Guhring ‘Powers-up’ Productivity for EV Manufacturer

As a machine tool builder that manufactures high-end 4 and 5-axis machines for the global market, Heller UK is frequently involved in turnkey projects for prestigious OEMs. On one of its more recent projects, the Redditch company enlisted the support of the cutting tool experts at Guhring.

There has been a wide spectrum of tools used on this project for a leading manufacturer of Electric Vehicles (EVs), including the Guhring tool holders and the tool vending technology. As part of the package of toolholders to accompany the cutting tools, the EV manufacturer has selected a vast range of standard shrink chucks, hydraulic chucks and synchro-tapping chucks.

The cutting tools incorporated in this project included a huge range of standard products from the extensive portfolio of drills, taps and reamers. All products were carefully selected and tested to minimise cycle times while achieving tight tolerances on diameter, position and roundness. Whilst the standard range of Guhring products accounted for a significant element of the system integration project, it was the bespoke PCD combination tools that demonstrated Guhring UK’s expertise as a one-stop solution provider and valued partner for Turn Key projects.

With the PCD combination tools manufactured at Guhring UK’s Birmingham manufacturing facility as well as at Guhring’s German manufacturing plant, the bespoke tooling solutions were developed to achieve ‘one shot’ plunging. The bespoke tooling aimed to reduce cycle times and adhere to the high surface finishes required – and maintain this over the life of the tool.

Discussing the project from a Heller perspective, Tad Forys from Heller Machine Tools UK says: “From the Heller side, we delivered 22 machines in this project. That includes eleven 5-axis machines and eleven 4-axis machines - all of those machines were built in the UK. With this project, we have gone from a customer drawing to a fully automated production line. From the initial enquiry with the customer, our engineers here in the UK conducted comprehensive cycle time studies. Following on from that, we developed custom hydraulic fixtures to hold the parts; and we have used these fixtures because it is a high-volume electric vehicle application.”

“At Heller, we pride ourselves on being a collaborative company and this recent project that we collaborated on with Guhring has been a perfect demonstration of that. When we talk about collaboration, it isn’t just about working together - it’s about aligning our values and expertise. The first two machines for the production line are here at Heller, so we can do the initial production ‘prove off’ before the machines land on the customers’ shop floor. Guhring has been with us for every step of the journey, clocking in tools, optimising speeds and feeds to make sure we have the most efficient process for the customer before the machines are delivered.”

“From a Heller perspective, this project has been an outstanding success. Our end user is very happy. Everything has been delivered on time to a particularly demanding customer - and this has been made possible by a close working partnership with Guhring who have helped us every step of the way,” adds Tad.