MANUFACTURE OF SMALL ENGINES CASE STUDY

THE PROBLEM:

Deep hole drilling on an engine block was failing because of mechanical issues with the machine tool. We were asked to help source machine repair. Repair was found to not be an option based on lack of parts and expertise. Tooling alternatives also failed.

Production was suffering and the alternatives of outsourcing or moving the job to other equipment within the same plant were not desirable to our customer.

THE HARRIGAN SOLUTION:

The machine tool was part of a large central coolant system that we service and manage. We evaluated the failure mode and determined that additional coolant lube (in this case EP) would help.

We came up with a way to provide a side-stream supply of an alternate coolant without impacting the central system to avoid having to do an almost 20,000 gallon system dump and recharge. Changes to coolant technology overcame machine tool issues and were implemented.

RESULTS:

In addition to monetary savings, the small engines manufacture could continue to make parts without having to get different equipment or outsource.