When CNC Indexing was first contacted by Borman Enterprises, they were desperate for a Golden Sun rotary table. They needed it to fulfill production for a contract it had just been awarded.
But Borman also planned to use that rotary table for another kind of production – training the skilled CNC programmers, operators and setup people they needed. Thanks to CNC Indexing, that rotary table is up and running and trainees can see fourth-axis machining at work.
Borman provides prototype design services as well as machining of parts for bottling, automotive and other production processes. “The bigger part of our business is the manufacturing end, which gives us the opportunity to house a training center that's very functional,” says Don Borman, co-founder of Borman Enterprises.
In December 2009, Borman decided it was time to add fourth axis capabilities. The company ordered a new vertical machining center with a rotary table so the company could bring the fourthe axis work in-house. And the training center would be able to incorporate fourth-axis machining into the curriculum.
First Table a No-Show
Borman got a contract for fourth axis work. But they didn’t get the table.
“I found out two days before the machine was due here that it was not going to have the fourth-axis. That was part of the purchase of the VMC – the table.” That is when CNC Indexing got the call. “I was panicking because the machine had just been installed and I had the job and material, but I couldn't do the job because I did not have the rotary table,” Borman says.
He checked his options through a distributor. Everyone he contacted said it would take three months to get the rotary table he needed. He checked into used equipment. No dice. Finally, his wife found CNC Indexing through their website.
Borman says, “What other people told me could not be done – interfacing the controls – Jamie Schwarz at CNC Indexing was positive they could do. And they did it.
“I lost the work because I could not get the rotary table that the machine tool distributor had promised me,” he says. “Had I known earlier about the missing table, I know CNC Indexing would have been able to have it installed in time. CNC Indexing had the tables in stock. They filled the void. The rotary table came in, was installed, and is running.”
Starting the Training Program
More than 18 years ago, Borman and partner/company co-founder Jim Scheall found they were training machinists in-house just to have them hired away. That’s when the Borman people decided it was time to get paid to train machinists for other companies and founded the Cleveland Industrial Training Center (CITC).
“We put in a proposal at a plant closing to re-train some of the skilled machinists in the CNC area,” says Tim Duffy, CITC director. “We got the project, which started everything. Don got the certification and got the ball rolling.”
By 1993, Borman was certified by the State Board of Career Colleges and Schools. The training services were split off from the company to form the Cleveland Industrial Training Center. Classes focus on hands-on training, providing students and graduates access to state-of-the-art CNC machine tools and CAD/CAM systems, as well as quality control equipment and tooling.
“When fourth-axis machining comes up in the classroom, we take the students right out to show a live presentation. it is live – the chips are flying,” Borman explains. “The instructor brings them up to the working environment to go over the slant bed design of the lathe, or he will go over to the Golden Sun and show them, ‘Here's the fourth-axis and here is how you would machine with it.'
“These are working machines. That's really the niche of our training. The problem with other types of training – and I'm all in favor of any kind of education someone can get – is you can get them into a machine shop environment and they draw a blank. Suddenly, chips are flying, there's noise and they draw a blank. We teach in that environment. The class is working at one machine and there's one next to it that is making a part. We are simulating a working environment. We provide timely and productive training that's real.”
At the time, the Golden Sun 10” rotary table was set up as a typical fourth-axis at a right angle for drilling 30 holes on nozzles designed and made by Borman for a large bottling customer.
Table Adds Flexibility, Capacity
“We have it laid down on a sine bar at a 20° angle, which presents the nozzle at a 20° angle, and we compound it another 14°. Right now, we're not cutting chips, but it is set up for the next batch of nozzles. Meanwhile, we have a vise on the other end of the machine table which lets us do conventional VMC work. Being a job shop, we have to be versatile. When this one account wants samples, they need them now. We have to have the setup, which takes three hours, ready to go.”
CNC Indexing’s Jamie Schwarz says the compact design of the Golden Sun table helps in that regard. “It is very easy to work with as far as space. It does not take up the whole machining envelope.” That leaves ample open table space for maneuverability and flexible use.
