workers for any future expansion.
Tomohide Miyazaki continues: "Barely two years ago, we started to plan the new factory building where only 15 of the company's 120 employees now work. The whole idea was to increase productivity – hence, the commitment to installing automatic production cells.
One of the EDM triple cells.
"Right from the very beginning, System 3R's reference systems have been a part of our production process. We have gone from System 3R's early Mini system to its very latest products with the WorkMaster robot and WorkShopManager software at the core of our recent investment. They have lived entirely up to our expectations.”
The new factory now has two of the cells – a triple cell for die-sinking EDM and double cell for milling. Three Mitsubishi EA12E machines and a WorkMaster form the triple cell. The magazines have 128 positions for Macro electrodes and 30 positions for workpieces on MacroMagnum.
The double cell comprises a Makino V33machine (used for the milling of steel) a Makino Hyper5 (used for electrode manufacture) and a WorkMaster. The magazine has 90 positions for Macro and 15 for MacroMagnum.
The new factory in Muroran
The opportunity was also taken to upgrade production capacity in their old factory by investing in a die-sinking EDM triple cell – three Charmilles RF350 machines and a WorkMaster. The magazine has 96 positions for Macro and 30 for MacroMagnum.
Production Manager, Masaya Suruga comments: "There were two main reasons for our investment in automatic production cells – 24/7 production and minimising, as far as possible, the human factor. We feel we have succeeded. The fact is that, even though only a small part of total production has been automated, throughput times have been reduced by 40 percent. I'm hoping that, in the near future, we will also have an automatic wire EDM cell also driven by System 3R products."
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Layout drawings:
WorkMaster Linear 1250/75 & 3xMakino V33 & Makino V22
WorkMaster 1250/75 & Makino V33 & Hyper 5
WorkMaster 1250/75 & 3xCharmilles RF350P
WorkMaster 1250/75 & 3xMitsubishi EA12E
Related links:
WorkMaster
Automation in general
Macro
MacroMagnum
Visit Chimera:
www.chimera.co.jp/en/