SIGNIFICANT TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENTS DURING PANDEMIC HELP EVP TO ACHIEVE A+ IN QUALITY AND ON-TIME DELIVERY
East Valley Precision (EVP) just had a record-breaking year. This is nothing short of amazing for the 17-year-old ISO certified precision machining company, as they accomplished this in an unprecedented ‘Year of the Pandemic’. Rob Lyons, founder and president of the company, says, “Since we opened for business, we have strived for a diverse set of customers across many industries. Still, up till about four years ago, we were skewed towards the semiconductor industry. Last year, we proved out that we can be competitive in many other industries, including medical, pharmaceutical, aerospace, automotive, and defense.” He added, “This, along with the amazingly skilled and dedicated staff, helped us to achieve the growth we saw last year.” Today, EVP offers CNC machining, including 5 axis, surface grinding, lapping and waterjet cutting services. Rob says, “We don’t like to say ‘no’ to our customers, and we will invest in the technology needed to support a ‘yes’ for our customers.” About 5 years ago, EVP had outgrown its facility. Rob says, “We had 8 CNC machines, all Haas, and two of these were 5 axis.” The company made the decision to purchase a larger facility in Chandler AZ, which they did in 2017. Today, the company has 17 Haas CNC mills, 5 of which are 5 axis machines, as well as 3 Haas CNC lathes. Rob says, “We are exclusively a Haas shop for our mills and lathes, and we purchase all of our machines from Ellison Machinery, the local dealer for sales and service.” This past year, the EVP team purchased a Haas VF4, a popular medium size CNC, with a travel 50 x 20 x 25. Though the VF4 is a 3-axis machine, EVP purchased it with the Haas TRT160 tilting rotary table. A2Z MANUFACTURING SW •
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Josh Hansen, Sales Engineer for Ellison Machinery supporting EVP, says, “Haas has completely redesigned the TRT160 rotary table to create a much more compact (160 MM dual axis) and versatile 5-axis solution for smaller mills. The new unit easily fits on one end of a machine’s table, leaving the remainder open for additional fixtures or vises. You can put 5 axis capability on your mill without sacrificing table space.” Rob says, “The Haas VF-4SS with the TRT160 tilting rotary table is ideal for some of the smaller parts we are producing, typically from ¼” up to 8”. This frees up our UMC-750 Haas machines to do the parts they are best designed to do.” Josh says, “The Haas UMC Series universal machining centers are ideal solutions for 3+2 machining and simultaneous 5-axis machining. The UMC-750 has an integrated dual-axis trunnion table with a 500 mm diameter platter that features standard T-slots and a precision pilot bore for fixturing versatility.” Today, EVP has 4 UMC-750 5 axis machining centers. Ron Sheaters, Quality Manager for EVP, says, “Our Haas 5 axis machines really helps us to achieve our quality metrics; with less set-ups, our customers see a consistent high product.” Steve Ricks, Manufacturing Engineer/CNC Programmer at EVP, adds, “We have customized MasterCAM post processors that are optimized for our customers to produce a better part on our 5 axis machining centers.” Josh adds, “EVP takes full advantage of 5 axis