Borman says he’s had a good track record with Golden Sun. And the new rotary table did not disappoint. “It is just a user-oriented table. That's what I look at, more than anything. User oriented, price competitive. I do not think we have ever had a maintenance issue on the 10” table in three years. It keeps running and running.”
Borman retrofitted the Golden Sun 10” rotary table to an Amera Seiki. They gained capacity when they purchased a new Golden Sun 12.5” rotary table.
Scheduling Training Machine Time
With 16 CNCs – two dedicated to training – and 20 operators over two shifts, students are scheduled on any machines with open time.
“We schedule the students just like we would a job. Right now, both fourth-axis machines are not cutting chips, which is unusual,” Borman says. “Next week at this time, both will be busy, and we could almost use another one. If it weren’t for our added capacity, we would probably have had to turn down training folks.”
But most students are not quite ready for fourth-axis work, they say. To date, learning fourth axis methods is more lecture than hands-on. It can be incorporated into a class project during the standard 17-week program, but, Borman says, “We can only go through so much.”
That is no surprise to Schwarz, who’s been in the CNC machining business in one aspect or another since 1994. Setting up machining centers with machine tool accessories throughout the U.S. and training machine operators to use them brings him in contact with a lot of machinists. The skill levels, Schwarz says, are all over the board.
“That is one of the reasons we were excited about working with Borman and CITC. A lot of companies out there really need machinists with higher skills. So, there are a lot of opportunities out there for machinists with the skills this training center can give them. We like being involved in that,” he says.
But fourth-axis work? “That’s pretty advanced. It is a good thing for them to observe the work and get familiar with the basics. But I would say the majority of machining trainees would need more time with the engineering side of it before they’d be ready.”
Borman agrees. “We might have one or two students out of a class of ten or twelve who can really appreciate what the fourth axis can do. For the others, it may be a little more complex than the intent of this program. But it is available to them if they are ready to progress beyond three axes.”
More Trainees with Experience
These days, they find more and more of their students arrive with some industrial experience. Word of mouth gets them there.
“What we are seeing more and more are students with some level of background: press brake operators, shipping and receiving, deburring, etc.,” Duffy says. “We will talk to the general public as well as 30-year machinists who have never touched CNC in their life and just got laid off. We can take a guy like that and turn him around in four months and get him a good job.”
Although the center focuses on hands-on training with machine tools, Borman, Duffy, and Schwarz feel the engineering aspects are critical for experienced machinists.
“We wanted to enter the engineering stage into this class too, so it would appeal to the entry-level person but also interest a seasoned machinist looking to round out his programming capabilities,” Borman says.
“Regardless of what an individual brings us, we can raise their level – no matter what their starting point is,” Duffy adds. “Even within a given class of 12 to 14 students, we can identify their strengths and weaknesses and appeal to everyone. We do not just take a cookie-cutter approach to every class. We have an obligation to every student to ensure they graduate from the program and get a good job.”
Students who are completely new to machining are given an entrance exam to assess skills with fractions, decimals and percentages. If those abilities are there, he says, the center can train them. The center also provides on-site training for area companies. Classes can be as simple as a 20-hour shop math class or blueprint reading to customized instruction like the 45-hour, highly specialized mill training class for Swagelok.
Borman Enterprises often hires students from CITC. “When we need people – and that’s a luxury of the training – we can add people,” Borman says. In 2007, they opened another instructional center, the Akron CNC Training Center, conducting classes and lab projects at S.C. Manufacturing. In 2010, CITC began the first and only CNC Swiss machine operator training program in Ohio.
“Oh, we were happy to take that call from Borman for a lot of reasons,” Schwarz says of his first conversation with Don about the Golden Sun rotary table. “But working with really knowledgeable engineers like Don and Tim, and seeing what they’re accomplishing with these training centers, it’s a great thing. It’s great for the industry. It’s great for this region. And it’s great for the guys in training who move on to good jobs.”
For more information on these training programs, visit www.clevelandindustrialtraining.com or www.akroncnc.com.