The Dynamic XD’s five-axis cutting produces parts much more precisely in a single pass — with no fixturing needed.
Electro Mechanical Solutions Inc. manufactures and installs equipment and products for the food industry, and the Vicksburg, Miss, fabricator also builds and installs a variety of electrical panels and repairs electronic boards. EMS’ steadfast focus on providing quality service in automation, fabrication, and machining, and electronic repairs has caused their product range and services to expand daily.
In line with EMS’ mission to provide customers with innovative solutions, the plant managers were looking for a new method to produce parts. EMS evaluated Dynamic Waterjet® XD, the latest technological advancement from Flow International. Dynamic XD is helping manufacturers realize a greater opportunity to capitalize on the demand for production of multi-dimensional parts. Dynamic Waterjet XD’s versatility enables manufacturers to cut a wider variety of intricate designs, which gives them the capabilities to tap new markets. With 3D cutting and complex beveling, users can cut elaborate parts previously unattainable using standard non-Dynamic waterjets. These new 3D advancements have been integrated with Flow’s original Dynamic Waterjet technology, which eliminates taper and other errors found on waterjet cut parts.
Upon seeing the tight tolerances that Dynamic Waterjet XD can cut, and recognizing the benefits it could bring to his organization, EMS owner Brad Davidson decided to adopt Dynamic XD for his operation. “Once I saw how perfectly parts fit together, I knew I had to implement Dynamic XD,” said Davidson. “The tolerances are so tight, parts fit together like a puzzle.”
Saving time, cutting more complex shapes
EMS recently completed manufacturing an elaborate searing element to be used in a food processing plant. In the past, Davidson explained, for such a project EMS would use plasma to cut the steel parts, and then ground out the edges. This process gave very loose tolerances that required the use of weld material to fill the vacant areas back in. Additionally, the searing elements required complex fixturing to complete the job.
Having installed Flow’s Dynamic XD, EMS now saves valuable time and has become much more efficient. Waterjet cutting these very same searing elements with Dynamic XD produces parts much more precisely in only one pass and with no fixturing. And, with XD’s superior edge quality, no secondary processing is required. As a result, according to Davidson, weeks have been cut off of the total project time.
“Before, a complete set of searing elements took a few weeks to produce using plasma, which required secondary finishing, fixturing, gobs of weld, and a lot of clean up,” said Davidson. “Now it takes just a few days to create a finished part, saving us valuable time. An additional benefit is labor savings; it used to take two guys nearly two weeks to complete the job. Now, one guy can get the job done in just two days.”
Davidson said using their 5-axis Dynamic XD Flow waterjet allows EMS to cut a wider variety of intricate shapes.
“XD allows us to cut 3D bevel parts used in the food industry and in producing gears, sprockets, and brackets with counter sink holes.”
Davidson is excited about Dynamic XD and feels it will change the use of waterjet in the manufacturing world: “XD is awesome!” he declared. “We’re pushing the boundaries of our waterjet and cutting parts we couldn’t cut before, with huge time savings and reduced labor costs – it’s amazing!”