Tebis ensures process safety and stability at Laro

The cost of the material for the blanks alone can be in the six-figure range. A key aspect of the corporate philosophy at Laro, a subsidiary of the Langer Group, is therefore safe and also highly precise machining. “We work primarily in lot sizes of 1, so we only have one chance to get it right," says Ralf Eberhard, Managing Director of the specialist machining company in Illmensee, Württemberg. “We’ve therefore set up our production and especially our processes and procedures accordingly.”

In order to simulate reality on a one-to-one basis in the virtual world, experts from the software company in Martinsried, Germany carefully and precisely measured the machines at Laro. All cutting tools are meticulously registered. And the detailed libraries also include all the clamping devices, from fixtures fabricated in-house to the vacuum clamping system for distortion-free fixing of delicate parts. This results in a true digital twin that enables accurate collision control.

Laro implements all technologies relevant to milling – from 2+3-axis milling to 5-axis simultaneous and 2.5-D machining – and uses the corresponding Tebis modules including the sophisticated interfaces. Their machining operations are highly standardized. Key strategies with optimal machining parameters are stored in templates.

"These templates and the libraries contain our accumulated experience from many different projects," Eberhard explains. "As we store all the relevant data and strategies there in increasing detail, the better the automated programming works.”

By the way, the strategies and parameters already established at Laro are in no way set in stone: "Our libraries and processes are alive and are under continuous development in the sense of an ongoing improvement process," Eberhard says. "This is why our CAM team leader is in continuous dialog with the programmers and machine operators. He checks any new technologies or strategies with his people. This lets us to respond very quickly, perform any necessary tests and easily adopt sensible new approaches. We modify any new developments in Tebis, and only then are they approved for processing on the machine.”
This type of machining has required some changes for the machine operators. "They’ve been relieved of the burden of responsibility for regularly adjusting programs to the machine," the managing director reports. "The programs are sent to the machine, the employee presses the start button, and that's that. They no longer have to worry about the routine of the actual machining operation and can instead pay more attention to optimizing the processes. This is where the employees’ strong qualifications are especially meaningful. And the potential of the machine also stays consistent at 100 percent. The programs are designed for this, and they’re rigorously tested on all critical parameters in the simulation."

The employees at the machines now have their heads and hands free for other tasks, like setting up new parts in parallel with machining. They have a Tebis Viewer available at the machine for this purpose. The machinist can also view the parts in 3D on the Viewer. This also ensures safety: for example, in the setup. The setup is therefore also fast and precise with no confusion. Tebis is also available to develop optimizations to improve the efficiency and quality of the machining operations.

This is a huge benefit. For example, shop employees know from experience if it's better to support a thin part on their machine in order to prevent vibration. "This information is incorporated in the system," Eberhard explains. "This is how we actively ensure that we can incorporate the knowledge and skills of our highly qualified employees in our standards, allowing us to continually optimize our machining processes.”

However, the benefits of Tebis aren’t withheld until the actual machining. The standardized machining expertise in the system lets the machinists relatively easily provide their (potential) customers with extremely solid advance technical consulting.

 "When I submit a bid, we’ve already fully tested its feasibility and the machining in Tebis in advance," Eberhard says. "A potential customer can therefore be sure that they’ll receive their part from us in the specified time frame and at the required quality. We can rely on Tebis for that. And our experience plus the potentials of the CAM system now let us start the process with our customers much sooner, which also gives us better more opportunities to define I together.”