SACMA's head office in Limbiate
Valeriano Rampezzotti is succinct on that score: “We already have our investment strategy mapped out for the next five to six years.” Valeriano is based in Limbiate. His sister Nicole Elena is also a member of the board but is based in SACMA Machinery Corporation, in Westlake, Ohio, USA. The chief executive officer for the Group, and also cousin of both, is Mr Valerio K. Mesutoglu. SACMA essentially builds standard machines, with the final 10 percent of the design and assembly customised to the fastener or parts manufacturers’ requirements. The implications of that philosophy are evident throughout the plant and at all stages of manufacturing. In the rear yard rows of core castings – the resolute heart of all SACMA and Ingramatic machines – are ‘seasoned’ for up to eighteen months. Standardisation means SACMA is able to source, depending on the size of the ultimate machine, between six to fifteen cores at a time from carefully selected forges, providing both quality and cost benefits. The entire complex machining of the main frames is carried out at Limbiate, on state of the art CNC machining centres. That includes even the smallest machining such as small holes, even though they could be carried out on the shop floor, in order to ensure absolute accuracy and consistency. The largest CNC centre has a 10m long bed and 130 tonne capacity to accommodate
SACMA maintains direct and complete control over production from receipt of the core castings to final commissioning for the customer
the main frames for SACMA’s largest cold formers. Similar, smaller machines surround it but much of the complex machining is carried out on a robotic Mazak machining centre, which never fails to impress visitors. A long cage holds 65 ‘pallets’ each with an operation set up during the day shift, ready for the machining centre to collect, select appropriate tooling from a massive ‘library’, and carry out operations 24 hours a day, seven days a week. An additional new 45-pallet machining centre is currently being built, with commissioning in Japan expected this autumn and installation at Limbiate planned in 2018. That level of investment reflects a SACMA philosophy to replace production machinery every ten to fifteen years rather than tolerate any fall off in accuracy or increase in maintenance costs.
FASTENERANDFIXING.COM 47