FRAISA Annual Report 20/21

Technology leap within screw tap manufacturing Autonomy for increased competitiveness The autonomous production is the key to success at the Swiss site – it is a prerequisite for the production of tools at com- petitive manufacturing costs. In the field of milling technol- ogy, FRAISA has already had very good experience with au- tonomous manufacturing processes. Now the production of threading tools should follow this successful example as well. Our ambitious goal: the new technology enables us to man- ufacture taps in a single clamping operation – from the blank to the finish-ground tool. In the summer of 2020, after three years of intensive project and development work, staggered procurement of new machines and employee training courses, this goal was achieved. Increased productivity through technology conversion In order to bring the threading technology to the current state of autonomous production, we have considered many details from a new point of view and worked out complex production details. The search was on for the right machine manufactur- er willing to adapt and further develop its system to FRAISA's needs. Due to the change in technology, the manufacturing process had to be redefined, because an increase in productiv- ity had to be ensured. The aim was to increase the level of automation and flexibility of the machine. The result: an increase in the number of or- ders that can be processed without the use of personnel. The cooperation and know-how transfer between the FRAISA col- leagues and the manufacturer's experts worked very well and expediently. Thus, we were able to successfully implement the new technology – without any problems or losses in quality and process reliability. Without our motivated team the implementation of such a challenging and future-oriented project would have been im- possible. This required the willingness to acquire new knowl- edge and be open to new technologies. We achieved this great result together as a team. Today, as targeted at the start of the project, the average pro- ductive running time of the machine exceeds 130 hours per week. In the threading technology area, too, the working time model has now been changed from two-shift to daytime operation. As in the rest of FRAISA SA's production area, the majority of productive hours at night or on weekends is now realized autonomously. ANNUAL REPORT 2020/2021 I PROJECTS [ 25 ]