Cross Huller Provides Efficient Solutions for Clients
Cover Story
By Brian Salgado   
Wednesday, 14 September 2005
smc Cross Hüller North America has been making its agile production systems on this continent for only five years, but Ron Quaile, vice president of sales, is proud the company is already considered a leader in the industry.
Cross Hüller North America has been making its agile production systems on this continent for only five years, but Ron Quaile, vice president of sales, is proud the company is already considered a leader in the industry.
Cross Hüller North America has been making its agile production systems on this continent for only five years, but Ron Quaile, vice president of sales, is proud the company is already considered a leader in the industry.

Like Cross Hüller’s modular transfer machines, its agile systems are in great demand in the automotive industry, he says.

“We have been the market leader for the last five years for agile and transfer line systems,” says Quaile, who notes the company is a top supplier for Ford. “We have repeat business because we are providing excellent support and value to [this large auto] company.”

Ninety percent of its products are manufactured for the automotive industry for which Cross Hüller acts as a Tier I supplier for OEMs, and 10 percent go toward the diesel engine manufacturing industry.

Quaile considers Cross Hüller the market leader, with a majority of the large production-system business of the last five years handled by his company. For the modular transfer machines, Quaile says Cross Hüller’s product lines have a range of technical characteristics that make the products economical to rework if a customer changes its own product line.

Quaile adds Cross Hüller’s SPECTH® and STAR 500 CNC agile production systems achieve high capability and quality levels for its customers. “We have outstanding project management teams that are able to go in and organize fixture and tool design, part processes, installation and ramp-up of the equipment,” Quaile says. “We have the combination of the right technology and project management and engineering, so we are able to deliver our product in a timely fashion. We deliver what we promise and deliver on time.”

Cross Hüller has gone from conducting 100 percent of its business through modular transfer line sales 10 years ago to a split between transfer lines and agile systems.

The company is adapting to rapid changes in customers’ part designs by changing the technical product itself to be more flexible, especially for cylinder head production, to allow customers to have many changes at small costs and introduce the change parts without significant downtime or changeover. All the while, Quaile says, Cross Hüller’s customers continue to expect reliability, maintainability and durability.

“They expect that equipment to run in that state at that time for as long as possible,” Quaile says. “This reduces their maintenance and spare parts costs. Our company is able to deliver good, quality products, and we keep them reliable and easy to maintain.”

The company remains focused on lowering the cost of its products, decreasing lead time for delivery of equipment and improving reliability of the maintenance of its products.

“We want standardization and simplification of the products we manufacture,” Quaile says.

Cross Hüller has taken the first step toward simplification and standardization of its products with the STARline product range. Quaile says these products – which are marketed under STAR 500, the umbrella name for modular transfer lines and CNC units – come with cost and lead-time reduction and improved reliability. Quaile says Cross Hüller has already sold 24 STAR 500 machines that are currently in production. “These will have significant cost-reduction and improved delivery times with the same part quality, reliability and maintainability,” Quaile says. The company adheres to a STARline philosophy for this line of products that calls for:

• Focus on commercial viability
• Standardized components and functions
• Concentration on the essentials
• High product and manufacturing quality
• High system availability
• Perfect package of services
• Modular concept
• Flexibility
• User-friendly and environmentally compatible

“Cross Hüller knows what requirements (its customers have) to satisfy,” the company says. “We developed STARline with one single thought in mind: What benefits your company also benefits us.”

With STARline, Cross Hüller says it offers a system that comes in well below the usual investment cost and provides the same level of quality. There are no restrictions with regards to the parts, necessary accuracies and tolerances because all other Cross Hüller processes can be transferred to the new STARline. Its range of materials includes aluminum, gray castings, nodular iron, CGI and steel. The parts include cylinder crankcases, cylinder heads, crankshafts, camshafts, con-rods, transmission housings, clutch housings and all cubic parts.

Compared to its other agile systems, the STARline is more cost efficient because of the modular components, the company says.

“Not every company needs an individual system specification,” Cross Hüller says. “And, thus, we can pass on our cost savings in procurement, manufacturing and both assembly and system integration to our customers.”

Cross Hüller says the technical preconditions for high productivity are secured by reducing complexity, introducing appropriate technology, reliability and established components and modules as well as having the best possible accessibility.

“Even though [a customer] still may prefer its own design specifications, it is good to know that alternatives are available,” the company says.

For its modular transfer lines, Cross Hüller utilizes its internal engineering sources to build and test its machines in its own facilities. An average machine – worth $5 million – takes 10 months to design, build and test. Used to manufacture power train components, the machine operates on 20- to 30-second cycles.

Cross Hüller’s agile production systems are built from SPECHT® CNC production modules. Critical components include motorized spindles, B-axis tables and tool change components built in Germany by a sister company. Machine guarding and the structural fabrications are manufactured locally, and the machines are built and demonstrated to customers in the Port Huron, Mich., facility before they are shipped.

Product Cycles
Quaile says the company has major product development cycles every two years, which offers its customers improved machine performance, cost reduction and ongoing improvements to the reliability and maintainability of current product lines.

