Melvelle’s rail maintenance on track with Mazak

Melvelle’s rail maintenance equipment manufacturing on track with Mazak

Established in 1982 and located in Newcastle, NSW, Melvelle Equipment Corp is an Australian-owned, secondgeneration family business that manufactures specialised rail maintenance equipment.

Melvelle has built an enviable reputation in the rail industry, here in Australia and overseas, for the unique rail track maintenance equipment they design and manufacture locally. Recently, to satisfy the demands of the rail industry, Melvelle has developed batteryoperated equipment to replace some internal combustion-powered units. One of these products is the “Trackpack” system, which is a modular platform with multiple capabilities designed to reduce initial capital outlay and overall maintenance costs. The Trackpack is a complete hydraulic power unit with a boom arm and rail trolley, designed to allow the use of multiple hydraulic work heads without the need for numerous power supplies. A quick-change boom allows easy change over from one head to another, with adjustable counterbalance positioning so the weight on the operator handles never exceeds 3-5 kg. The system is powered by two lithium battery cells, and can be coupled with nine different work heads or other hydraulic hand tools. Traditionally, petrol or diesel-powered engines would drive the heads hydraulically. Now with the battery cells, the system can run a full eight-hour shift and the batteries can be recharged in two-tofour hours. Charged batteries can be swapped out to extend shifts. Melvelle’s machine shop has always been equipped with Mazak machine tools, and the company recently made an investment in the latest generation of Mazaks from John Hart to become more globally competitive. It added a Mazak Integrex i-200S multitasking machine, with a Mazak GL-150F gantry loader plus a Hydrafeed MSV 65 bar feeder; it has also placed an order for a Mazak HCN-8800 horizontal machining centre. Andrew Melvelle, CEO of Melvelle Equipment Corp, discussed what the additions will mean for his business. AMT: What were the reasons behind these additions to your machine shop? Andrew Melvelle: We are chasing efficiency as we need to compete in the global marketplace with our products. The Australian market, our main market, is very small compared to where our competitors operate from. This means that their economies of scale allow them to manufacture in greater batch quantities, sometimes having dedicated machines set permanently to produce one component. To run against these competitors, we need to extend our shifts and run “unmanned” as much as practically possible. AMT: Why did you choose the Mazak Integrex i-200S? AM: When we analysed our production, sometimes we would set up at least three times to complete a component on up to three different machines. Turning and milling operations would occur on 90% of our products. We realised that if we could load a raw blank and unload a fully finished component, we would make huge competitive gains. We considered many brands, but the Mazak was the only one with a proprietary gantry loader [that’s] not an external added product. The other consideration was the programming of the machine. It is simple compared to the other brands. I found that the other brands relied too much on programming with CAM software, which takes the operator away from the machine. I like my guys to understand what the machine is doing, not just be button-pushers. Finally Mazak have renowned reliability built into them. I have used many Mazak machines over the years as a machinist and have always regarded the Mazak machines as my Number One pick. They have always given me years of trouble-free running. AMT: What benefits have you achieved? AM: The Mazak Integrex i200S, due to its multi-tasking capabilities, has allowed us to save many machine hours. On one part, we reduced our component time from five hours and six set-ups to 40 minutes and only two set-ups. We have utilised unmanned operation for the first time in our history, with the machine gantry loaded or bar-fed, over nights and whole weekends. It is amazing how much pressure is taken from the operator when they don’t have to be at the machine to load blanks. They are able to plan new jobs and monitor the work as it comes

Andrew Melvelle (right) with his machine shop leading hand in front of the new Mazak Integrex i-200S, with a Mazak GL-150F gantry loader plus a Hydrafeed MSV 65 bar feeder.

