Large-Format Multitasking Simplifies Tube Manufacturing

FIBA Technologies produces seamless tubes. Doing so requires heating the metal of the tubes and using a CNC-controlled wheel that Sbrogna describes as being like a “pottery wheel.” The wheel gradually shapes the domes for the tube without leaving a weld mark. Photos courtesy of The Robert E. Morris Company.

When parts can extend out to 42-feet-long, and full production has 19 steps other than machining, ensuring a CNC machine’s ease-of-use is worth a pretty penny. FIBA Technologies, a third-generation, family-owned company that produces custom tubes for gas containment and transportation applications, discovered this when starting to update its machining capabilities. For decades, the shop relied on two three-axis machines to produce the necks and threads for its tubes, but the machines relied on manual programming for each part, a time-consuming process that also required a wealth of experience for smooth operation. Loading and part flipping also proved difficult for these machines — after all, the tubes can range from seven to 42 feet long — with both operations requiring the use of a large crane. The difficulty of finding people to operate its machines and the lengthy downtime waiting for the crane became bottlenecks for FIBA. Amid increasing demand from companies in the space exploration, alternative fuels and electronics industries, the shop decided to invest in an additional machine that could bypass some of these issues. It found a suitable solution in the Soraluce FLP 14000 multitasking machine.

Simple Controls

In contrast to the old machines’ controls, which required sophisticated knowledge of G-code and a fair bit of manual machining experience, the Soraluce machine uses a Heidenhain control. Matt Sbrogna, director of operations at FIBA Technologies, says this type of control is much easier for a new hire to learn. Changing between part programs, he says, is as simple as selecting a pre-written program in the control and pressing start.

Operating the Soraluce machine requires only a few button presses, rather than fully reprogramming the machine for each new custom tube. The machine can also handle three tubes in one setup, as opposed to the older machines’ two.

Programming itself is also much simpler for the shop, as FIBA’s Soraluce distributor, The Robert E. Morris Company, coded programs for all of FIBA’s tubes during the installation of the machine. Sbrogna says FIBA can now hire a new operator and have them run parts within two to three weeks — a stark contrast after struggling to find people with the necessary experience for the older machines.

Multi-Axis Considerations

Simplicity has also crept into the drain holes some of FIBA’s tubes require. These holes are set at a 45-degree angle drilled directly into the dome of the tubes. Drilling these holes was impossible on the older machines, instead requiring manual operations using Bridgeport machines.

In contrast, the FLP 14000 uses a Soraluce H205 automatic indexing universal head. The head can index on vertical and diagonal axes in 2.5-degree increments, reaching the required angles to produce these features. Unfortunately, it has limitations — FIBA loads three tubes onto the FLP 14000 at once, and while the machine can perform the rest of its machining operations on all three, the machine’s ram would collide with the parts if the shop tried to drill holes into tubes in two of the three positions. As such, tubes in these positions still require the Bridgeport machines for drain holes. Sbrogna says FIBA is still looking to optimize this process, and hopes to use the multi-axis head to perform drilling operations on all three tubes in each cycle in the near future.

Cutting a Crane Operation

Where the FLP 14000 already outperforms the older machines, however, is in its travels. The Soraluce machine uses a mobile “machine pendant” consisting of the operator station, Y-axis ram, Z-axis column, tool changer and spindle head. This pendant can travel 14,000 mm on the X-axis, while the ram can move 2,200 mm on the Y-axis and the column 1,500 mm on the Z-axis. This is enough to move from one end of a 42-foot tube to the other, cutting out the need for the crane to flip the tubes. As already mentioned, the table is also large enough to fit three tubes simultaneously, whereas the older machines only fit two tubes per cycle.

Loading or flipping the tubes requires the use of an overhead crane — but because this crane is so vital in moving tubes around the shop floor, the shop has a backlog on operations requiring it. This contributes to lengthy downtime on FIBA’s older three-axis machines. Cutting a crane operation drastically bolsters the Soraluce machines’ productivity.

While the actual cycle times for completing machining operations on the dome are similar between the Soraluce and the older machines, the time savings from eliminating the extra operation are significant. These are further compounded by automatic probing on the Soraluce, which simplifies in-process measurement, and ensures the machine pendant and the tube are in the right place when the pendant moves to machine the opposite side of the tubes. Soraluce’s Dynamic Active Stabilizer Plus feature further ensures that performance holds up across this wide range of travels with minimal chatter.

Results

Machining is only one production step of 20 for FIBA’s tubes, a fact which prevents easy comparison of productivity or profitability — especially when the volume and type of tubes on order changes from month to month. But Sbrogna was able to say that the Soraluce machine is more productive than the older machines, and that running them in tandem has enabled the company to meet its goals of 250 tubes produced each month. Repair parts are much easier to come by for this new machine, and hiring manufacturing talent who can work on the new machine is much simpler than hiring for the aging three-axis machines.

“We took guys right off the floor and trained them how to use this without any experience,” Sbrogna says. “[That’s] probably the biggest benefit of the machine.”