“When we do have major changes, they are relatively straightforward changes that are extensively tested prior to market introduction,” Quaile says. “All our standard products are developed in Germany, and they are designed to suit European, Asian and North American markets. We have a long history of designing different machines for local production and use. Overall, our manufacturing processes do not change too much.”

When Cross Hüller introduces a new product range from Germany for its agile systems line, it will send a team to Germany for six to eight weeks to become familiar with the design and manufacturing standards needed to build these machines, the company says.

Through the company’s continuous focus on standardization and simplification, Cross Hüller builds its machines in large or small batches. The plant makes extensive use of checklists with procedures, with each step requiring initials and dates.

The company utilizes two to three engineering and manufacturing suppliers for each component it uses in its machinery. Quaile says Cross Hüller uses reliable, field-proven components from the same sources as parts of its quality assurance system.

“We’ll review any non-conformances we receive, and if it is a result of our suppliers, we will go back to those people and work with them to improve delivery, the manufacturing quality or whatever the problem may be,” Quaile says. “We’ll put frame contracts in place for a certain volume of work for a period of time that allows us to negotiate for good pricing.”

Cross Hüller says it does everything it can to assist its customers in becoming lean manufacturers, according to Quaile.

“Everything we do contributes to lean manufacturing,” Quaile says. “Whether it eliminates the need for equipment, reduces work in process or eliminates scrap, it contributes to an overall lean manufacturing environment.”

Cross Hüller says it has installed the largest agile manufacturing system in the world, which machines more than 1.3 million aluminum cylinder heads per year. The company says two separate systems were required. One system, located in a major North American production part supplier’s facility, is used for pre-machining or “super cubing” all primary faces, bolt holes and major oil gallery features, using 72 Cross Hüller SPECHT® high-performance CNC machining centers, according to the company. The second installation, located in a major OEM facility, is a finishing system with 172 Cross Hüller SPECHT® machining centers. All machines are connected by gantries and conveyors, and include washers and gauging and assembly systems. “All systems are provided complete with cutting tools, work fixtures, chip pump-backs and a coolant system,” the company says.

The adaptor plate process provides both sequential operation and parallel processing for maximum efficiency, according to Cross Hüller. The company’s patented adaptor plate process provides simple, common fixtures throughout the system, none of which touch the part directly, eliminating distortion and creating automation commonality. “[It’s] the result of over a year of simultaneous engineering and extensive benchmarking of similar systems provided by Cross Hüller,” the company says. “The result: a higher-quality, cost-effective and flexible process.”

Cross Hüller says each cell in the system features a gauge area and part-removal station for manual gauging of parts in process. Several coordinate-measuring machines verify all in-process tolerances and process-capability requirements.

“Reject stations allow removal of a part for repair or further analysis,” the company says. “The system knows where the part has been and where it’s going.”

The company adds that the manufacturing history of each part is captured at each operation. Initial data is stored on an “escort memory tag” as the part leaves the super-cubing system. The data is later transferred and captured in a memory system attached to each cylinder head adaptor plate, tracking the part’s manufacturing history throughout the manufacturing process.

The four-module system is based on six parallel SPECHT machining centers, interlinked by an overhead gantry and creating a cell, according to Cross Hüller. Parts are loaded into each machine from overhead through a safety door that separates the gantry from the machine load area, allowing maintenance of a machine while the cells are in operation.

Each cell is designed to accept the maximum quantity of CNC machines, and systems can be designed with a spare location for future machines.

“This future expansion capability provides flexibility for both volume and work piece content,” Cross Hüller explains. “The Cross Hüller SPECHT machines can easily accept a new part type with a new work piece adaptor plate and simple tool/part program revisions.”

The company’s Global Transfer Line (GTL) is the final step in Cross Hüller’s evolution of modular standards for high-volume production equipment, the company says. “It brings together the best practices of Cross Hüller facilities and customers from around the world,” the company says. “The result: an advanced modular standard that reduces initial cost and total lifecycle cost while improving part quality, ergonomics and delivery.”

Standardized machine guarding ensures that chips are contained within the workholding fixture and avoids moving and replacing guard panels for tool change or fixture maintenance and set-up, according to the company.

“Traditionally, many transfer line machining operations are performed with vertical or angular machining stations making tool change and maintenance difficult,” Cross Hüller says. “GTL standard two-axis stations improve tool change and maintenance.”

All stations are provided with through-base construction, which improve machine stiffness and coolant/chip control and also minimizes on-site assembly, according to Cross Hüller. Standard control panels and modular logic controls at each station simplify debug and testing of each station and overall machine diagnostic and monitoring systems.

“Machine installation and qualification are reduced using Cross Hüller’s GTL designs,” the company says. “Rigid linear guide units and rugged fixture designs virtually guarantee ‘first part, good part’ after initial installation.” Cross Hüller has also improved the installation of the GTL with oversized linear guideway construction for slide units, combined with heavy-duty fixture designs and standard spindle designs.

