A large heavy industrial manufacturer was encountering significant challenges with their ID finish form milling process. The standard tools in use were underperforming, leading to frequent and costly tool changes. The manufacturer needed to purchase 200 tools annually, with each tool change adding 20 minutes to the production cycle. At a machining rate of $80 per hour, this inefficiency resulted in an additional over $5,000 in annual production costs. Despite the seemingly small scale of this application, the impact on production costs was substantial. The manufacturer was eager to find a more efficient solution to reduce tool usage and minimize tool change time.

GWS stepped in to assess the manufacturer’s milling challenges and initially provided a 4-flute solid carbide custom end mill. However, this solution did not produce the results we or the customer were hoping for, so we went to work on finding the right solution. After reevaluating the situation, we introduced a 5-flute solid carbide end mill with a chip breaker that quickly exceeded performance standards. This new tool significantly improved durability, reducing the annual tool requirement from 200 to 112 total end mills per year. Consequently, the reduced frequency of tool changes saved almost 30 hours of production time annually. The combined benefits of purchasing fewer tools and minimizing production costs enabled GWS to resolve the manufacturer’s problem, ultimately saving them $10,000 per year.

Interested in finding out more information about our standard and custom tools? Consider contacting the experts who make Custom Come Standard, and let us find the perfect cutting tool for you. Just send us an email at sales@gwstoolgroup.com to get started!