Ordering the special Ordering the special

Custom drills reduce overall operational costs through productivity gains. Custom drills reduce overall operational costs through productivity gains. BY CHARLES BATES BY CHARLES BATES
SENIOR EDITOR SENIOR EDITOR

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ptimizing industrial cutting tool performance usingcustomized tooling is just sound machining economics. Such tooling usually has a higherinitial purchase price as compared to standard-menu products but reduces overall-operation costs through productivity gains.According to Robert Maxey, vice president of busi-ness and technical development at Precision Twist Drill in Crystal Lake, Ill., “Most shops get sticker shock when they see the price of a specialty tool, but what they don’t realize is that tooling makes up only 3% to 4% of total processing cost.” So boosting tool performance through specials produces a savings that outweighs the initial purchase price.For example, a shop preparing holes for tapping typ-ically drills and chamfers them in two operations using standard tools. However, incorporating a special that drills and chamfers simultaneously eliminates an oper- ation and a toolchange and reduces the number of needed tools.In holemaking, a specialty tool may be as simple as astandard-geometry drill in a longer version, and there are different specials classifications within the tooling in- dustry, says Maxey. These include modifications to stan- dards, catalog variations (geometries are similar to stan- dards but longer or bigger), and pure design and build. While most shops benefit from specialty tools, thereis a downside — leadtimes associated with the admin- istrative processes of designing, quoting, and purchas- ing them. A shop must first design the tool, explains Maxey, and then find out how much it costs to have it made and how long it’s going to take.To reduce these time-consuming steps, PrecisionTwist Drill offers customers an integrated web- based manufacturing-software system called Preci- sion Express. The site lets potential buyers design and order specialty drills on-line and reduces associ- ated administrative leadtimes from hours, and even days, to minutes.Site users navigate through a series of icons and se-lect the features of their specialty drills. They also an- swer questions about whether the drill is HSS or solid carbide, solid or through-coolant equipped, and single or multiple diameter.As users make their selections, the program collectsthe data and indicates if the drill design is feasible. It warns if choices made exceed design limits.As the program designs the tool, it simultaneouslyfigures the manufacturing cost based on required raw material and machining operations involved. The program then takes a snapshot of Precision’smanufacturing facility and determines where that par- 22 Cutting Technology September/October 2004