PRODUCTIVITY TAKES TEAMWORK

Dolphin Machine, Inc, located in Las Vegas, NV, has found a groove that keeps their business thriving. The company handles assignments for numerous aerospace companies, with capabilit ies including CNC milling, CNC turning, I.D./O.D. grinding and large vertical boring. Dolphin prides itself not only on quality, but also on service. To ensure their customers get the very best products, they rely on their machines and tooling to get the job done right.

DOLPHIN MEANS BUSINESS

Dolphin Machine is revamping their faci lity to include new machinery to meet their demands. The company machines many components for aircraft companies, including landing gear parts. Working on projects for Boeing, Airbus and Bombardier, among others, Dolphin needs to be able to machine quickly and efficiently.

Aircraft companies do not typically press for extremely short delivery time or place last minute orders, according to Dan DiCello, President of Dolphin Machine. However, working on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner has been demanding a lot of machine time. "We're only making about 20 parts this year, and next year it'll be up to 100, then it jumps to 300 parts," Di- Cello notes. "So it's time everyone gears up and gets ready."

About two years ago, the aircraft industry required everyone to be AS9100B certified. This is a self-certification program in which suppliers, such as Dolphin, pay a certification company to come in and audit them, rather than companies such as Boeing paying multiple visits to survey their subcontractors.

"A company we use is Worldwide Intertek. Basically, we have to comply to a standard called AS9100B (Aircraft Standard 9100B). We pay Intertek to come in here and audit us on everything from our financials to quality," says DiCello. "And we have Intertek come back and re-certify us once or twice per year."

This process allows companies such as Boeing, GE, and Lear Jet, among others, to visit their vendors without performing quality audits. Any of these businesses are able to look up AS9100B companies and send drawings without having to worry about their financial situation or quality of work.

New Fadal machines replace older VMCs on Dolphin Machine's shop floor.

With the process costing from $10,000 to $30,000 if you're not certifiable, a lot of the smaller companies couldn't afford to get AS9100B certified.

"A lot of my competition has gone away because the littler guys can't do that," explains DiCello. "From what I hear, the aircraft industry might require people that I use as an outside source to also be AS9100B certified. If that's the case, then all the smaller companies will pretty much be gone. You need a full-time quality person to stay 9100 compliant."

Dolphin became AS9100B certified two years ago with a score of 880, the highest score that a manufacturing company can achieve. They do mostly aerospace work, but also machine parts for animatronic creations for Hollywood as well as some machining in the aftermarket for motorcycles.

The company employs 23 workers, and is a non-union facility. To help keep machine cycle times minimal, Dolphin has incorporated the use of Fadal vertical machining centers and Iscar tooling into their machining processes.

THE DIFFERENCE OF FADAL MACHINES

Dolphin recently replaced 10 older Fadal machines with newer ones in July 2007. The company expects to see more productivity, with products demonstrating better quality.

"The tolerances that we hold are pretty tight, so some of them just came a little bit loose [on the older machines]," DiCello says. "I do have some that are from 1988 and some that are 1997s, so it was just a good opportunity to get 10 new machines and upgrade. Fadal gave me a good price, and we plan on being busy for quite a while."

Dolphin Machine now has 20 Fadal VMCs, 10 of which are 4525s, and the newer 10 are 2216s. Before the purchase, Dolphin had workers running on the older machines six days per week, 10 to 11 hours per day, the typical work week at Dolphin.

"I've got some machines that are 17 years old, and that's a lot of manhours on it at 10 hours per day, so with the new machines the productivity will skyrocket," says DiCello. "And being able to put any job on any machine will make a big difference too, so on those 10 machines, I see my productivity going up, across the board, by 25%."

Prior to making the decision to go with Fadal, the company investigated other machine tools.

"We went to WESTEC in L.A.; we try to go every year or two," DiCello explains. "We wanted to stick to Americanmade machines, and we've always had great service with Fadal. It's just a good machine; I have no problem with them at all."

Dolphin Machine regularly uses the Fadals to cut aerospace parts from Ti6-4. The company cuts pieces anywhere from 10 lbs. up to about 67 lbs.

