Siemens Energy & Automation, Inc.
Fryer Easy Turn Combination Lathe with Siemens SINUMERIK 840D sl CNC
lets operators at Continental Machine program, set-up and run faster;
critical for one-off operations
By definition, says Josh Johnson, vice-president, Continental Machine,
Rockford, Illinois, his prototype and short-run production shop must
constantly run lean. There can be no tolerating excessive programming,
set-up or machining time of any kind, otherwise the shop loses and, in
this economy, Johnson notes, that is simply unacceptable.
Continental Machine is a seven-person, 13,000 square-foot facility that
houses a variety of CNC milling, turning, wire EDM, hole popping and
grinding machines, as well as various sheetmetal and plastic injection
molding machinery. Therefore, the shop is well positioned to produce a
wide variety of metal and plastic prototypes used by its diverse
customer base, which spans markets such as window hardware, bicycle
components, automotive parts, chemical processing, medical devices and
foodservice equipment. Materials processed here are just as
wide-ranging, including aluminum, CRS, tool steels such as A2 and D2,
zinc, brass, copper, bronze, titanium and a variety of engineered
plastics such as glass-filled Delrin.
Recently, this job shop purchased a Fryer Easy Turn-21 CNC Combination
Lathe, controlled by a Siemens SINUMERIK 840D sl numerical control. The
two operators responsible for this machine upgrade at Continental had
limited experience with CNC and none whatsoever with the Siemens
protocol, as this was the first of its kind at the shop.
The Easy Turn-21 was particularly appealing to Josh Johnson, who
comments, “The set-up is extremely easy. Teaching the tools, altering
the lengths and diameters is kept very simple. After the initial
learning curve, which took only a few days, the operators picked up on
the conversational programming, right away. Also, one of the best
features on the machine was that you could still turn the parts by
using the electronic handwheel and just one function, such as hogging
off material automatically or putting on a tapered thread.” He noted
this feature was not only more comfortable for the operators, but it
also allowed them to quickly and efficiently prove out part programs.
Johnson commented that this would not have been possible on previous
machines, owing to the flexibility of the control onboard the Fryer.
The result has been a minimum 20% improvement in the overall cycle time
on most part programs run at Continental. For this primarily prototype
job shop, that fact translates into a substantial increase in the work
product possible here.
Echoing this sentiment, Sue Ostrander, sales manager, Fryer Machine
Systems, explained the process that led her company to select the
SINUMERIK 840D sl numerical control for all its milling and turning
machines, a move that was recently formalized by the company and
announced to the trade.
“Since its inception 26 years ago, family-owned Fryer Machine Systems
has based its operation on three core principles: build a quality
product, price it fairly and provide quality service. This philosophy
has allowed Fryer’s business to grow even in challenging times,” she
said. Fryer manufactures a diverse line of over 50 models of
high-quality CNC machine tools in its 50,000 square-foot facility in
Patterson, New York. Over the years, Fryer has become well-respected
for its quality and innovation, throughout the job shop and production
machining market segments. “Moving to the Siemens 840D sl platform was
the next step in Fryer’s ongoing commitment to provide our customers
with the most innovative machine tools available in the market today,”
Ostrander continued. “The Siemens solution allows machine tool
end-users to achieve higher productivity through easy and intuitive
features and step-by-step, on-screen programming. This enables them to
dramatically reduce set-up, programming, and tooling times, while
significantly increasing output.” “The SINUMERIK 840D sl modular design
allows us to take full advantage of the superior mechanical features in
our machines,” continued Larry Fryer, president and CEO, Fryer Machine
Systems. “Fryer has always been known for our easy conversational
controls and the move to Siemens has allowed us to greatly enhance this
feature,” Fryer noted. “The 840D sl menu-driven system combines an
advanced geometry calculator that displays the part while the operator
is programming it. Sophisticated solid model graphics allow the
operator to verify the part program with more clarity than ever
before,” he said. Larry Fryer has also been impressed with the
automatic tool set-up and easy part set-up, made possible by the
Siemens CNC. Fryer explained that auto-run mode is where many operators
experience difficulty. Siemens and Fryer Machine Systems worked
together to create an electronic handwheel run mode that gives the
operator a safer way to prove out program execution, both forward and
backward, using a standard electronic handwheel. Fryer further stated,
“Siemens provides us with a highly flexible solution that is critical
to our ability to meet the specific needs of each customer. Our
enhanced capability to offer the same control for both turning and
milling gives Fryer machines a unified platform that is very important
to customers both in the short-term and for long range expansion.
Coupled with Siemens quality and reliability, they are invaluable to us
in competing in today’s aggressive marketplace.”
Johnson added this comment on the service and training received by his
operators at Continental. “Siemens has been helpful and very thorough
in their training and after-sale service. The ShopTurn program, being
integral to the control, now enables us to accurately determine tool
path, potential collisions, tool changes and real world run time. This
makes our operators’ jobs much easier, with the added benefit of
allowing us to estimate much more accurately than ever.” Johnson
further noted the CNC has substantial hard drive space, thus allowing
most programs to be stored directly on the machine, though the company
does maintain a back-up system.
http://news.thomasnet.com/companystory/570798
January 24th, 2012 by 
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Working area of a Maxima CNC automatic lathe offers a 3-axis upper slide with a maximum of eight fixed tools or a combination of four fixed tools and three driven tools.
