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!
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.”
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 %.
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.”
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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