Down Machine? Here’s the Fastest Way Up

It was a scary moment when Dimension Machine, a shop in Cincinnati, suddenly found themselves with a down machine. Out of nowhere, they had a high-impact wreck. It broke the slide and the turret casting, and bent the ball screw. Distributor Gosiger came in and diagnosed the problem, and determined that some of the parts they needed were in Dayton, and some were in Japan. Even with all the complexities of bringing in the needed parts, they still had that CNC machine up and running in eight days. This story has a happy ending (see the full story and video), but it does pose the question: are you prepared with a support system that can make things happen when you need it most?

Ready When You Are

When you have a down machine, finding the best solution to get you back up and running takes an orchestrated effort. Individuals must be standing ready, armed with processes that cut through the clutter and solve your pain NOW. This is what makes the difference between getting what you need in days rather than weeks. And these processes need to be flexible enough to handle a variety of CNC repair contingencies, and managed with personal attention and urgency.

Many Paths to the Shortest Distance

Since everyone’s circumstance is unique, the ideal situation is to have options built into the process of CNC machine support. If one path doesn’t work, there should be others. Okuma offers the following protocols, and you can use these as a standard to measure by anytime you’re considering a new machine purchase.

• First, each support request is reviewed by an Okuma Down Machine Coordinator to determine how to process the order.
• Initially we determine if your local distributor has the part in stock. With the largest distribution network in the Americas (45 locations), and over $50 million in spare parts, most of the time they do.
• If the item is not locally stocked, your Coordinator checks the world supply of Okuma CNC repair parts on hand. This includes over $130 million in Japan and Germany.
• Whether the item is in Germany or Japan, our exclusive logistics partner, FedEx®, can in most cases get the part you need within 24 hours of your order. For international shipments, packages can even clear customs in the air to speed up delivery time.
• If the part is not in stock, Okuma has access to manufacturers that can produce and expedite parts.
• Okuma also has an in-house machine shop capable of producing parts quickly.
• Another option is to pull inventory from Okuma production lines in Japan.
• In some cases, we can have a defective component sent to Okuma for repair and return (if new is not available).
• As a last resort, if Okuma has a comparable CNC machine in stock, a part can be removed for your use.
• Members of the Okuma Corporation Japan management staff are located in Charlotte and can discuss your needs with Japan to resolve parts issues quickly.
• To maintain a focused effort on expediting orders, each week a list of down machine orders is sent to Japan for review and updates.

That’s a lot of options. And that’s the point. With all these paths in place, we can quickly determine which is best for you, and make it happen. When we talked with Don Barth, owner of Dimension Machine, he said “Ours wasn’t a typical problem with the machine, because it was our problem, we wrecked it. But it’s very typical to get that kind of service from Okuma, and to have that kind of uptime.”

What kinds of CNC machine support are most important to you? Comment below or contact us and let’s talk about how we can make sure you have a happy ending if you ever need one.

John Lee is Service Parts Supervisor, Okuma America Corporation