Established in 1977, Treske employs a staff of 125 in an 80,000 ft2 (7432 m2) facility. The company’s primary focus is CNC milling, but it also provides CNC turning, assembly and welded fabrication services. The shop houses approximately 50 pieces of CNC machining equipment. Over the past six years, Treske has concentrated on developing their machining cell environment. The manufacturer’s primary production center is a 400-mm Makino A51 horizontal machining cell with 5 machines and 66 pallets which runs 24/7.

One big challenge Treske faced was utilizing this machining cell in a low-volume, high-mix environment. "In our research we found a lot of shops using machining cells in a high-volume, low-mix environment and knew that was not our market,” states Theo Treske, President. "Our customers are low-volume, high-mix and we have excelled in supporting them by optimizing machine technology to reduce setup and changeover time.” Treske’s Makino Cell has more than 2,000 active jobs loaded into the system, which is 10 times what most manufacturers run, according to the company. At any given time, Treske runs 75-100 jobs simultaneously through the five machines in the cell. "We work to achieve efficiency not just through automation of the machining process, but also by developing data management systems to effectively communicate information,” Treske continues. "The latest machine technology is only fully utilized with a complete support system behind it. This includes tooling, quality monitoring, and job management.”

With their data-management system and the reliability of the toolholders and machines, Treske has seen some dramatic improvements. "When we started we were getting 16 hours of cut time per day. Since then, we have been able to increase to an average of 23 hours per day, keeping everything running smoothly with minimal tooling or equipment problems,” Treske says.

For quality monitoring, Treske’s data-management system is equipped with a proprietary SPC tracking system developed by Treske for continuous improvement of parts in production. It is a Web-based system that is continuously monitored by their production and quality staffs. This tracking system analyzes real-time inspection data and communicates an interactive list of all features on actively running jobs. It calculates the C_pk value of each feature and lists them in ascending order, therefore directing everyone’s focus to the features that need priority attention. It also incorporates Nelson Rules tracking 

and alerts personnel when there is a violation. All features with 

C_pk below 1.33, or Nelson Rules violations are required to be 

addressed with Corrective Actions, which are maintained in the database.

The system graphs the measured dimensions and creates X Bar, R Chart, and Capability Histograms to track and analyze the data. Scheduling, material and fixture management, and priorities are all incorporated into this interactive system. The combination of these systems and others allows the floor to be managed in a largely paperless process that maximizes both control of the workflow and flexibility.

An internal tool management system manages what tools are in a system at any given time. As jobs are changed, it indicates which tools need to be taken out or loaded into a machine. "With over 2500 tools it takes a robust, integrated system to just keep them organized, a system that was not available anywhere,” says Treske. "That is why we developed our own proprietary system.”

For consistency and easier tool management, Treske opted to focus on one family of toolholders to support the machining cell. "There are enough variables to control, you can’t have tooling become another one,” states Treske. "We recognized using multiple lines of toolholders adds complexity to the management of the system.”

Six years ago, Treske went to IMTS in Chicago and researched every possible toolholder option. They decided on Lyndex-Nikken toolholders for a number of reasons. "Throughout our research we looked at a lot of different toolholding systems,” explains Mike Orlander, Treske operations manager. "We decided to go with the Lyndex-Nikken system because it offers us the flexibility and reliability we need. The holders have delivered the consistently and accuracy required across our challenging range of projects.”

The wide range of toolholding that Lyndex-Nikken offers allows Treske to maintain consistency within the brand, while covering their diverse needs. "Not many tooling suppliers could support the broad spectrum of holders we require. And with Lyndex-Nikken, reliability has never been a factor,” Treske comments. Out of the over 2,500 individual tools currently at Treske, 80% are loaded in Lyndex-Nikken holders. "Lyndex makes it easy to manage the tools that we have on the floor because their quality of design and workmanship yield consistent performance with no breakdowns,” Treske says. The flexibility of the Lyndex-Nikken offering enabled Treske to

use the same tools across multiple parts.

The majority of the Lyndex-Nikken toolholders used at Treske are from the Advanced Line, including balanceable ER collet chucks, SK collet chucks, MMC/Insider collet chucks, and shrink-fit holders. "All of the tools in the cell are used on multiple jobs. To manage offset between these multiple jobs requires accuracy,” says Olander. "Tool changing and maintenance are straightforward and don’t require special tools. Most of the toolholders are a collet system so they don’t require something to load the tools.” Another factor that influenced Treske’s decision was that the Lyndex-Nikken line requires minimal training.

For more information on Treske Precision Machining, go to www.treske.com, or phone 503-625-2821.