Amada chooses Agie Charmilles EDM technology

The machines (2 x FI 440 CleanCuts) were installed at Amada's Kidderminster facility at the beginning of 2009, and are being used to manufacture a wide range of tooling solutions for the company's punch press machine tool customers. "We have created, and rely heavily on, a sophisticated in-house EDM cell to manufacture our tooling solutions," explained Chris Lawlor, senior general manager at Amada UK. "However, during 2008 it became clear that our existing wire-cut machines needed to be upgraded to ensure we could continue to meet the tighter delivery schedules being demanded by our customers – same-day manufacture and dispatch requests are becoming more common – and allow the manufacture of newer tool designs requiring greater accuracy. With an eye on the future, Amada began to consider which EDM machines could quickly and easily be automated and linked to load/unload robots. The possibility of future automation would enable Amada to take full advantage of lights-out, unmanned operations, thereby optimising productivity, maintaining maximum efficiencies and matching their planned sales expansion. However, while the machines needed to be 'automation ready' for the future, there were immediate requirements. Mr Chris Lawlor again: "In particular, we knew we needed fast, reliable and automatic wire thread/re-thread capability to enable us to machine multiple jobs and/or machine multiple apertures in a job in one set-up; large wire spools to enable the machines to run unattended; and automatic slug ejection capability to help us move (seamlessly) from rough cutting to finishing without operator intervention, thereby keeping part cycle times and costs to a minimum." This was the challenge that was given to all the main EDM manufacturers, and through a series of trials and test cuts it became clear that the GF AgieCharmilles CleanCut machines provided the optimum, cost-effective solution. "The FI 440 CleanCut machines gave us what we were looking for," Mr Lawlor confirmed. " In addition to the integrated automation of the machines, the CleanCuts also give us fast removal rates (400 mm2/min); good surface finishes (Ra 0.2µm); and perform well within our part accuracy parameters. "Since their installation, we have used one of the machines to manufacture our smaller size dies (A and B range), and the second machine to manufacture our larger dies (C, D and E range). Complex and intricate jobs are machined on the 440 CleanCuts during the day, with more routine jobs set-up and left to run on them overnight."