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REPORT - POINTE PRECISION
Exactly what we were sold The small town of Plover is located in the middle of Wisconsin, a state in the north of the USA. Here, the company Pointe Precision, Inc. m anufactures high-precision components. For some time now, this has also been done unattended, as Joe M. Kinsella, Executive Vice President, tells us. EROWA: Mr. Kinsella, what are the main activities of your company? Joe M. Kinsella: “We offer top-quality manufacturing solutions. These can be medical devices or fuel control systems for aircraft engines. These are typical examples of components that must be precise and meet the highest quality requirements because human lives are at stake in their application. The fact that we manufacture many vital components and parts here at Pointe Precision is a source of pride for our employees.“
What types of machining do you offer? “Pointe Precision provides full-service precision CNC machining solutions for leading manufacturing companies across the country. We specialize in precision milling, turning, grinding, heat treating and CMM inspection by name. We are certified to AS9100, ISO 9001 and NADCAP and hold a federal firearms license. Our services support our customers throughout the entire manufacturing process. Pointe Precision has an outstanding staff that is open to new technologies and eager to learn.“ New technologies, that probably also refers to automation with EROWA? “Right. For some time now, an EROWA Robot Dynamic 250L has been operating five Hermle C42 turning and milling centers here. These, in turn, are equipped with the MTS400 and PC210 clamping systems. Automation is very important to us
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REPORT - POINTE PRECISION
because it allows us to keep machines running and produce high-value, complex parts for aerospace, for example, without employees having to work u ndesirable shifts or weekends. Automation compensates for rising labor costs, not to mention the difficulty of finding qualified workers.“ So you are satisfied with the EROWA Robot Dynamic? “Absolutely, yes! It is exactly what we were sold: a reliable, extremely accurate system that guarantees high repeatability and allows us to machine critical parts with tight tolerances unattended. What surprised me in a particularly positive way: The robot has required very little maintenance since the initial installation!“ You also work with the EROWA process control system. What is your experience there? “We use it to monitor, schedule and track all production orders across the five machining centers, the robot and every single
fixture in the magazines. We track machine alarms, production hours, and all of our individual pallet zero offsets so we can run the same job setups in different machines. How do you organize orders? “We have a general first operation, which mainly allows the definition of the zero points. Then the critical features are loaded into the system so that the strict quality and inspection requirements can be met. The final o peration then incorporates numerous in-process inspections, including offline CMM inspections.“
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REPORT - POINTE PRECISION
Pointe Precision, Inc. In 1995, in the wake of the closure of a large manufacturing facility in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Joe Kinsella Senior recognized the opportunity to start something new and to be able to count on experienced employees. The newly created Pointe Precision started with 94 employees. Initially, the focus was on the manufacture of high-precision components for the aerospace and industrial markets, but later customers from the medical and leisure industries were added. Today, the company headquarters are located in neighboring Plover; the production area covers almost 85,000 square feet.
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