Usually, when we think of the t e rm “productivity,” many of us visualize long batch runs of components being produced quickly and efficiently, filling up case after case for delivery to parts-hungry customers. For others, the term applies to the production of only one or two very spec ial par t s , but the strains imposed by complex machining requi rement s and compressed delivery dates make competitive productivity just as important. PRZ Technologies in Lancaster,NY, is a designer and builder of specialty fixturing and tooling for customers found in the first category-those producing long batch runs that can approach 100,000 parts per year or more. These customers appreciate the ROI in tools and fixtures that assure part quality throughout the entire run. A current drag racing crew chief and former “funny car” driver, once ranked 5th nationally, PRZ Technologies President Walt Przybyl has indepth knowledge of the machine tool industry that spans 30 years, including 12 years as an applications engineer for Osgood Machinery, a prominent machine tool distributor that is now part of the Morris Group, Inc. He is also an Okuma Master Engineer. He became involved with the rebuilding and optimizing of many of the fixtures thatWere sold with the various machine tools. Realizing that opportunities were out there for someone who could offer the metalworking industry substantial productivity benefits with specifically-for-the-part designed and built fixtures and components,Walt incorporated PRZ in 1994. Starting out in a rented building, he bought PRZ’s current facility in 1999 to accommodate the growing business. Concentrating on the manufacturing processes and applications of CNC machine tools, PRZ has designed and built an extensive range of specialty turning chucks, jaw packages, tool supports, offset tool holders andmulti- ID tool blocks for lathes and turning centers and awide variety of hydraulicAndmanual fixtures formachining centers. They have designed and built specialty machines that include a 3-axis milling machine, a tapping machine, a high-speed drilling cell and a long blade serration grinder and perform modifications on standard CNC machine tools to meet customer specifications. PRZ’s customer base includes aerospace and automotive industries and job shops of all sizes. Walt Przybyl and his team have developed effective manufacturing cells and specialize in the types of projects that pose considerable challenges, such as work holding or tolerance issues, parts that are difficult to hold or parts that distort easily. It is this growing area of specialty fixtures that gave rise to the need for a machine tool that would allow PRZ to machine largerthan- usual components with speed and efficiency. For example, a side rail for a PRZ swing clamp trunnion fixture requires intricate sculpting and measures about 3 by 10 inches by more than 55 inches long. Thematerial isA36 carbon structural steel with 36,000 psi yield strength and up to 80,000 psi ultimate tensile strength. It was taking multiple setups and more than a day just to rough the cutouts. Through machine tool distributor Morris Great Lakes, a division of the Morris Group, Inc., PRZ purchased an Okuma MB-66V vertical machining center that had the ability to handle this and similar one-off and two-off components productively. “I’ve always been an Okuma shop guy,” said Walt. “The machines are reliable and the service fromMorris Great Lakes is outstanding. With the new Okuma MB- 66V we have some extraordinary capabilities, all in a footprint that is about half of that of competitors’ machines with similar features. That small footprint is important to us. As we continue to grow and addmachines, space is at a premium. We can put another machine next to theMB-66V and create a cell without pushing out the walls. Among the new Okuma’s features that are critical to improved efficiency in machining PRZ’s long components, in addition to the generous 59 inch travel in X (26 inch in Y and Z), is the ability to handle the larger CAT-50 tooling alongwith a 32-tool carousel. Other aspects of themachine especially beneficial to machining these components are through-the-spindle coolant, through-the-spindle air, automatic tool offset, chip wash and a chip conveyor. A spindl e probe for work piece gauging allows the operator to inspectThe part right on the machine. “I also appreciate Okuma’s THINC control,” said Walt. “The macro logic programming is great. We can always rely on the logic working and never miss the last pass, or have tool hesitation, which leaves, as I call it ‘think marks’ where the control cannot keep up. Some of our programs run up to 4 GB. Before,wewould have to break the programs down to several segments. With Okuma’s control, we just load in the total program and go.” PRZ is also a Mastercam shop. They run Mastercam software on two computers in the office and on four laptops on the shop floor, allowing them to make changes right at the machine. They can program the next step or part while another part program is running. “We use the new Okuma MB-66V in radically different ways from the way the machine would normally be run,” says Walt. “We have to be as inventive with our own production methods as we are with the special fixtures we design and build. Time compression is key. With the new Okuma machining center, we have been able to run thatmachine and our complex programs faster and with superb accuracy, getting more operations out of the machine in one setup than one would think possible.Afixture that had taken us eight or nine weeks to manufacture before, we can now complete in three or four weeks. Productivity on every level, that’swhat it’s all about.” For more information contact: Morris Group, Inc. 910 Day Hill Road Windsor, CT 06095 860-687-3475 www.robertemorris.com AR, LA Morris South 350 Electronics Blvd. Huntsville, AL 35824 256-461-8111 www.morrissouth.com