“Right from the beginning I wanted to stay with one brand of machine tool. I wanted to do all of my homework at the beginning. I didn’t want to have a variety of different machines. I wanted to standardize (on one brand of machine),” says Plank.

Plank’s first step in deciding on which machine tool to purchase was to perform an in-depth analysis of a number of machines. Plank’s analysis included such criteria as machine construction, design, price, service support, and more. “I went as far as to (view the machines in operation) to see the guides that move the slides on the machine,” says Plank.

Following his analysis of different machines, Plank subsequently selected Haas and installed his first Haas machine in 1997. In addition, Plank was familiar with Haas equipment from working in the manufacturing industry in South Africa.

Eleven years later, Plank still hasn’t changed his mind about Haas equipment. “The Haas equipment absolutely meets our needs. If I had to do the same process (selecting a brand of machine) over again, I would do exactly the same thing.”

At present, Tooling Development has a total of seven Haas machines including six vertical machining centers (five VF-3 machines and one VF-4 machine) and one SL20 turning center.  The Haas machines were supplied by Haas Factory Outlet, a division of Sirco Machinery Co. Ltd., Toronto, ON (HaasCNC.com).

Tooling Development has six employees at its 6,000 sq. ft. facility. According to Plank, when Tooling Development initially opened for business, it focused on manufacturing clamping fixtures for the machining industry. “For example, if a company purchased a new machine tool and wants to do a specific job on the machine, we would make automatic clamping fixtures for the application.”

Today, in addition to designing and building custom clamping fixtures (both in-house and customer specific), Tooling Development builds special purpose machinery and works as a job shop serving a variety of markets including the building industry, tool and die sector, scientific instrumentation, automotive, general industrial and more. The firm provides a variety of services including 3D machining of complex surfaces, CNC machining, and more.

The firm’s part runs range from prototypes and one-offs up to 100,000 pieces. Typically, Tooling Development is working with aluminum, stainless steel, and tooling steel. Tooling Development works to close tolerances of plus or minus 0.0002 in.

Approximately 95% of the company’s total sales are into export markets including the United States, Europe, and Australia. “Traditionally, what we like to do is work with a customer to develop a new product. We start out with the concept, design, and machine the first prototypes. We work through the whole development cycle in the hope of ending up with the actual production work,” says Plank.

Standardizing on one brand of machine has provided a variety of benefits for Tooling Development. “Some of the advantages include operator familiarity with the Haas equipment, post-processing of programs, tool presetting, and tool standardization. The benefits are almost endless,” he states.

The ease of use of Haas machines was another key advantage as well as the reliability of the equipment, Plank adds. “I can machine a part on our newest Haas machine and machine the same part on our 11-year-old Haas machine and you will not see any difference in tolerance between the two parts.”

The Haas VF-3 vertical machining center has 40 in. x 20 in. x 25 in. XYZ travels and a 40-taper cartridge spindle driven by a 20-hp vector dual-drive (Y-Delta) motor. The VF-3 produces either 75 ft.-lb. of torque at a low 1,400 rpm, or 250 ft.-lb. at 450 rpm with the optional two-speed gearbox. The machine can also run up to 7,500 rpm in 1.2 seconds for finishing aluminum. The Haas VF-4 vertical machining center has 50 in. x 20 in. x 25 in. XYZ travels and a 40-taper cartridge spindle driven by a 20-hp vector dual-drive (Y-Delta) motor.

According to Plank, the Tooling Development recently installed its latest VF-3 machine in order to increase production capacity. “We run a double shift and we still couldn’t meet our demand. We could have managed but the problem is if one of the other machines breaks down and you are running so close to the edge you don’t have (any options).”

Because of the firm’s experience with Haas equipment, operator training on the new VF-3 machine was a simple and straightforward process. “Training on the new machine was virtually non-existent. The newest machine was dropped on our floor and within one hour we were making parts,” he says.
HaasCNC.com