Based on their philosophy of high precision and high efficiency, a customer uses a variety of selected equipment to machine single parts for automotive molds and machine components. They introduced Spanclamps quick accurate positioner Zero Base to reduce internal setup time in high-mix low-volume production on their new 5-axis machining center.

Previously, internal settings such as centering workpieces and fixtures were done manually. It took up to 20 minutes per set-up, even for a skilled operator, meaning that the machine had to stop during this time.

This led to introduce SpanClamps Quick Accurate Positioner Zero Square Base on the machine pallets of their 5-axis machining center to change the fixture plates. SpanClamps Quick Accurate Positioner Zero Square Base positions the fixture plate with an accuracy of 5 µm, so that NC program correction can now be done automatically using only the 5-axis machining center's touch probe.

This enabled automation of the centering process, reducing the setup time from 20 minutes to about 5 minutes. The machine can now operate continuously for long periods of time without stopping, and the machine operating rate has dramatically improved. Since anyone can easily install the fixture plate by a single tightening operation with SpanClamps Quick Accurate Positioner Zero Square Base, skilled operators can now work on more difficult tasks, which is also a great achievement for labor saving.