THE MICROTECHNOLOGY INFORMATION PORTAL/THE SHOW
12.01.2018
A - Machines
Tornos : OKAY INDUSTRIES : SwissNano helps Costa Rica division achieve new level of precision
With 340 employees on sites in New Britain, CT (US) ; Berlin, CT (US) ; and Montecillos, Alajuela, Costa Rica, Okay Industries is a leading medical manufacturer with unsurpassed expertise in stamping and machining a wide range of metals, including stainless steels implantable titanium and nitinol. Okay also specializes in automotive, defense/firearms and industrial applications with an emphasis on ‘rethinking the ordinary’ to deliver extraordinary solutions meeting customers’ manufacturing and business needs.
Medical manufacturing leadership
Launched in 2012, Okay Industries’ Costa Rica division is situated in a 1,300 square meter (14,000-squarefoot) facility in the nation’s Montecillos Free Trade Zone Z in Alajuela municipality. In Alajuela, Okay Industries manufactures medical and other precision components using multi-axis CNC machine tools, Swiss-type turning, die-sinking, wire electrical discharge machining (EDM) and general machining. From high-volume production to tooling, production, spare parts and assembly fixtures, Okay Industries ensures that customers can count on a highly skilled production workforce as well as global engineering leadership and ever-evolving technical innovation. “Our operation in Costa Rica has been growing steadily since we started in 2012. Costa Rica has a growing medical sector with many original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) here, so our Alajuela site positions us to collaborate closely with them and serve their needs,” says Chaves, whose 30-plus years of manufacturing experience includes tooling expertise across a variety of industries and 17 years in management. “Additionally, Costa Rica has an excellent pool of talent, from engineers to machinists, because we have a lot of good technical schools. Our location, just a two-and-a-half-hour flight to the US or four to five days by boat is another plus.”
SwissNano takes precision to a new level
Okay Industries recently became the first manufacturer in Latin America to own a Swiss Nano. The machine is part of its investment strategy to continue going beyond the ordinary to meet its customers’ needs. “Our Tornos SwissNano is part of our expansion project. We recently won two new, very good projects demanding an increased equipment investment,” he says. One of those projects is producing a 1,5 mm x 1,5 mm medical device used in breast cancer surgery. It requires Okay Industries to take its precision manufacturing expertise to a new level. “The SwissNano has already exceeded our expectations by demonstrating very good stability on the required part dimensions,” says Chaves, who is already imagining the machine’s potential for other applications. In the perfect scenario, we will have some additional capacity with our SwissNano to win additional high-precision projects that we know exist.” Moreover, the SwissNano heralded as the most precise machine of its type on today’s market helps Okay Industries demonstrate its full value to potential customers. And that supports the company’s vision:“Okay Industries will be the most trusted partner of custom-engineered precision components and assemblies by combining our 100-year-plus foundation in tooling expertise, our leadership in innovation and our employees’ commitment to excellence.”
“It was the performance of the Swiss GT 26 that led us to look at the SwissNano”
It started with the Swiss GT 26
Already experienced and impressed with Tornos’ Swiss GT 26 equipped with a gear hobbing device. So, it was only natural for Okay Industries to turn to Tornos in its quest to invest in a high-precision Swisstype lathe. “With the Swiss GT 26, we are able to produce a plastic gear for a medical device. With the Swiss GT 26, we have been able to cut our cycle times on specific parts by more than 50 percent,” Chaves says. “It was the performance of the Swiss GT 26 that led us to look at the SwissNano.” He says the SwissNano extends Okay Industries’ machining expertise to a nano-precision level with its ability to load and unload very small (less than 3 mm diameter) bar stock. Its advanced ergonomics allow the machine operator to have the guide bush in front of him, and it shares the TISIS common interface with the Swiss GT 26. The SwissNano affords easy setup for even the most intricate parts due to fully
Mayprod keeps manufacturers at technology’s cutting edge
When Central American manufacturers demand cutting edge machine tool technology, they turn to Mayprod ; Tornos’ exclusive distributor in that market. Located in San Salvador, El Salvador, Mayprod prides itself on being Central American manufacturers’ supplier of choice for first-class machine tools and accessories, service and technical support.
“We are able to offer not just Swiss-type machines, but the original and only Swiss-made Swiss-type machines in the world : Tornos”
Founded in 1987 by Carlos Huezo Sr., Mayprod today has 30 employees and serves El Salvator, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The company also has plans to expand into Honduras by the end of 2017. The founder’s vision of bringing modern, computer-numerical control (CNC) technology to Central America continues, says his son and Mayprod Operational Manager Carlos A. Huezo. “Metalworking in Central America today is still dominated by manual machines and Costa Rica with its growing medical device manufacturing sector is the exception,” he said. “Our biggest product is conventional lathes and our customers know that we specialize in machine tools, so they return to us again and again. At the same time, customers are today realizing the importance of CNC technology and with Tornos’ advanced Swiss-type lathe technology, we can provide it to them.” Mayprod recently sold the first Tornos SwissNano in all of Latin America, and in only a year since launching its partnership with Tornos, the company has sold a total of three Tornos machines. That success demonstrates the enormous potential of the Central American market and Costa Rica in particular, Heuzo said. With the global population aging and technology diffusion paving the way to increased miniaturization, medical device manufacturing is flourishing in Costa Rica. These factors drive a need for highend, high-performance solutions like the Tornos SwissNano. “It’s a niche machine that no Tornos competitor can offer,” Huezo said. “Having access to such technology, along with Mayprod’s unparalleled machine tool industry expertise and commitment to top-notch service throughout the machine’s life cycle – appeals to customers,” he added. “We put a lot of emphasis on post-sales service and technical support and this truly differentiates us from other machine tool distributors in our market,” Huezo explained. “We really care about our customers and they know that when they buy a machine from us, they can count on very little downtime. This is an exciting time for Mayprod because we are able to offer not just Swiss-type machines, but the original and only Swiss-made Swiss-type machines in the world - Tornos.” numerical axes. With the SwissNano’s high thermal stability and rigidity, Okay Industries can deliver the uncompromising precision levels its customers demand.
Impressive results
“In our first part runs on the SwissNano, the results were very impressive, with virtually no variation between the first part and the 200th part,” Chaves says. He emphasizes that the TISIS programming software, Tornos’ Industry 4.0 portal makes it easy for machine operators to achieve superb results with both the Swiss GT 26 and the SwissNano. TISIS addresses and improves the human element of manufacturing and that is important to Chaves. “One of the chief reasons I joined the Okay Industries family was President Jason Howey’s focus on and interest in people,” Chaves says. “The human side is the most important part of the company. We focus on hiring and developing good citizens.” TISIS helps Chaves’ employees achieve superior results for the company – and its customers – just as the SwissNano ramps Okay Industries’ potential to outperform competitors. “We are keeping pace with the big trends influencing medical component manufacturing. Parts are becoming smaller and customers require more solutions and we want to be the partner who can provide the best end results with the best price and technologies,” he says.
A bright future
Chaves sees a bright future for Okay Industries’ Costa Rica operation and for its collaboration with Tornos. “There are a lot of opportunities for Tornos and our company. Tornos has very good equipment. In fact, when we were at Tornos headquarters in Moutier, Switzerland for the commissioning of our SwissNano, I was very impressed with the Tornos MultiSwiss,” he explained. “I can actually picture this machine on our workshop floor. I don’t have a project yet to justify the purchase of a MultiSwiss, but we are looking for one.” Meanwhile, Tornos solutions help keep Okay Medical and Precision Components Manufacturing and its 65-strong workforce on track to achieve its ambitious vision.
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