"We have one part that starts out at about 67 lbs. and it ends up around 6 lbs. when we're done," says DiCello. "It's about a 20-hour part. We used to make them on some of the 4020s, and it just took too long. About two and a half years ago, we upgraded to 10 Fadal 4525s, after seeing how well they took the metal off of the parts."

DiCello explains that some of his other machines are taking on titanium as well, including some of the linear guide machines. Although some mechanics claim Fadals are too weak to machine titanium or take heavy cuts, Dolphin believes they are up to the challenge. Out of the 20 machines, Dolphin can have as many as eight or nine Fadals cutting titanium at any given time.

"We machine it all day long. I've had people say these parts are being made in California in twice the amount of time that we're making them. But there's a secret to it," DiCello says, keeping the secret to himself for obvious reasons. "There's a method to do it, and we know how to do it. And we can do it with Fadals all day long."

A lot of aircraft companies are switching to forged titanium parts such as Ti5553. Dolphin machine does not have experience with Ti5553, but plans to order a piece to test it out on their shop floor.

"I have been informed of how difficult it is to cut, but I have not cut any of it," DiCello says. "I've been informed that it's 30% to 40% tougher than the titanium that we cut now, and has a lot of nickel in it."

DiCello doesn't believe the material will be easy to cut by any means, but it isn't likely to be impossible. "It's just going to take longer to cut because cutters can only cut what they can cut. The beefiest machine in the world is only as strong as the cutting tool."

DiCello is not afraid of the prospect of Ti5553, especially if his secret method of cutting titanium works as well on the new material as it does on Ti6-4. However, he questions whether he will have to delve into the Ti5553 world: "If it takes so long to machine and it's not much stronger, is the aircraft industry going to keep using it? If it's not a huge strength increase, then why spend 40% longer to machine it?"

Dolphin has been highly successful in working with Ti6- 4, plastics, nylons and even some fiberglass-type material. DiCello credits Fadal machines and Iscar tooling, along with knowledgeable mechanics, for their success.

ISCAR TOOLING MAKES THE CUT

Typically, Dolphin Machine holds tolerances of about .001 or 0.002 on molds, ±0.005 on general parts for aerospace, and other parts that require 0.0005 when drilling holes. This requires tooling that is up to the challenge.

Iscar tooling, including the 16Mill, ball nose end mills, and Chamdrill, help Dolphin to complete their projects in an efficient manner.

"We like Iscar; Iscar is a very good cutter," says DiCello. "They make a lot of special radius products that we need and have very good pricing, so we cater to Iscar."

Iscar offers technically advanced products for today's demanding machining processes, according to DiCello. The use of Iscar products has helped Dolphin find better ways to improve their production process, which enables them to increase production capacity and maximize profitability.

"Over the course of any given year, we have many salesmen calling on us in an attempt to sell their products. Some of them are knowledgeable on the products they are selling and others don't seem very well informed," says DiCello. "With Iscar, I have always felt comfortable knowing that they are not just a 'me too' company, asking what products we are using and telling me that they can get something similar for a lower price. Instead, Iscar asks me what manufacturing applications need improvement."

Dolphin uses a little bit of everything from Iscar, from drills to face mills. When it came to choosing a tooling company, they found that Iscar's knowledge of the tools and how to optimize tool performance was highly beneficial to their needs. Iscar offers to evaluate the entire machining process in order to make changes to facilitate cost savings on the shop floor, according to DiCello.

"Technology can only go so far," says DiCello. "We get better service and pricing from Iscar, and their tools last as long or longer in general. They do have a couple tools like the helimill that have the ability to cut aluminum and the inserts only need changed once per month. They just last forever."

DiCello cautions companies not to make the mistake of assuming that the price of the tool is the main issue in cost savings.

Real cost savings comes in the form of reducing cycle times through faster speeds, deeper depth-of-cuts and faster feed rates, all of which can save you thousands of dollars in process cost over the course of a year.

"We feel the biggest reward by far is increased machine capacity," says DiCello. "Iscar and Fadal are tops – both companies have very good service, good quality and good prices."