MSI Southeast gets more from WorkNC on the shop floor

Adding a high-speed electrode mill and a rebuilt machining center with a retrofitted high-speed control created unanticipated problems at MSI Southeast Inc., injection mold manufacturers based in Greenville, SC, USA. Ellis Jarrell, CNC Manager for MSI Southeast explained," I couldn't produce programs fast enough for our four machines with our existing workstation and CAM software. I was working long days and weekends creating programs to keep the machines running five days per week." He continued, "This was not sufficient. We wanted to be able to operate the machines six and seven days per week. We needed to add another workstation and programer, or find some other way of increasing our programing capacity."

<< In addition to the machining time that we save with the Creative Evolution control, we get 30 hours worth of programing as a bonus with WorkNC. >>
Norm Hervey, Owner and Founder of MSI Southeast Inc.

MSI Southeast turned to Sescoi who proposed installing WorkNC on the shop floor next to the retrofitted machining center. This machine, with its Creative Evolution control, is capable of running between 3 and 10 times faster than MSI Southeast's existing CNC machining centers, and is consequently used for the majority of the company's 3D work.

With the prospect of slashing programing times, clearing the programing backlog, and removing the need to employ an additional programer, Norm Hervey, Founder and Owner of the company decided that WorkNC was a sound investment.

The ease of use and speed of WorkNC has made a big difference to the company. Carl Collins, operator of the retrofitted machine, uses WorkNC to program all of the 3D parts that run on his machine. In addition, he also has time to program all the electrodes machined on the shop's new highspeed electrode mill. The arrangement has not only eased the programing load in engineering, but greatly increased the shop's programing flexibility.

Carl Collins no longer has to rely on the engineering department for part programs or program corrections. By creating them himself, in WorkNC on the shop floor, he makes any changes as the need arises. Downtimes are greatly reduced and machining is started and finished much sooner. He added, "WorkNC provides the most logical division of responsibilities. Engineers may be strong in design, flow factors, and solidification rates but they usually don't have much hands-on machining experience. WorkNC puts the responsibility for machining the part in the hands of the person who is most knowledgeable about machining and proper tool selection - the operator. It's the ideal arrangement."

"WorkNC involves the operator more in the production of the part," said Ellis Jarrell. "He becomes more responsible for the machining process and can take pride in the results. The software also provides increased programing flexibility because more of our people can now create toolpaths; the shop doesn't grind to a halt when a programer is absent for any reason." He continued, "With WorkNC, the operator can be very productive. During the 70 hours or so of machining time required for the average mold, he can probably use about 30 of those hours to prepare programs for his machine and for the electrode mill." Norm Hervey added. "Thus, in addition to the machining time that we save with the Creative Evolution control, we get 30 hours worth of programing as a bonus."

"Before, we quoted 14 to 16 weeks for a complex mold with a contoured cavity" , Norm Hervey noted. "Now, with the programing and machining time we're saving, we can quote 12 to 14 weeks for the job. The faster delivery time is a significant competitive edge. WorkNC has proved to be a smart investment", he concluded.