- Eight instead of twenty seconds for a brass gear: Spintec Precision Manufacturing, a Hong Kong company with subsidiaries in Shenzhen, Dongguan and Zhaoqing, reached a new level of productivity thanks to Affolter gear hobbing centers.
- Spintec produces 150 million parts per year. On the twelve Affolter machines in operation, Spintec manufactures high precision gears for the automotive industry.
- Affolter will showcase the flexible and ultra-precise fully automated gear hobbing centers AF90 and AF110 plus at the manufacturing trade show SIMM in Shenzhen from 29 March to 1 April (Hall 1, Booth 1K39).
SHENZHEN, China, March 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- They are everywhere: Small gears and metal parts are used in all kind of daily products; billions of gears are manufactured all around the world. The automotive industry is no different: In one luxury car, up to 50 small high-precision gears and worms are used - from the electric car seat all the way to the trunk. "Manufacturers in the automotive industry produce a high number of such micro gears. Reduced cycle times are the key to optimized overall productivity, while at the same time manufacturers must ensure highest precision and quality", explains Vincent Affolter, Managing Director of Affolter Technologies (www.affoltergroup.ch). The highly-specialized Swiss company is world technology leader in high-precision gear hobbing solutions.
Spintec Precision Manufacturing Limited, a Hong Kong registered company with subsidiaries in Shenzhen, Dongguan and Zhaoqing, specializes in the manufacturing of precision metal parts and gears. Besides medical technology and robotics, the automotive sector is a key industry for Spintec. 150 million parts are produced per year, 60% of the parts are being exported.
Cutting the cycle time in half
The cooperation between Affolter and Spintec started not long after Affolter entered the Chinese market in 2008. In 2011, Spintec bought their first Affolter machine. Today, the manufacturer already operates twelve Affolter gear hobbing centers. On all of them, Spintec produces high precision parts for the automotive industry: spur gears, helical gears, bevel gears, crown gears and reducer pinions. "The cycle time of a brass gear on one of our other gear hobbing machines used to be twenty seconds. On the Affolter AF90, we reached eight seconds, more than doubling our productivity", explains Stephen Chan, Managing Director of Spintec. The batch sizes reach from 5.000 to 0.1 million parts.
Spintec was able to optimize the worm milling process considerably, too: "Instead of the forty seconds that we needed before, the fully automated Affolter AF110 plus can finish a high-precision brass worm in only fifteen seconds", reports Chan. The significantly reduced cycle times and the high precision and quality of the produced parts give Spintec a competitive advantage. Stephen Chan: "With the Affolter gear hobbing machines, we were able to enhance both the quality and the productivity of our processes."
Spintec plans to open a plant in Serbia in 2018. The company has been qualified by ISO/TS16949:2009, ISO9001:2008, ISO14001:2004, WWF-LCMP (WWF-Low Carbon Manufacturing Program).
SIMM: AF90 and AF110 plus in the spotlight
Affolter Technologies will present its innovative technology and products at the International Machinery Manufacturing Exhibition SIMM in the Convention & Exhibition Center Shenzhen from March 29 to April 1, 2018 (Hall 1, Booth 1K39). The fully automated AF90 for small gears - Affolter's smallest machine - will be shown at the booth, as well as the AF110 plus. "The AF90 is a high-tech CNC gear hobbing center with 8 axes. It convinces with high productivity and a very fast cutting speed: the spindle reaches 16.000 rpm", reports Vincent Affolter. The maximum part diameter is 30 mm, the maximum cutting length 40 mm. The AF90 is designed to hob pinions, splines and wheels.
For more, please visit www.affoltergroup.ch, www.affolter-applications.ch and www.spintecgear.com
Affolter Technologies at SIMM
March 29 - April 1, 2018
Convention & Exhibition Center Shenzhen
Hall 1, Booth 1K39
About Affolter Technologies SA: Tradition meets innovation: Affolter Technologies SA is a part of the Affolter Group with more than 160 employees around the globe and was founded in 1919 by Louis Affolter in Malleray, Switzerland. Today, the fourth generation leads the family enterprise. A Chinese subsidiary was founded in 2013. Affolter Technologies operates worldwide with a broad network of distributors. The highly-specialized company is world technology leader in high-precision gear hobbing solutions. For more information, please visit: www.affoltergroup.ch and www.affolter-applications.ch
Media Contact:
www.hagenpr.com
