Learning from the Master of mill-turn centers in the aerospace industry: Vol. 2
“Machining Technology Laboratory - for further advanced technology”

Most-skilled engineer in charge of NTX 1000

The company always holds high expectations when introducing a new machine. NTX 1000 met the company’s high standards and receives favorable comments by Mr. Masahiro Ueno, General Manager of Manufacturing Department: “I immediately liked the high rigidity. The solid mechanical structure eliminates issues over the spindle runout. It helps us fully utilize specialized cutting tools and achieve top-level precision and performance.”

The company’s high expectation in NTX 1000 is shown in the fact that the company’s ace operator of mill-turn centers, Mr. Taizo Yagi, was assigned to be the machine’s exclusive operator. Mr. Yagi explained the high operability as follows; “I operated a 5-axis machine for the first time. However, it was easier than expected, because of the optimized design for interference prevention and easy tool change. The high rigidity enables cutting at higher speed, which leads to shorter lead time than other machines. It was also a first experience to use an operational panel with a touch panel, but the CELOS’s intuitive and user-friendly interface helps a lot.”

The company has been developing spinal implants upon a customer’s order since 2011, and the pharmaceutical application was approved in 2016. It means the product is now insurance-covered, which leads to an increase in demand and production volume. NTX 1000 can be useful in this occasion, with its sub spindle and other capabilities suitable for mass production. “As a person in charge of manufacturing, I cannot help but notice the machine’s potential benefits over company’s turnover,” says Mr. Ueno.

One year after the installation, the machine was ready for the full-fledged production, as the operators grew accustomed to the machine, and high-level process integration and stable accuracy was achieved. That was when the company established Machining Technology Laboratory. “Apparently NTX 1000 was a highly reliable machine, so we assigned our best operators. We believed the combination of the top-notch machine and operators would help us overcome more difficult challenges and further enhance our technical skills”, says Mr. Ueno, explaining the purpose of the facility.

Distinguish itself with NTX 1000

By introducing NTX 1000, Yuki Precision was able to advance process integration for the quality-demanding aerospace industry, while raising the efficiency of mass production in the medical sector. Additionally, the company is currently pursuing further automation, by converting the staff’s machining know-how gained through experiences into parameters, applying the data to programs and comparing it with the sensing data.

Mr. Otsubo describes the future of the company as follows: “We will make full use of NTX 1000 and the research outcome of Machining Technology Laboratory. Our target is to design and receive orders for high-spec parts, that can be only machined with NTX 1000’s outstanding functionality. We also want to dive into new technologies, like additive manufacturing.”