The Factor of Time

In only one week’s time, delivered parts have to be grinded and polished at Kivrak. Thanks to the internal production of fixtures on the Q.204, the company
could now further reduce its throughput time.

Since 1988 the Kivrak Oberflächenbearbeitung GmbH has been the top address when it comes to grinding and polishing fittings parts and accessories. The company works for renowned enterprises in this field as well as for the automotive industry. In 2005, the family business moved its headquarters from Iserlohn to Hemer (Germany), to keep the delivery distances to its main customers as short as possible.

Efficiency has always been a top priority at Kivrak. This becomes obviously immediately after entering the production halls: Next to a multitude of different sanding blocks for the manual processing of parts you will find six robots enabling an almost fully automated machining. “Depending on the material, we decide how to process the respective part,” explains Ferhat Kivrak, owner and managing director of the company. Thus, it may occur that the robot takes over the entire processing or that it is applied to preliminary works which are followed by a manual post-processing. “The variety is very important. Is the design able to be processed with the robot? How long would it take in comparison to manual operations? All these questions lead to the method of processing,” states Ferhat Kivrak. If the robot is used for the entire process, it requires only eight hours for a tray of over 100 parts.

At Kivrak, a tray is a fixture from which the robot picks the material. “For this reason, the trays have to be manufactured very precisely as the robot only knows distances and works with an accuracy of 0.2 mm. This makes it impossible to manually produce these trays. They would simply not be precise enough. A few millimeters offset and the robot could no longer pick the parts,” says the managing director.

Thus, the manufacture of trays has always been outsourced. But although this task was realized by a neighboring company, its realization took two weeks. While these works were previously necessary only two times a year, the variety of the parts has recently increased in a significant way. A continued external production of the trays was consequently neither time- nor cost-efficient. “Eventually, time was the deciding factor. When I receive parts from my customers, these have to be processed and returned within a week. During this time, I have to design the drawing for the tray and outsource its production. When the tray is delivered two weeks later, the order would have had to be already back at the customer,” explains the owner.

In order to optimize this process, the Kivrak Oberflächenbearbeitung decided on acquiring a CNC machine for the internal production of the trays. STEPCRAFT was recommended to Ferhat Kivrak by a friend. “It was important for me to choose a local manufacturer. As I was new to CNC technology, I did not want to drive 200 km to take a look at a machine I would probably buy. Additionally, I could immediately receive support, if I should have problems”, describes the managing director.

The appointment at STEPCRAFT was quickly made and the company decided on the Q.204 including the control software UCCNC and the milling motor HFS-2200-A. “Thanks to the cnc machine, I am very flexible now. I design the drawing, let the Q.204 mill for two to three hours and I can start processing the parts,” states the owner. Today, Kivrak produces the required trays including the respective pockets and holes from wood, plastics or aluminum directly on-site. “Since we have the Q.204 my work has got a bit easier,” rejoices Ferhat Kivrak.

Thanks to the Q.204 the Kivrak Oberflächenbearbeitung can produce the required trays today in a time- and cost-efficient way which led to a further reduction of throughput time.

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