Progressive Turnings Inc.

Challenge: Run high-quality, multi-operation parts in one fast operation

Machining Solution: Tsugami SS32 and BE20V CNC Lathes

Result: Reduced lead time for customers by 50%-60%

Location: Aurora, IL

Read how Progressive Turning Inc, have reduced set-up times with Tsugami Swiss Type CNC Lathes, that machine parts complete in a single set-up…

When Larry Niels and his son Dave Niels started Progressive Turnings, Inc. in 1979, the business was primarily a screw machine shop. The company has evolved to stay competitive in the industry by switching to high quality CNC machine tools. Today, Dave’s son, Luke Niels, serves as plant manager in charge of day to day operations.

Niels says, “We needed to stay competitive in the market by finding a way to take three, four and five operation parts and run them in one, fast operation while maintaining quality. We considered other Swiss Type CNC Lathes like Citizen and Star, but Tsugami came recommended by some of the companies we do business with. We tried programming and operating a Citizen machine, but we didn’t like the control or the layout of the machine.”

He explains, “We chose Tsugami lathes because Rem Sales stood by their product and offered a great warranty. The Tsugami BE20V CNC Lathe is the most reliable, easy-to-use Swiss turn that I have ever worked on. It doesn’t stop or slow down. Our SS32 lathes are great too. We have pushed them to their limits and they don’t stop producing.”

Niels summarizes one application in particular that highlights the success of the company’s Tsugamis: “We had a 416 stainless steel inner rotor with many complex dimensions. Live tooling on front and back spindles was necessary. We were CNC milling and drilling several different features. This part had many close tolerances to hold and large quantities of parts were on the order. We were running it in five operations before buying a Tsugami Swiss Type CNC Lathe and the part had an intense deburring operation that was wasting massive amounts of time. This is a part we run all year and we needed to stay competitive by running it fast with high efficiency and superb quality.

“We now run this in one operation with absolutely no detailing on the part. Running this complete is faster than the first two operations combined. The time savings on this part is reason enough to have bought our Tsugami SS32 Swiss Type Lathe. Also, due to the high rigidity of the machine, we get great tool life and the machine is highly accurate. The result was that we were able to reduce the amount of setups, shorten our lead time and decrease the amount of time wasted on detailing, plus not needing an operator to load machinery for additional operations.”

Niels concludes, “Working with the people at Rem Sales has been a good experience. The salesmen know a lot about manufacturing and the operation of the lathes and service has always been good. I personally know several of the service people and feel very comfortable dealing with them. Tsugami/Rem Sales is a great company to work with. We will be purchasing more Tsugamis CNC Lathes in the future.”

For more information on Progressive Turnings Inc., please visit www.progressiveturnings.com.