Turnkey Fabricator Increases Capacity with New Horizontal Boring and Milling Machine

ExacTech Inc. (Sturgeon Bay, WI) has announced that it recently added a new, heavy-duty, HNK Model HFB 150 CNC ram/floor horizontal boring and milling machine to its 91,000 sq ft heavy fabrication operation. It was delivered over the summer and has been operating since early September.

ExacTech is known as a turnkey fabrication company with 100 ton lifting capacity, the operation can handle parts at every stage of development — medium-to-heavy fabrications, ultra-precision CNC machining, burning, blasting, painting, and assembly. According to Matt Lambie, ExacTech’s director of operations, the new boring and milling machine has significantly increased capacity and versatility in daily operations. This, in turn, is enhancing customer service for the company.

Until now, the company has operated two boring and milling machines: a large one with an envelope that is 36 ft horizontal by 16 ft vertical; and a smaller one with a 10 ft by 6 ft envelope. The new machine is a step up from its smaller predecessor, featuring a 20 ft by 10 ft envelope that can handle larger weldments as well as smaller pieces if needed.

Lambie said the new machine has dramatically changed how ExacTech can service its customers. “Now, we can use both the larger WMW machine with a 36 ft by 16 ft envelope and the 20 ft by 10 ft envelope to service our outside customers in the offshore oil, mining, automotive and rail industries, both domestically and internationally,” he said.

http://youtu.be/8Q3xhyUkqM0
An overview of how ExacTech specializes in medium-to-heavy metal fabrication, precision CNC machining, assembly and finishing services.

“This new, increased capacity gives us the freedom to target and maintain outside customers while regularly supporting our sister companies. No one has to wait or be told that we can’t do it.”

Not only can the new machine handle larger parts than its smaller predecessor, it has a 20 ton CNC rotary indexing table that can turn 360 deg. That means this single machine can handle two setups at the same time.

“In addition to our increased capacity, we’ve also added versatility because we can set-up to work on two parts,” Lambie explained. “We can be machining a column for Marine Travelift, for example, while setting up to machine a gear case for an outside customer. We can still work on the smaller parts if we want to.”

What’s more, the new machine is six-axis, versus four. “So the new machine gives us the larger envelope, the indexing table and two additional axes,” he commented. Indeed, there are high expectations when dealing with stringent tolerances. New parts must be machined to the required dimensions so they are precise to the drawings. Many of these parts will be shipped all over the world, and errors would be extremely costly.

“Our customers come to us because we’re a one-stop shop, meeting all their manufacturing needs in one location,” Lambie said. “They also know that we have a proven, long-standing reputation for matching our fabrications with precision tolerance work. Our production expertise and state-of-the-art equipment ensures that we’ll meet our customers’ quality and delivery requirements. And, with this new machine, we’ve again raised our manufacturing capabilities to a new level.”

www.exactechinc.com