The transition to CNC grinding

Rob Murnyack had been turning his professional life upside down in a quest to get into CNC machining. He had been working for his father for more than 20 years in what had become a successful grinding operation. However, Murnyack wanted to take the company to the nest level, to CNC, where challenges would be greater, jobs more sophisticated, where scheduling and volumes were more chaotic, where materials and tolerances were more exotic and far tighter, where the competition would be capable and tough and where, frankly, the margins appeared to be better.

"We just couldn't gather a seemingly powerful enough argument to nudge my father over the line," Murnyack says. "And I can't blame him. He's 65, had built a solid business around manual operations and for him to invest $150,000 to $200,000 to move in a new direction, this was a tough sell."

Murnyack worked out a deal with his father, setting up a kind of "beta site" operation. He took several of his father's employees, a number of established customers, four manual grinding machines, and in May 1994 began Absolute Grinding. Four months later, he found himself in Chicago at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS).

"I wasn't even taking a salary at this point," Murnyack says. "Here I was looking at machines that cost $200,000 and up. I thought I was nuts. But at the same time I realized that I needed to commit, to make the investment if shifting gears to CNC was to work." Obviously, a lot rode on Murnyack's first plunge into CNC. His choice: a Studer S35cnc universal cylindrical grinding machine with capabilities including--straight or angular infeed with grinding wheel mounted left or right, wheel dressing and profiling with continuous path control, automatic grinding and dressing cycles, automatic changeover from external to internal grinding, automatically swiveling wheelhead, the use of up to three grinding wheels in a single workpiece program, as well as a special workhead with a C-axis that permits form and thread grinding.

Murnyack notes that none of Absolute's employees were familiar with CNC, and, in this respect, the S35cnc had to be very easy to learn. "We literally self-taught ourselves on this machine," Murnyack says. "The programming on it was the simplest form of conversational programming that I'd seen on the market. It literally teaches you as you go along. For all of my operators, it's the easiest machine to set up, to program, and to run."

That first purchase has been a lasting one. The S35cnc still runs 24 hours a day at Absolute with no signs of slowing down.

Hans Ueltschi, UGT's national sales manager, has been involved with Absolute since the beginning. "Murnyack was very successful with that machine," Ueltschi says of the S35cnc purchase, "and I think that was the main force for him to acquire some good, long-term contracts."

Growing capacity Three years after he entered the CNC arena with the S35cnc, Murnyack added a S36cnc. The S36cnc is a universal cylindrical grinding machine for medium-sized workpieces. His objective was to find a quality machine that could do internal and external grinding for a price under $250,000.

One of the bonuses of the S36cnc, according to Murnyack, was its control--a Fanuc 16ib with Studer Pictogramming software. The control was very versatile and allowed Absolute to do random wheel shapes and more intricate configurations of the grinding wheel and of the grinding cycle. In general, the S36cnc gave Absolute the ability to tackle more complicated projects.

The latest addition to Absolute's fleet of Studers is the S31cnc purchased in 2001. By the time he was thinking about buying a third Studer, Murnyack considered Ueltschi to be a valuable business asset. So much so that he bought the S31 sight unseen relying only on Ueltschi's recommendation. Ueltschi felt that instead of simply adding capacity to the same type of machine, Murnyack should investigate the new generation of CNC machines that are even more flexible than their predecessors and would allow Absolute to grind a wider variety of parts with a reduction in setup time.

"I think what happened over the last few years was that they were kind of scared to move away from what they knew with those two relatively new machines," Ueltschi says. "They were getting set in their ways so we came in and said, 'Okay, we're going to make a change again. You should spend a little bit more money and go to the next level.'" An argument that Murnyack himself had made not so long before.

The timesavings realized with the S31cnc are critical for Murnyack. "We do four or five setups in a day here," Murnyack says. "This is a job shop. We can't spend four hours on a setup. My guys can switch over from an ID operation to an OD operation on a different part in an hour with the S31. With other machines, I hear from people out in the field that they might spend four hours just writing the program. It takes us just five minutes to write these programs on the Studers."

