I had the opportunity to participate in this retrofit last year.
A bearing manufacturing company using a 1973 Gardner double disk grinder, a manually operated grinder, as part of their manufacturing process contacted us about a retrofit. They struggled with the amount of time spent with setup and dressing. The operator had to do a lot of manual setup. This led to a fluctuation of production based on how experienced and trained the operator was.
MachMotion was able to reduce the dressing process from approximately 25 min to 8 mins. The wheels now automatically return to position, this new process saves approximately 34 mins per batch, a 33% increase in productivity. The bearing manufacturing company looks forward to new technology to further save company time and increasing production.
The new control also reduces the amount of training and experience required to run the machine. The process is less dependent on the accuracy and repeatability of the operator.
While they are currently using a thru-feed operation, the MachMotion control can also be run with an oscillator, further automating the process.