C&H Enterprises in Fremont, CA is an ISO compliant custom fabrication job shop, as well as an industry leader in precision machining. They recently installed their first Niigata SPN501 Horizontal Machining Center with a 12 pallet pool system and a 60 HP/15,000RPM Spindle. The Niigata SPN501 is a complete automation system that runs 24/7 including lights out every night during 3rd shift and also on weekends. Steve Heredia, CNC Production Manager said, “ the machine accuracy and repeatability is fantastic. Part consistency and quality is the best we’ve ever seen. Every part is the same. The first job we ran was off one of the Vertical Machining Centers. I used the same speeds and feeds and did nothing to edit the program. We produced three times more parts in a single shift.” This can be contributed to the very fast ACC/DCC of the XYZ slides, spindle ramp up and down, pallet pool, ease of load/unload and Niigata’s patented tool changer.

12 Pallet Pool System

Steve said “ our spindle run time efficiency has reached 98%." The machine has a powerful 60HP, 15,000 RPM Spindle Drive which makes it flexible for cutting all materials.

Legend:
Blue= Power On Hrs
Pink= Operating Time Hrs
Yellow= Lights Out Run Time Hrs
Teal= Maintenance Hrs

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Victor Smith, President CDS Engineering

CDS is a contract manufacturing company serving high-tech equipment industries, including semiconductor equipment, commercial aviation, telecommunications, explosive detection equipment, solar and medical equipment markets.  CDS Engineering manufactures and tests complex, integrated electro-mechanical assemblies, modules, systems, and components. A large variety of subassembly components are manufactured within CDS factories, whose diversified network has been acknowledged as a world-class supplier of components and assemblies.

Over the last 20 years, CDS has purchased (21) Niigata horizontal machining centers from Kreager Machine Tool.  Kreager has given CDS a competitive advantage by surrounding us with high quality machining centers that run 24/7.

In selecting CNC machining equipment, CDS Engineering has chosen to rely on high speed Flexible Machining Cell (FMC) technology. These state of the art Cells combine multiple spindles and pallets, each Cell using a single controller, which offers very significant advantages such as:
Parts can be scheduled to run unattended, increasing the effective capacity of each spindle. 
Part consistency and quality is unparalleled as the “operator influence” is eliminated.
Tooling for many part numbers is “permanently” loaded on each pallet.
Each spindle has access to multiple cutting tools.
High degree of flexibility for low volume, high mix, part manufacture.

CDS purchased (5) CNC O-M vertical turning lathes and an Ikegai 3.5 meter CNC horizontal boring mill from Kreager. The capability and capacity of prototyping and machining a wide range of part types, from small to very large and from various material groups, makes CDS an ideal partner for its customers.

The combination of our long history and special knowledge in the fabrication of high precision vacuum chambers for the Semiconductor equipment manufacturing industry has distinguished CDS as a leading supplier to many different markets.  Market demand for precision vacuum weldments from the medical device manufacturing marketplace and government research projects have resulted in a continued expansion of our capacity to meet the demands of these industries.

CDS Engineering, with its commitment to excellence, gratefully acknowledges Kreager Machine Tool has been an important part of our success.