Schnipke Engraving Co.

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Automatic Wire-changing EDM Gives Business Surgical Precision Founded more than 50 years ago as a family-owned industrial engraving business, Schnipke Engraving Co. in Ottoville, Ohio, has evolved into a dual-facility organization that specializes in ultra-precision injection molding as well as automated and manual assembly. These and other exacting manufacturing processes, such as electrical discharge machining (EDM) with automatic wire changing capability, allow their tooling division to generate complex molds engineered for critical applications in the medical, defense, aerospace, and other precision demanding industries. According to John Hoskins, director of sales and marketing at Schnipke Engraving, the company continues to follow its founder, Leonard Schnipke’s mantra. “The impossible we do immediately. The miracles take a little longer.” In following this philosophy and serving its diversified customer base, the Schnipke Engraving has pioneered and developed a wide range of productive and proprietary processes. Schnipke Engraving exacts precise control over its production processes – from the fabrication of molds to the actual injection molding and through to the assembly of tight-tolerance components. And Ron Schnipke, Leonard’s son and vice president of tooling, said that the company consistently designs, fabricates molds and produces components that meet and exceed customer requirements. In fact, the Schnipke Engraving’s mold manufacturing methods have continuously evolved in parallel with business growth and customer demands for increasingly complex molded products. As part of its high-precision moldmaking operations, Schnipke Engraving’s EDM equipment is a key manufacturing technology. “When we started designing and fabricating mold cavities, EDM came right along with it,” said Ron Schnipke. The tool room’s first EDM machine was a manual die sinker, and today, Schnipke Engraving employs a sinker as well as several wire-type EDMs. Of all its EDMs, the company’s most recently acquired system is an AgieCharmilles CUT 3000 wire EDM from GF Machining Solutions that features dual-wire spools and automatic wire changing. With twin wire spool capacity, the CUT 3000 permits immediate and fully automatic wire changing capability for switching from one wire diameter to another. “We needed something that we could change over quickly.” Schnipke said. With other wire EDM machines, changing wire diameters is time consuming – the new machine takes less than a minute to switch, without operator intervention. The CUT 3000’s wire guide system allows for using wire diameters from 0.002” (0.05 mm or slightly less than the diameter of a human hair) up to 0.012” (0.30 mm). The AgieCharmilles CUT 3000 uses patented GF Machining Solutions Universal Wire Guide technology. Two stationary three-point V-guides – an upper and lower – are all that is required to accommodate the wide scope of wire diameters. Operators simply enter the desired wire diameter size into the machine’s control, and the guides compensate for the difference between one wire diameter and the next. But most importantly, the machine is always aware of wire center to maintain exact part location and size once a wire diameter change has occurred and cutting resumes. All of Schnipke Engraving’s EDMs can run lights out for continuous production and maximized machine utilization time. However, Schnipke added that the newer CUT 3000 takes the tool room to the next level when it comes to speed, accuracy and very fine, intricate high-precision cuts. Plus, with automatic wire changing, parts can be roughed using more costeffective large-diameter wire, then, finish cut with high-end high-performance smaller-diameter wire to get the desired radii in the corners. While the mold building facility occasionally uses copper EDM wire, it generally works with stratified wire. Schnipke Engraving normally use copper electrodes on the sinker EDM, along with a wide range of tool steels for their molds. Where appropriate, Schnipke Engraving produces micro-scale mold features via high-speed milling. The shop considers a 0.250”-diameter cutter to be “large,” and the application of 0.080”-diameter and 0.040”-diameter tools is commonplace. Tom DePotter, director of new product development, said, “Schnipke Engraving combines a variety of tactics to ensure that its processes are robust and consistent. The company’s advanced CAD system, for instance, enables us to create 3D models of molds and rotate them to see every aspect of the mold. Sigma Soft analysis software helps predict how the component material will move through the mold. It’s this application of technology that allows us to get it right the first time,” DePotter said. Verifying fabrication results are as important as controlling the molding processes itself. “Completed parts of the molds get measured in the QA lab or machine side,” added Schnipke. “On-machine probing can generate problems if you have any wear on the ball screws. If you don’t measure your tooled pieces off line, you are measuring any possible error right into the mold measurements itself, versus utilizing an independent measuring system.” Schnipke Engraving has developed its own automation technologies to maximize productivity and part accuracy, which have revolutionized the production and assembly of many surgical device components. The combination of advanced fabrication processes, EDM and high precision machining, intelligent automation and lean principles continue to enhance Schnipke Engraving’s capability to respond quickly to customer demands. Hoskins said, “Faster fabrication helps us condense our lead times. Our customers are constantly asking us to go faster. We are part of their product development process. They have market windows when they introduce new product; we have to hit their target objectives, because if they miss their window they lose their competitive edge.”
SIDEBAR: Family pride and innovation Leonard and Pauline Schnipke founded Schnipke Engraving in 1962 to provide industrial engraving and pantograph image duplication services for a variety of industries. Recognizing opportunities to apply his expertise and grow his business, in 1967 Schnipke Engraving began to manufacture its own molds and perform injection molding of precision plastic components. For over half a century, Schnipke Engraving has continued as a family-owned, family-oriented business that also takes maximum advantage of advanced technology. Organizationally, Leonard’s son Ron Schnipke said, the company is “kind of a hybrid where everyone works together as a family. While at the same time, we implement a lot of very advanced technologies, processes and procedures so that we can deliver our best service to the world’s leading industries.” Hoskins added, “we have a really unique group of people here, from Ron to a group of people who have grown up here, to a lot of us who have come from the outside.” Teamwork and lean principles are a key component of the company’s success. The recent recession had an effect on Schnipke Engraving’s business. “Everybody had a slowdown,” said Hoskins. “And while all manufacturers are affected by fluctuations in the economy, we’ve been fortunate in that we are a niche player to a certain degree. There are only a handful of companies that do what we do. Now we are on a very solid growth path for the next five years, and beyond. We will continue in the ultra precision and micro areas within the medical device, aerospace, defense, and other precision component industries that best suit our skill set.” “We are constantly looking at the market to address the concerns of our customers and also address the concerns of the marketplace. We are looking at new developments from a technology standpoint, from tool building, mold cooling and mold wear in addition to a whole variety of other functional areas. We are exploring those areas and then making investments where it makes sense.” “Our goal is to be a relevant supplier not just today but in the future,” Hoskins said. “As our customers cut their supply base, there is pressure to be the fastest to market, the most cost effective and the ultimate in quality and technology innovation. That is the company that Leonard Schnipke started over 51 years ago, that is the company of the future, and that is the company we are looking forward to being for another 51 years.”
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Schnipke Engraving Co.

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