“[This ensures] that Cross Hüller machines are rugged enough for the most demanding roughing operation and precise enough for the tightest part tolerances and process capability requirements,” the company says.

Cross Hüller has designed its GTL for future part design changes. GTL is built around a range of modular standards, providing plug-and-play levels of standardization, according to the company.

For instance, the rugged one-piece base construction is designed to accept one-, two- or three-axis horizontal or angular slide units and single- or double-station work holding fixtures, Cross Hüller says.

“Each station is provided with standardized electrical controls and a fluids panel that can accommodate the simplest or most complex machining operations and can be upgraded on site for future reworks,” the company says.

The company boasts that a team of reliability and maintainability engineers collect and analyze machine downtime data to ensure that all Cross Hüller machines are designed to maximize machine productivity and part quality.

“Cross Hüller’s multi-spindle heads are designed for long life, ease of maintenance and easy alignment and re-alignment,” the company says.

Cross Hüller also offers hybrid systems, which combine flexible and rigid processing tools.

“In order to achieve an optimum price/performance ratio, manufacturing systems with limited flexibility are formed from both processing centers as well as transfer lines or specialized machinery,” Cross Hüller explains.

Customer Orientation
Cross Hüller offers classroom and hands-on training for its customers. Training includes operator training, electrical and mechanical maintenance training, CNC programming, safety and predictive and preventative maintenance. “Training in a shop environment is enhanced by physically performing the same functions as learned in a classroom,” the company says.

Cross Hüller surveys all trainees at the end of its courses. Improvements are incorporated into the appropriate customer documents and classroom sessions for continuous improvement in the training process, the company says.

Cross Hüller has also developed an advanced interactive training and preventative maintenance CD that is delivered to the customer’s training department at the end of the training session, allowing follow-up training at the customer’s own facilities.

Earning Accolades
Cross Hüller is proud of its many accomplishments, and some have even caught the eye of customers. The company earned the Powertrain Excellence Award from Ford Motor Co. in 2004 in honor of its role in helping to launch Ford’s new program in record time, according to Quaile. Cross Hüller also won manufacturing awards from Ford in 2002 and 2003.

Company Origins
In 1923, Karl Hüller established a company called Fixture Construction Hüller with 20 employees to build tools and fixtures in Germany, according to the company. In 1945, the company delivered its first transfer line, but Milton O. Cross had already built the world’s first transfer line in America five years earlier.

“Since Cross and the special purpose machines division of Hüller Hille merged in 1997, it is safe to say that Cross Hüller built the first transfer line worldwide,” the company says.

Cross Hüller has two locations in North America. Its plant is located in Port Huron, and its headquarters, which houses the technology and sales offices, is in Sterling Heights, Mich.

The company employs 250 people in North America out of the 1,200 employees for Cross Hüller worldwide.

Cross Hüller also has locations in Ludwigsburg and Rottenburg, Germany; Knowsley, the United Kingdom; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Seoul and Kwangju, Korea.

Other Services
The company can provide control packages to refurbish the mechanical components of existing equipment to extend operating life and improve throughput and part quality. Among the refurbishments Cross Hüller offers are electrical controls, hydraulic systems, work-holding fixtures and cutting heads, cutting tools and productivity studies. For electrical controls, it can provide the latest PLC/CNC control systems, update old axis drives and provide real-time diagnostic systems to improve reliability and productivity, the company says.

Cross Hüller says it can provide updated hydraulics systems to reduce noise levels and leaks. Updated systems can improve housekeeping, safety and machine reliability.

Fixtures and multi-spindle drill and tap heads can be re-built and certified to as-new condition, according to the company.

“Older-style milling and boring spindles can be upgraded to Cross Hüller motorized spindles, also improving part quality and machine reliability,” the company says.

Cross Hüller also says improvements to cutting tool materials, tool holding and clamping systems and tool set-up and gauging methods can improve productivity, part quality and reduce perishable tooling costs.

The company’s service and reliability engineers perform extensive on-site evaluations of machines to improve part quality, throughput and extend equipment operating life.

Cross Hüller performs this service through three phases. The first phase considers mechanical, electrical, fluid power, part quality and tooling problems and identifies each concern with a high-, medium- or low-impact on part quality, productivity or safety.

“The study team would also identify major operational factors, such as tool change methods, that impact overall system efficiency,” the company says. “The study would be made during normal production conditions and utilize a combination of on-site evaluations and any available maintenance or part quality records.”

The second phase considers the same factors reviewed in Phase I for an extended period during normal production operations and may include second-shift operations. A report will provide statistical analysis of any available data and downtime histories compiled by the study team, the company says. “After review with plant operating and maintenance personnel, Cross Hüller will identify the cost associated with the necessary corrective actions,” the company adds.

In Phase III, the engineers consider specific problems identified in Phase I or II that require a more detailed analysis or examination of the affected equipment. The company says a Phase III study might last two to four weeks while on a five-day, two-shift operation. The final stage is a follow-up evaluation conducted three to six months after the implementation of the corrective actions.
 
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