Sandvik Coromant Canada’s (coromant.sandvik.com/ca) new head office and Productivity Centre is designed to help ensure the continuing productivity and competitiveness of its Canadian customer base.

“We started our Productivity Centres many years ago (in Sweden) to demonstrate our products. However, not all of our customers could come to Sweden so we started to establish local Productivity Centres. Today, the Canadian Productivity Centre is our 22nd centre,” Kenneth Sundh, president of Sandvik Coromant globally, said in officially opening the new facility.

Adds Sundh, “I firmly believe that the world has changed. For example, 10 or 15 years ago when a machine tool was sold, the cutting tool manufacturers would be happy that there was any budget left for cutting tools. Since then we’ve built our business and really concentrated on productivity and cost savings (for our customers). Today, we are not just selling inserts for machine tools anymore, we are selling productivity.”

Sandvik's recently opened 25,000 sq. ft. head office and Productivity Centre in Mississauga, ON will play a critical role in providing companies training programs designed to maximize their productivity and help them compete in the global market.

Sandvik’s recently opened 25,000 sq. ft. head office and Productivity Centre in Mississauga, ON will play a critical role in providing companies training programs designed to maximize their productivity and help them compete in the global market.

“The Productivity Centre is the ultimate training facility for our customers and provides the support needed to achieve maximum performance from all Sandvik Coromant products,” says Andrew Kasper, communications manager with Sandvik Coromant Canada.

Offering a wide range of theory-based training courses, the Productivity Centre specializes in improving component quality, minimizing downtime, increasing throughput, and improving engineering competence for customers.

The Productivity Centre’s training facilities comprise two conference rooms including audio-visual aids; a Mazak Integrex 200 IV-ST multi-tasking machine; a Mori Seiki NL 2500 MC CNC lathe; an Okuma MB56V vertical machining centre; and more.

“This Productivity Centre will be a vital part in the added value we offer for our customer base. Its first main function will be to facilitate training for our customers across Canada. The centre is also for our (distribution) channel partners as well as our own sales force to make sure that we bring new technologies to our customers,” says Alemur Swiderski, senior manager, training with Sandvik Coromant Canada.

(Left to right): Rick Askin, president of Sandvik USA; Kenneth Sundh, president of Sandvik Coromant; and Dave Thompson, president of Sandvik Canada officially open Sandvik's new head office and Productivity Centre in Mississauga, ON.

Continues Swiderski, “The knowledge that we need to bring to the table of new cutting tool technologies and new methods (will help ensure) our customer base remains competitive and profitable in the future thus ensuring a strong Canadian engineering market.”

Sandvik celebrated the opening of its new Canadian head office and Productivity Centre with a ribbon cutting ceremony and tours of the facility. Approximately 60 people attended the event including Sandvik Coromant executives from Sweden, the United States, and Canada, officials from the firm’s various Canadian channel distributors, and Sandvik’s Canadian Productivity Centre partners including EMEC Machine Tools Inc., Gross Machinery Group, and A.W. Miller Technical Sales.

According to Swiderski, Sandvik’s Canadian Productivity Centre will tailor-make training packages for customers. Some of the training courses that the new Canadian Productivity Centre will offer include introduction to modern tooling; application of tool materials and tool geometries; application of turning and drilling tools; application of milling and drilling tools; increasing productivity in metal cutting; and machining economics.

“The facility will also be used, when practical, to assist the process development team as far as proving-out some of the techniques and processes for our customers. This will save valuable production time for our customers as well,” he notes.

Sandvik’s new Canadian head office and Productivity Centre incorporates Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. LEED provides a recognized standard for the construction industry to assess the environmental sustainability of building designs. According to Dave Thompson, president of Sandvik Canada, the new facility will achieve 37% better building efficiency than the model national energy code and will provide a 30% improvement in water use efficiency over the US EPA standard. The company says that more than 70% of construction waste was recycled, and recycled materials were incorporated into the construction of the facility.

Haas event showcases upgraded control

A recent Technical Demonstration day at Haas Factory Outlet, a division of Sirco Machinery Co. Ltd. showcased a variety of equipment including an upgraded control package recently introduced by Haas.

The recent Technical Demonstration day held at the Haas Factory Outlet, a division of Sirco Machinery's Toronto office attracted nearly 200 attendees.

The one-day event, which attracted nearly 200 attendees, was very successful, says Dan Ferko, president of Sirco. “We had several equipment sales as a result of the event,” says Ferko.

The Technical Demonstration day featured a number of machines working under power. For example, one machine on display was the Haas VF 4 vertical machining center which offers 20 hp and 10,000 rpm spindle and travels of 50 in. x 20 in. x 25 in. The machine features a Haas-designed vector spindle drive which uses closed-loop, digital servo technology to provide precise speed control and peak performance under heavy cutting loads.

Another machine on display was the SL-20 turning center which offers 20 hp, 24 in. between centers, maximum cutting diameter of 10.3 in., and maximum cutting length of 20 in. SL turning centers feature a number of innovations including massive headstock castings with symmetric ribs for rigidity and stability; large tailstock castings with a two-piece design for easy realignment; embedded chip trays for improved sealing and efficient chip removal; and more.

One highlight of the event was the unveiling of the upgraded Haas control package which features a new user interface. “The upgraded control package offers users more interactive capabilities,” says Ferko. The new three-screen system gives users access to every control feature needed in each mode, without having to leave the current display screen.

The Technical event also featured displays of equipment and supplies by a number of other suppliers including major tooling, workholding, and CAD/CAM manufacturers.

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June 2008 Digital Edition

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