Improving efficiencies was a major impetus behind installing the Mazak machine, says Randall Lauzon, CNC process engineering and product development with Daymond.
“We always had long parts to machine and we had the capabilities to do them up to a maximum of 12 ft in length. However, we wanted to become more efficient in how we were doing things,” explains Lauzon.
“Typically most of the parts we do are in a six
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to seven ft. range. To achieve that (level of) efficiency where the machine is working while you are doing another job, we had to get double that six to seven ft. capability.”
In particular, the 200 in. workzone offered by the Super Velocity Center, which was supplied by A.W. Miller Technical Sales Canada, Mississauga, ON (awmiller.com), makes it ideal to handle long parts, says Blades.
Another major feature of the Super Velocity Center is the speed provided by the linear drive technology that the machine employs, add Lauzon.
“In many cases with our long parts, we will work on one end of the part and travel to the other end of the part without doing any machining in the middle.
“As a result, the faster that you can get from one end of the part to the other, the better. The linear drive on the machine at 4,724 ipm just throws the machine down (to the other end of the part) in no time,” says Lauzon. 
Daymond, which has been in business since 1939, has 180 employees at its 185,000 sq. ft. plant. Daymond is a custom extruder, fabricator, and anodizer of aluminum extruded components and fabricated/machined products and assemblies for various markets including automotive, transportation, building trades, appliance and consumer product industries.
About  45% of Daymond’s business involves work for the automotive and truck markets, says Blades.
 “Our biggest customer right now is International Truck and Engine in Chatham and its affiliates in Mexico and Texas. We also supply to Tier Two and Tier Three parts suppliers to the automotive industry including components such as running boards, door trim pieces, roof molding, and more. Outside of that we serve a broad and diverse customer mix including various commercial and industrial markets.”
In general, Daymond’s part runs range from 250 to 500 pieces. “The majority of our jobs are probably 250 pieces or less in a lot size,” says Blades.
The company can easily work to tolerances of plus or minus .001 in. Daymond is registered to the QS 9000 standard.
The company is a single source supplier from concept to finished part. Daymond provides a variety of services including cutting, drilling, deburring, milling, punching, tapping, countersinking, polishing, bending, tumbling, finishing, anodizing, painting, and powder coating.
Previously, prior to installing the Super Velocity Center, in many cases Daymond would handle long parts using just one fixture.
“However, you are tying up the machine with one fixture so the machine is dwelling while you are loading and unloading and you have a lot of dead time.
“In fact, sometimes the dead time including load and unload and blowing the machine clean can be as much or more as the actual machining time,” explains Lauzon.
The Mazak machine has provided Daymond with a variety of benefits. For one thing, the machine has had a major impact on productivity, says Lauzon.
“Typically, of all of the work that we have put on the machine so far, on approximately half of those jobs we’ve seen a 50% to 80% improvement which gives us a better ability to quote on new business.
“On the other half of the total number of jobs, we are getting an improvement of double or more on the new Mazak machine compared to our older machines,” he notes. According to Blades, using the Super Velocity Center has also resulted in significantly improved surface finish for machined parts.
The new Mazak machine, Lauzon says, has also enabled Daymond to eliminate secondary operations. Previously, Lauzon says that certain parts that were done using older machines required extensive hand finishing to eliminate tool marks.
However, using the Super Velocity Center has allowed the firm to eliminate these hand finishing operations.
“With the speed that the machine offers, we’ve been able to change our machining approach and the speeds and feeds also give us a better cut,” notes Lauzon. The Super Velocity Center has also opened new opportunities for business for Daymond. “The machine has definitely improved our competitiveness on quoting new jobs.
“For example, previously when we were looking at machining operations, if there were some operations that could be done on another machine we would break those out due to machine time. Now, we can look at handling the part only once and getting a completed part.
“The Mazak machine has also allowed us to reduce part handling,” according to  Lauzon.
To further complement the the speed and flexibility of the new Mazak machine, Daymond has also invested in a new fixturing system-the Jergens Ball Lock clamping system to provide improved fixture change times.
Because Daymond already was using two other Mazak machines with a similar control package, operator training on the new machine was a relatively simple and straightforward process, he states.
In fact, Blades and Lauzon are so impressed with the Super Velocity Center that they are already looking at installing a second Super Velocity Center next year.
The Super Velocity Center is three-axis and provides high productivity through high-speed positioning.
The high speed X-axis is driven by a linear motor and is capable of rapid traverse of 4,724 ipm. The Y- and Z-axes offer rapid traverse of 1,969 ipm.
The machine features spindle speed of 12,000 rpm and 30 hp and employs a 30-tool magazine. The cam-driven automatic tool changer ensures high-speed tool changes over a long service life.
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