Suppliers Combine To Offer Machine Tool Builders Full Menu Of Products And Services

Advanced Machine & Engineering Co. (AME; Rockford, IL)) and its sister company, Hennig, Inc. (Machesney Park, IL), have joined forces on many occasions in the past, to benefit common customers. Today, that synergy has coalesced in a powerful combination of products, services and engineering talents to offer machine tool builders a substantial array of components and application assistance. Moreover, a single account manager is assigned to a builder to act as point man on the account and oversee all product and service delivery. One builder in the Cincinnati area, a longtime customer of both companies, has seen first-hand evidence of this synergy on its new line of CNC universal machining centers.

The machines are designed to enable heavy-duty, large monolithic part manufacturing capability and are found throughout American industries, including automotive, aerospace, off-road equipment and vehicles, rail, oil exploration, power generation including wind energy, mining and even in unique applications such as the recent Kepler telescope project for NASA, where the machine was used to prep the glass mirror sections for that deep space exploration apparatus. The machines are offered in bridge and rail type configurations.

For AME and Hennig, Bob Hussey is the account manager at this builder, serving the primary location in northern Kentucky. As he details the relationship, ?We?d been supplying power drawbars, spindle components, fixturing and workholding devices to this customer for years. As time went on, we also began to provide way covers, bellows, chip conveyors, coolant filtration systems and enclosures through our Hennig group. Often times, there was literally parallel engineering discussions occurring just a few miles apart at our facilities in the Rockford, Illinois area (home to both AME and Hennig).?

Hussey further explained that the centralized purchasing done at the builder often directed orders to the two vendor companies on the same day for the same machine. ?It just made a lot of sense to combine our efforts, across the board, to include engineering, applications, design, production and procurement.? He adds that AME and Hennig products are also found on the builder?s large horizontal machining centers.

AME manufactures and distributes precision machine components and equipment for the machine tool, fluid power, and high production saw machine markets. Hennig manufactures machine tool protection and chip management products in the U.S., Germany, Brazil, India, Japan, China, South Korea, France and the Czech Republic. It has North American service centers in Illinois, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Michigan, Ohio, Canada, and Mexico. AME and Hennig had recently joined forces to supply repair services and spare parts to the customer through its maintenance supply partners in the area, as well.

Since the builder frequently designs application-specific machines in their CNC universal series, AME and Hennig likewise build their components to a dedicated spec. AME?s engineering, precision manufacturing and testing facilities lend themselves to this approach. Harold Goellner, head of the spindle interface group at AME, adds, ?We have a great relationship with these folks. Since they build their own machine spindles, we are most often asked to either machine to a particular spec or to make recommendations on how our various components could be integrated into an overall design to achieve the desired result.?

But not all is custom, as Goellner explains. ?There?s a Lego analogy I like to use for much of what we do. While the end assembly is indeed a custom build, there are various modular shaft and drawbar components we offer in our line that might combine with, for example, a particular custom rotary union in the final spindle construction.?

Goellner detailed how the machine tool builder?s engineers would typically work with their counterparts at AME. ?They contact us with their specs, including pull force, RPM, coolant delivery, spindle type, shaft lengths, diameters and the front and rear bearing dimensions for the application. We respond with a spindle shaft / drawbar turnkey solution. Depending on the tooling involved, we would also provide thru-coolant or air blast systems and analog sensors and proximity switches for internal sensing of high speeds plus unclamping unit status.?

Goellner cites the inventory levels maintained at AME as key to the company?s ability to serve this customer?s needs in every way, with minimal or no delay in the production of a prototype or finished assembly. When modifications are needed, they are most often relatively minor, owing to the substantial inventory of sizes and styles in stock. He jokes, ?If you?ve ever been to one of those old-time hardware stores that just seems to have everything and anything you need around the house, that?s us.?

Beyond the spindle shaft and rotary unions, AME will engineer and manufacture custom toolholders to support the unique requirements of machine builders? customers, as well.

Goellner further noted the deep development levels in product technology reached by AME and its European partner, Ott Jakob (Lengenwang, Germany), the leading supplier of power drawbars to the European machine tool industry. ?When the HSK DIN standards for construction were being revised a few years ago, Ott Jakob?s Engineering Director sat on and continues to serve the standards committee.?

Greg Hobbs, the service manager for the spindle interface group at AME, echoes this attitude. ?We participate on the committee and work on the ANSI standards here in the U.S. and maintain a very exact protocol, using a wide range of testing resources to evaluate all aspects of our hydraulics, springs, grippers, toolholders and other spindle interface components. It?s one of many reasons we secured and maintain substantial machine builder business. Quality at every turn, you might say.?

Goellner adds, ?The relationship we have with this builder in Kentucky is very strong. They respect our integrity, our innovation and our responsiveness. They appreciate the way we stand behind our products and support their customers? aftermarket service needs. Most of all, we have a mutual willingness to help each other. That sounds so simple, but it?s as vital a component in the relationship as our product quality.?

From the builder?s team, one supply chain manager commented how the relationship between his company and these two vendors is now practically seamless, as Hussey, the local sales contact, represents both AME and Hennig. All product requirements, modifications, necessary engineering interactions and final procurement orders are channeled to the two companies, as needed, but having a common contact point facilitates a much more efficient and economical operating process, according to the source contacted.

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Advanced Machine & Engineering Co., www.ame.com , www.hennigworldwide.com