轮到它
这家家族拥有的车间对其资本投资所能做的比成本更感兴趣。保持苛刻的汽车客户快乐意味着要注意细节并将正确的技术应用于工作。
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每台机器都使用状态监视器，该状态监视器可以弥补中央商店控制，每个作业在时间表中所在。测量是操作员的责任，仪表位于每台机器上。
The single-spindle department at WST uses live tooling and subspindles on its Index ABCs for medium-production runs. The goal is to machine parts complete in a single handling. One operator runs four machines.
地板空间很昂贵in Europe, so WST uses a vertical storage/retrieval system for barstock. When the weight in a given bin is too low, stock is automatically ordered.
WST’s highest volumes are reserved for its stable of multi-spindle machines. Both bar and chucker work is run through the department with volumes of as much as 2 million parts per year. Named by the employees, the 52-mm machines are the largest. Fuel injector bodies were being run during our visit. These are made complete and shipped daily for the customer’s JIT requirement.
As part of a press tour through southern Germany earlier this year, our host,Index Corporation，安排了与几家客户商店的访问权限。虽然很高兴看到OEM的设施，但对于贸易新闻编辑来说，访问商店就像母亲的牛奶一样。看到在独立的商业环境中应用的技术可以为仅OEM工厂旅行通常提供的通常的一维演示文稿提供了验证。
One of those shops is WST, a family-owned job shop located in Löffingen, Germany. This shop is a high-volume producer of precision turned parts with automotive, specifically Daimler, being its largest customer.
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从1993年的一台机器开始，WST稳步增长到6,300平方米的地板空间和115名员工。这是一家生产机器，每年有500到200万件。它还依靠CNC Technology提供的更改灵活性来容纳跨商店的近3,000个活跃零件数字。
WST bought its first CNC machine from Index and has remained loyal to the brand, with currently 80 percent of its 60-plus machine tools being from Index. The shop is organized into single-spindle, multi-spindle and vertical turning departments that cover its production range of 5-mm to 100-mm diameter workpiece bar and blank sizes.
制作困难的零件
与美国的表亲一样，WST也感到低成本生产商的竞争压力。该公司创始人的儿子曼努埃尔·威尔曼（Manuel Willmann）表示，该公司保持竞争力的战略是多管齐的。他说：“我们看着一切。”“首先，我们采用可以盈利生产复杂零件的技术。我们的重点是高端质量零件，重点是需要高端机床技术的困难工件。”为此，WST在2006年在新机械工具上花费了700万欧元。这一投资也是两位数的年增长率。
Cost reduction is another direction this shop takes. Standardizing on a single brand of machine provides economy of scale for tooling, workholding and programming. Moreover, one operator tends four machines to keep labor costs down.
In Germany, there’s an added burden of limited working hours. Permission is needed to man a shop 24/7, which means a production shop like WST must get a lot more productivity from these limited hours.
该公司对安装在工厂屋顶上的约900个太阳能电池板（1,400平方米）进行了不寻常的成本储蓄投资。他们总体而言，他们每年可以产生195,000千瓦，这可以通过能源网格提供回馈，从而为企业提供委员会，以帮助支付电动成本。我们在德国访问过的几家商店中看到了这样的系统。
大妈妈，大爸爸和孩子们
As one might expect, the multi-spindle department at WST is where the volume gets cranked up. The Index MS machines are capable of machining diameters of as much as 52 mm. These are full CNC six spindles, and while the production rates are very high, the shop takes advantage of the setup flexibility provided by servo-axis and spindle control.
The production schedule for these machines calls for an average run time of 2 to 3 weeks between change-overs. To take utmost advantage of a multi’s high production, generally families of parts are run sequentially to minimize change-over. The break point between single-spindle production and the multis is about 50,000 pieces.
Typical of the parts run across these machines is a 1.2 million part order for diesel engine fuel injectors. These jobs are run 24/7 and supply the customer’s JIT inventory. WST doesn’t hold inventory for this job. The order is made and shipped.
With a nod to the employees’ whimsy, each of the multi-spindles is named in big, bold yellow letters. Big Mama and Papa are the MS 52s.
Shop Control
Working with JIT inventory schedules means there are not many parts lying around WST’s shop floor. Operators are responsible for quality and each workstation has inspection equipment on hand. First, articles are measured on a CMM, and subsequent checks are handled at the machine tool.
Eighty percent of the work that is processed through this shop is completed in one handling on the multi-spindles or the single-spindle turn/mill machines. Most of the single-spindle machines are equipped with subspindles to perform backworking operations.
Each machine has a status panel that is connected to the production control department. It feeds back the status of any given job so scheduling can deploy setup teams to effect change-over immediately upon completion of the part run, minimizing downtime.
The tool room is connected to the shop floor via a management system that tracks tool usage and, using the machine status control, alerts the tool room when capacity for a new job has opened up. We were told these tool management systems are “huge in Germany.”
Raw stock storage is also automated at WST with a computer-controlled rack system. It keeps a programmed amount of steel, brass and aluminum barstock on hand, and the system, which is triggered by weight, automatically orders more when the supply hits the programmed point. WST machines around 4,000 metric tons of material per year.
Looking Forward
WST is poised for growth. Its plans for 2007 include a 20-percent increase compared to 2006. Some of this growth comes from diversifying into other industries beyond automotive. The company owns land for plant expansion and hopes to construct a new plant by 2010.
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