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Leading
the field for Oil & Gas
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Darron
SBO Limited remains at the forefront of oil tool manufacture
by investing in EdgeCAM
If you are in the oil tool business…
…how
do you cope with a predicted annual demand increase of 40%
and ever-increasing specialist steel supply lead-times whilst
still meeting delivery dates and without sacrificing quality?
Through investment, that’s how. Investment in advanced
machines tools, the software to drive them effectively and
the skills to make it happen. That is exactly what Darron-SBO
Limited has done… and it is working!
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Quality is paramount.
Formed in 1969 as a manufacturer of high quality oil tools,
Darron-SBO has capitalised on the Sheffield area’s worldwide
reputation for excellence in engineering and in steel production.
As well as hole-openers, reamers and other tools, Darron,
a Schoeller Bleckmann company since September 2000, manufactures
highly sophisticated Measurement While Drilling (MWD) and
Logging While Drilling (LWD) technology components at its
Rotherham premises. The company’s ongoing commitment
to quality has been rewarded with BS EN ISO 9001:2000 and
API Spec 7 accreditation. The company’s massive investment
in the latest CNC machines, inspection equipment and EdgeCAM
Solid Machinist for SolidWorks manufacturing software is proof
of Darron’s determination to remain at the forefront
of oil tool manufacture.
Biggest and best.
Darron counts amongst it customers some of the biggest and
best suppliers of gas and oilfield technology and equipment.
“Our customers know we’ll supply a quality product,”
says Richard Rhodes Manufacturing Engineering Manager, “and
that means one that is right first time, on time. Everything
leaves here 100% inspected and 100% correct.” This is
clearly a recipe for success, since the company now employs
105 people and turns over £ 12m
Speeding the process.
Eliminating the risk of error at the various stages in the
original client-to-manufacture workflow entailed lots of time
and therefore lots of cost. Clients would submit drawings
that would then be re-created as CAD models in preparation
for manufacture. The manufacturing engineer would then create
the tool paths from the final drawing, comparing this against
the original client drawing. “Our vision,” according
to Richard, “was to be able to speed the process and
eliminate the potential for error by taking a solid model
from a customer, machine it directly, and check against the
model using a CMM.”
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Realising the vision.
Easier said than done given the sheer size of oil tools and
the expensive and hard-to-machine materials used. One mistake
in the process and £18,000 of alloy steel could be wasted.
Richard explains, “Nearly everything we make comprises
a round bar of high grade stainless steel with a hole down the
middle and various machined features around the outside diameter.
We need the ability to rotate the part and the ability to work
on angles.” To help realise its vision, Darron has made
in immense investment in machine tools. As well as high capacity
2 axis lathes the company has invested in Soraluce and Asquith
Butler 4 axis, 4+2 axis and 5 axis machining centres with capacities
of up to 10 metres. The company has recently purchased a Merlin
CMM with a measuring range of 750mm X 5000mm X 750mm and a full
CNC 10 metre tube honing machine which reduces component cycle
times by a huge 600 %.
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EdgeCAM investment to
pay dividends.
To capitalise on this investment, Darron needed the right software.
Richard again, “We implemented SolidWorks so we could
take in 3D solid models. We had previously installed CAM software
and although that worked well enough, it could not fully support
our vision.” That is why Darron switched to EdgeCAM, Pathtrace
Engineering Systems’ intelligent solids-based manufacturing
software. In Richard’s words, “It was actually my
predecessor who chose EdgeCAM and I saw no reason to change
his decision when I joined. We now have three seats of EdgeCAM
for SolidWorks.” Programming
time down from three weeks to three days.
Many of the parts made by Darron involve minor variations
on a standard. Pockets might vary, there may be additional
holes, or hole sizes may have changed. According to Richard,
“EdgeCAM has the capability to save the manufacturing
knowledge that you used to create a part programme. The Pathtrace
engineer showed us how to exploit this so that if we have
a similar component to programme, we can create the new programme
literally at the click of a button.” Using the Pathtrace
macro programming language, PCI, in this way enables the standardisation
and automation of repetitive design and manufacturing procedures.
Richard again, “EdgeCAM is very, very fast to programme.
We’ve taken one of our newer, more complex components
and run it through our previous system. There was about three
weeks work in it in total. One of our manufacturing engineers
reckoned on just three days work with SolidWorks and EdgeCAM.
That’s a huge saving.” Richard adds, “I
plan to be two weeks ahead of production on the programming
side, but with an average of 70 components in the queue, this
contingency can soon get eaten up. That just doesn’t
happen with EdgeCAM.”
Finishing parts in 8
weeks instead of 12 weeks.
Richard points to another important benefit of reduced programming
time. He says “I’d rather my engineers be out
on the shop floor looking at improving techniques to reduce
machining time on existing parts. That is where we really
start to save money.” He adds, “If we can reduce
the number of times you move a part from machine to machine,
we can save weeks. That is why we’ve just invested more
than £ 1,000,000 in WLF Millturn® Technologies and
Daewoo mill-turn centres. Richard explains, “Mill-turn
centres enable you to cut out work transfer stages between
lathes and mills. These transfers are not instant and because
of production volumes, parts can queue for up to a week between
machines.” He continues, “For a part that has
five operations, we will save four weeks at a stroke and we’ll
be finishing parts in 8 weeks instead of 12 weeks.”
Richard says, “We know we can do this, not least because
we know because we can drive these machines with EdgeCAM.”
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A service
well worth paying for.
Based on his experience, Richard offers this advice, “Build
a good relationship with your supplier and make sure they know
your particular machine tools. Make the development of the post-processors
a priority. Dedicate somebody within your company to work hand-in-hand
with your CAM software supplier and make sure they do it on
site. It’s a service well worth paying for.” Good
training is vital, too, says Richard, “The training that
Pathtrace supplied was excellent, though the standard courses
are designed to suit a mix of attendees. If you need something
more specific, I’d recommend bringing a Pathtrace engineer
to site to get some one-to-one tuition.” He adds, “We’ve
had excellent service from Pathtrace. You submit a question
by e-mail or telephone and generally, you’ll get an answer
the same day. Being a UK company, they don’t have to wait
for a US office to wake up to get an answer.” |
Making it
in Britain.
Richard Rhodes sums up, “We have found EdgeCAM to be very
good. We are currently concentrating our efforts on a validation
process for the solid models, to create a control document that
certifies a parts fitness to be machined. When that is finished,
we’ll make the complete transition to EdgeCAM on the mill-turns.”
Above all, Darron has proved that it is perfectly possible to
manufacture successfully in the UK. As Richard says, “We
are proving that a with quality working environment, with the
right level of investment and with EdgeCAM, we can produce a
top quality product that the oil industry wants and at a price
they will pay.” |
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