off the machine as the machine is performing tool checking and measuring items before they are unloaded. AMT: Why did you order the Mazak HCN-8800 horizontal machining centre? AM: It was time for us to upgrade our old Mazak H20 twin pallet machine, and we needed to extend our machining envelope for future product developments. The HCN will have one pallet permanently set up for machining one of our components. Currently this component has two set-ups on two pallets to allow completion, but with the new machine we will complete the component with one set-up, thanks to a suggestion from John Hart. As the machine has two pallets, we now have the option to duplicate jigs to allow higher production levels of this component or move work from our other machines. AMT: What benefits will this machine deliver? AM: The new machine will have probing to allow measuring, as well as Mazak’s Orbiturn function. We are really looking forward to utilising this function, reducing the number of fixed boring bars and set-ups needed to produce many of the bores in our products. Since 1992, Milltech has progressively grown to become Australia’s leading engineering bar processor, now employing in excess of 80 technicians, production and administrative staff located across four manufacturing plants around Australia. Producing more than 30,000 tonnes of engineering bars per annum, the company offers a comprehensive range of steel processing and engineering services using world leading processing technologies. Through ongoing investment in world-class advanced technology such as the Superquench continuous heat treatment line for bars up to 150mm, as well as state-of-the-art Marcrome continuous chrome plating lines, Milltech has achieved leading edge manufacturing status. However, the company did not have an ERP system to match its automation project. “We wanted a modern, flexible system that would capture information in real time, to support us as we move forward with Industry 4.0 to provide further efficiencies,” says Andrew Wilson, Business Manager at Milltech. “SYSPRO will assist us in not only retaining our position as the market leader, but will help us to increase the gap we have on our competitors in terms of product quality, delivery times and service levels. It will allow us to be more strategic, providing us with the capability to plan five or 10 years into the future, rather than only worrying about the upcoming quarter.” SYSPRO ERP will help Milltech achieve this through better management of production, dispatch planning and inventory management, while reducing its stockholding, improving cashflow, ensuring compliance, eliminating manual processes, and providing the capability to support strategic planning. In addition, SYSPRO ERP will enable Milltech to eliminate weekly manual business reporting, replacing it with real-time automated business reporting, so the company always has a single source of the truth at its fingertips. This will enable the company to ensure its quality products are delivered to customers on time every time, while providing proactive delivery updates to its customers, rather than reacting to a customer’s delivery enquiry. “We selected SYSPRO not only for its flexibility, but also due to its team’s deep knowledge and understanding of manufacturing and We have also ordered the full NC rotary table, allowing infinite positioning. There has been many jobs over the years where we have had to manually set up for a special angle or had to decline jobs that needed fourth axis work. AMT: What are your thoughts about John Hart recently opening an office nearby in Newcastle? AM: During the purchasing phase, having John Hart people available and local to discuss face-to-face is invaluable. They came to our facility and took the time to understand our products, and made suggestions on the machine configuration. This allowed us to select the ideal machine for our needs. The John Hart team is very responsive when it comes to helping with problems, and being local gives me confidence that we will have a technician quickly if we really need one urgently. Yes we can all trouble-shoot over the phone, but being able to have a representative at my door in 20 minutes is gold and adds considerable weight to all our future purchasing decisions. John Hart has provided us with world-class manufacturing technology and support.

Milltech selects SYSPRO to support Industry 4.0

Newcastle-headquartered engineering bar processor Milltech Martin Bright has selected enterprise resource planning (ERP) specialist SYSPRO to enable it to provide a superior customer experience and accelerate its Industry 4.0 rollout.

www.johnhart.com.au www.melvelle.com.au

warehousing,” says Wilson. “SYSPRO’s team of experts talked to us about the business value of the total solution and how it would integrate with our other systems. We were not just sold a standalone product as other vendors often do. Milltech’s SYSPRO 8.0 implementation is currently in the design phase and will be fully implemented by September 2021. It is replacing an ERP system that was designed for smaller manufacturers to enable the company to grow. Rob Stummer, Asia Pacific Chief Executive Officer at SYSPRO, says: “We’re thrilled to be working with the market-leading engineering bar processor in Australia and are looking forward to a rewarding partnership that will enable the company to service its customers better, whilst generating further automation and operational efficiencies and continue its digital transformation project.”

www.au.syspro.com www.milltechmartinbright.com