Maximum efficiency due to automation
5-axis machining around the clock: Two DMC 80 U duoBLOCK machines with RS 12 pallet rotary storage ensure high productivity for Hack Formenbau with regard to milling.
More than 60 years experience and innovative processes make Hack Formenbau GmbH one of the leading suppliers of complex and at the same time absolutely precise moulds for plastic injection moulding. The portfolio includes single component and multi-component moulds as well as multi-cavity moulds and stack moulds. With a fully equipped production and their own injection moulding systems for mould proving, the mould making specialists based in Kirchheim unter Teck supply customers from very different industries – including medical engineering, cosmetics and hygiene industry, but also the automotive industry. With regard to chip removal, Hack Formenbau has been relying on machine tool technology from DMG MORI for many years. The latest investment saw two older DMC 80 U duoBLOCK machines replaced by the successor models of the currently fourth generation – including automation solutions with rotary storage units for twelve pallets each.
Hack Formenbau represents complex and precise injection moulds, whose development "requires a high degree of innovative power", says Wolfgang Hack. The Managing Director took over the company from his father in 1978. His son Gunnar Hack, also Managing Director, is already continuing the success story: "Above all, we are interested in large multi-cavity moulds with an output of at least one million parts per year." Often, it is significantly more plastic goods originating from the 32-, 48- or even 64-fold moulds. "This is why we supply a very wide range of industries." It is this positive business development that allows Wolfgang and Gunnar Hack to be optimistic for the future. The in-house training of precision machinists is to further support the ongoing employee growth, and the expansion of production capacities is also planned in the long-term.
Specialist expertise and high-tech technology
The focus is on customer orientation for all orders, says Wolfgang Hack: "This means: fast delivery with at the same time perfect manufacturing quality." Experienced and competent specialist staff are the basis for this, using innovative technologies and well thought-out processes. At Hack, the process begins with the development including CAD design and CAM programming. In production, the experts cover all common machining processes, from milling and circular and profile grinding to eroding and wire-cut EDM. In addition to the required quality of the parts, productivity and machine availability also play a decisive role with regard to technology, to be able to flexibly process the orders.
Hack Formenbau rates this reliability of the machining centres from DMG MORI highly in the field of milling. "This was one of the reasons we replaced the two old DMC 80 U duoBLOCK machines with two new successor models of the current generation." The clamping devices, tools and NC programs can be used in the same way, and the improved dynamics and significantly higher performance values are an asset of the state-of-the-art 5-axis milling machines.
As the workpieces are simply pre-milled on both DMC 80 U duoBLOCK machines for further processing steps, the high precision of the duoBLOCK concept was not even the decisive criterion, as Wolfgang Hack remembers: "What was crucial was productivity". For this reason, both machines were equipped with RS 12 rotary storage units for up to twelve pallets. "This way, we can setup in parallel and produce more or less round the clock – even in the two unmanned shifts." The high capacity of the two machining centres is also enabled by Hack Formenbau having introduced CAM programming in a quiet room directly next to the machines, so that programmers and machine operators can work closely together to optimise the programs. The reliability of the machines is also to be mentioned in this context: "In case of an unplanned downtime, the speedy response of the DMG MORI Service provides support."
The high production capacities in machining fit seamlessly into the overall process at Hack Formenbau. Mould proving of the tools on own injection moulding machines with up to 400 tons closing force rounds it off. Another special feature of the company is the technical centre where customers can install their own machines to make new samples of tools. Any work can then be performed on site at Hack Formenbau. Installation of the entire customer production system with automation is also possible during this time. This reduces logistic expenses, if such work can be performed on site at Hack before dispatch. "We can guarantee complete series maturity of the tools with this once they leave our company", Gunnar Hack stresses.