Since the NHX 4000 by DMG Mori was taken into operation in September 2018, SPN has not only increased its machining capacities but they have also enriched their existing machine park by a versatile horizontal machining center. Stefan Ohmüller, Head of Production Technology at SPN, said: “Until now, we have used 3-, 4- and 5-axle vertical milling machines in our production chains. In the midterm, the NHX 4000 is supposed to replace the 3-axle milling machine which is getting old and, at the same time, reduce the load on the present 4- and 5-axle milling machines.”
The compact and dynamic machining center is meant for the production of complex, demanding components up to the highly-efficient serial production. Furthermore, it is suitable for changing batch sizes and a variable part and material range. The different clamping devices and the available tombstones make it possible to hold and to process complex part geometries from different work assemblies. In this context, several workpieces of the same and of a different type can be clamped and processed at the same time so that the personnel has to load and unload the machining center considerably less. Instead the time saved can now be used by loading the machine synchronously within a serial production or – in the case of low batch sizes – by setting up to a different work piece. The NHX 4000 has two diametrically-arranged pallets, one of which can be loaded / set up newly through the personnel from the outside while the other one is being processed inside of the machine. This workflow leads to a more efficient processing of bigger serial productions with batch sizes from 100 pcs onwards. Furthermore, many different parts in small batch sizes can be produced more time-saving as – due to the parallel new setting up during process – bigger machine downtimes can be avoided.
“We have opted for the NXH 4000 in order to process and prepare parallel in case of serial productions with medium and a high batch sizes. Moreover, the spindle running time can be increased considerably as the setting up times can be reduced accordingly,” Stefan Ohmüller explained. “The NHX 4000 is a modern allrounder. It is suitable for flanges and housing parts in smaller batches, but also for SPN standard parts. Reducing our efforts in the fixture construction in the long term was another reason for buying this machine. In the end, we have invested consciously in pallet towers with zero point clamping systems by buying the NHX 4000. As soon as we have learned the ropes of the functionality, different parts can be even be milled at the same time in the future.”
