Multi

[YoDoug]

Multi, AKA, a fleet of Multus machines. I'm finishing the robot install on the new U3000 as well as re-installing the robot on the B300 next to it that we moved from the other end of our building. In total we now have 2 U3000, 3 B300, and 3 B250.

[Zoffen]

Money printer go brrr!!!! Super jelly of this setup. All those machine and no operators. An owners dream!!!!

[YoDoug]

Money printer go brrr!!!! Super jelly of this setup. All those machine and no operators. An owners dream!!!!

That is what my boss calls them, Money printers. We don't buy a machine without a robot or other automation. We run 24/7 with up to 20hrs a day unattended. We currently run

3 - Okuma MB5000 horizontals, 2 have 16 pallet FMS, 1 has 24 pallet FMS
2 - Okuma Geno M560V, 1 has 54 robot loaded pallets, the other has a Doosan robot for part loading.
1 - Okuma MU4000V and 1 Okuma Genos M460-5ax in a cell with 190 pallets.
3 - Okuma LT3000
3 - Multus B300
3 - Multus B250
2 - Multus U3000

All the lathes have the same automation. ABB robot for part loading. Can do round or square/rec stock. Part sizes from 1.5" dia up to 10" dia and .5"L to 8"L parts. Up to 315 parts in que depending on part size. Some jobs can run for 48 hours unattended. The U3000's have four jaw compensating chucks for irregular shaped parts. We have a family of 40+ parts in the U3000 that only have a couple simple turning toolpaths, the rest is all milling.

We also have another M560 being delivered in August that I am currently designing a 80 pallet robot cell to go with it.

A couple more pics from our security cameras.

[JakeL]

That's so cool, thanks for sharing!

I've been asking for a robot for a couple years now. Problem is we don't do high enough quantities to justify it. Regardless, it must be sick to have a machine running unmanned.

[YoDoug]

We currently have a B250 that is down for repair. We wore out the X and Y axis trucks and linear guides. We checked the operation times. The machine has 36,000 hours of in-cycle green light time and 25,000 cutting hours. It was installed in June of 2019. All those hours in 5 years! Most of our machines have done approximately a million tool changes. We have to rebuild the ATC arms and replace clamp cylinders about every other year.

[MIL-TFP-41]

2 - Okuma Geno M560V, 1 has 54 robot loaded pallets, the other has a Doosan robot for part loading.
1 - Okuma MU4000V and 1 Okuma Genos M460-5ax in a cell with 190 pallets.

What kind of pallets are you using in that setup? And what kind of grippers are you using for the pallets?

Automation is one way to rack up the machine hours for sure. Our oldest Matsuura MX330 is tended by a Trinity/Fanuc robot. We literally ran the balls out of it (Z axis ballscrew lost its balls). Then with 49,000 hours of green light time and 44,000 hours of cut time a little wear & tear is to be expected.  I have no idea how many tool changes it has done, I wouldn't be surprised to see something over a million. I keep expecting to see more major problems, but knock on wood, its still a solid, tight machine.

[YoDoug]

What kind of pallets are you using in that setup? And what kind of grippers are you using for the pallets?

Automation is one way to rack up the machine hours for sure. Our oldest Matsuura MX330 is tended by a Trinity/Fanuc robot. We literally ran the balls out of it (Z axis ballscrew lost its balls). Then with 49,000 hours of green light time and 44,000 hours of cut time a little wear & tear is to be expected.  I have no idea how many tool changes it has done, I wouldn't be surprised to see something over a million. I keep expecting to see more major problems, but knock on wood, its still a solid, tight machine.

We built our own pallet system using Schunk Vero-S modules and pull studs. Some pallets have 4 pull studs plus the end  effector and others have 6 plus end effector. We have over 1100 Schunk pull studs here. Pic below of the MU-4000 setup. The machine did not come with air through the table so I designed a rotary union/cylinder to engage an air fitting and charge the Schunk modules to open. We monitor air pressure and trigger an alarm if they don't see minimum pressure. For the next cell I am designing, I am exploring other ideas besides Schunk. We spent $110k in just Schunk stuff for the our two machine, 190 pallet cell.

[MIL-TFP-41]

We built our own pallet system using Schunk Vero-S modules and pull studs. Some pallets have 4 pull studs plus the end  effector and others have 6 plus end effector. We have over 1100 Schunk pull studs here. Pic below of the MU-4000 setup. The machine did not come with air through the table so I designed a rotary union/cylinder to engage an air fitting and charge the Schunk modules to open. We monitor air pressure and trigger an alarm if they don't see minimum pressure. For the next cell I am designing, I am exploring other ideas besides Schunk. We spent $110k in just Schunk stuff for the our two machine, 190 pallet cell.

Very trick setup! I am a fan of Schunk products. They do know what they want for their stuff, but to their credit, it works very well. I would be curious to see what systems besides Schunk you wind up with.

[RobertELee]

We built our own pallet system using Schunk Vero-S modules and pull studs. Some pallets have 4 pull studs plus the end  effector and others have 6 plus end effector. We have over 1100 Schunk pull studs here. Pic below of the MU-4000 setup. The machine did not come with air through the table so I designed a rotary union/cylinder to engage an air fitting and charge the Schunk modules to open. We monitor air pressure and trigger an alarm if they don't see minimum pressure. For the next cell I am designing, I am exploring other ideas besides Schunk. We spent $110k in just Schunk stuff for the our two machine, 190 pallet cell.

I once had a similar setup and couldn't have any extra hoses running to the fixture. I installed an air ballast tank inside the fixture that held enough air for the cycle to complete. It was charged when the part got loaded, then released at unload. This was all manual operator stuff but I'm sure robots and automation could handle it.

[Zoffen]

What are you using for racks for pallets for your pallet loading cells?

[CNCAppsJames]

Saw something hilarious the other day;

OKUMA

O
K
Until
Matsuura
Arrives

💪

[__]

L

Saw something hilarious the other day;

OKUMA

O
K
Until
Matsuura
Arrives

💪

No cap
@YoDoug
Apps guy is right chuck those and buy some real machines Okuma are for girls and vegans 

[YoDoug]

Saw something hilarious the other day;

OKUMA

O
K
Until
Matsuura
Arrives

💪

[YoDoug]

What are you using for racks for pallets for your pallet loading cells?

We have tried two different solutions. The first cell we bought heavy duty sheling racks from Uline and made 1/2" thick waterjet cut tray inserts to locate the pallets. These worked well but the shelf spacing is at fixed increments so it limits the total amount of shelves we can have. For the second cell we designed our own shelves using 8020 extrusion. We use 8020.net a lot. You can DL models into your CAD for design, then order them precut/drilled/etc so all you have to do is assemble.

[mkd]

Did you need to create your own robot 🤖 interface solution using okuma's API thingamajigger?