The S31cnc is designed for workpieces with medium-sized dimensions. This machine offers the possibility of working with a considerably higher drive-spindle power of 10hp and with grinding wheels with a maximum diameter of 20" and a width of 3.15". The S31cnc comes equipped with the Fanuc 16i CNC control system.

With its infinite B-axis, Absolute can now grind ID, OD, and taper ID on one machine. It's a perfect machine for grinding parts that require close tolerances on angles and face requirements. Murnyack says the linear glass scales on the S31cnc also help maintain those tolerances. Absolute does some work in the aerospace industry that requires the close tolerances that the S31cnc can provide.

"Listening for us is a very important aspect," Ueltschi says. "We go out and evaluate what the customer needs instead of just quoting something that we happen to have. One of the advantages of the product line that we sell is that we have a broad spectrum of machines and that allows us to basically customize the right size machine and the right configuration for our customers' needs. First, we listen; then we make the appropriate recommendations."

Ueltschi's understanding of Absolute's business was invaluable when it came time to order the S31. Ueltschi knew that the standard workhead on the S31 would be too small for Absolute's operations. So, when the S31 arrived at Absolute, it came with a larger workhead.

Good thing, says Murnyack. "This is a $10,000 to $20,000 option, and you have to have faith in a guy when he tells you he knows what you need," Murnyack says. "I went down for training at UGT after we had purchased the machine, and I saw a S31 for the very first time. And I looked at that workhead, and I almost laughed. I would have gone through the roof if that workhead had been delivered with our machine. It was just way too small. But Ueltschi knew that I needed something different, so he changed that option, set me up right, and now I'm delighted." (United Grinding Technologies, www.rsleads.com/402tp-230

      Good thing, says Murnyack. "This is a $10,000 to $20,000 option, and you have to have faith in a guy when he tells you he knows what you need," Murnyack says. "I went down for training at UGT after we had purchased the machine, and I saw a S31 for the very first time. And I looked at it, and I looked at that workhead, and I almost laughed. I would have gone through the roof if that workhead had been delivered with our machine. It was just way too small. But Ueltschi knew that I needed something different, so he changed that option, set me up right, and now I'm delighted."

Rob Murnyack turned his professional life upside down in his quest to get into CNC machining. Rob had worked for his father for more than 20 years and was eager to get into CNC grinding when he launched his own business, Absolute Grinding (Mentor, Ohio).
      "Maybe it was a long time coming, but we just couldn't find a solution that would work to get my father to move [into CNC]," Murnyack says. "And I can't blame him. At 65 years old, would you want to go into debt for $150,000 or $200,000?"
      In May 1994, Murnyack took some employees, customers, and four manual grinding machines from his father's shop and began operations. Four months later, Murnyack found himself at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago, looking at CNC grinders.
      "I wasn't even taking a paycheck at that point, and I was looking at machines that cost $200,000," Murnyack says. "I thought I was nuts, but I decided I needed one of those machines. I started saving money from day one to have a down payment."
      Obviously, Murnyack had a lot riding on his plunge into CNC. He has not regretted his choice of an S35cnc from Studer Inc. (Brookfield, CT) for a minute.
      Because none of Absolute's employees were familiar with CNCs, it was important that the machine be simple to operate. "We literally taught ourselves on this machine," Murnyack says. "It had the simplest form of conversational programming that I saw on the market. It teaches you as you go along. For all my operators, it's still the easiest machine to set up, program, and run."
      The machine still runs 24 hours a day at Absolute. Murnyack has also added a Studer S36cnc universal cylindrical grinding machine for medium-sized workpieces. The latter machine gives Absolute the ability to tackle more complicated assignments using complex wheel configurations.
      The latest addition to Absolute's CNC lineup is Studer's S31cnc. Purchased in 2001, the newer machine is even more flexible than its predecessors. It's equipped with a Fanuc 16i CNC, and can grind IDs, ODs, and tapered IDs.
      Time savings realized with the S31cnc are critical for Murnyack. "We do four or five setups a day here," Murnyack says. "This is a job shop. We can't spend four hours on a setup. My guys can switch over from an ID operation to an OD operation on a different part in an hour with the S31. With the other machines, I heard from people out in the field that they might spend four hours just writing the program. It takes us just five minutes to write these programs on the Studers."