An "Impossible" Automation Project Still Proves Invaluable

SelfLube President Phil Allor describes the grinding process to MoldMaking Technology Editorial Director Christina Fuges. All Photos Credit: MoldMaking Technology

The MoldMaking Technology team hit the road recently for a week’s worth of shop visits, school tours and sales calls. One appointment was with SelfLube – a longtime supporter of MMT and the moldmaking industry – a manufacturer of conventional and self-lubricating mold components in both inch and metric sizes. The product line consists of more than 10,000 standard part numbers, but they are also set up to offer unique pieces the require special sizes. The SelfLube team attributes its ability to accommodate standard and custom mold component solutions to its flexibility aided by automation.

SelfLube specializes in precision mold and die components – both standard and customized. For example, they offer wear strips in metric and imperial sizing, including NAAMS sizes and made of aluminum bronze and can be ordered with or without self-lubricating graphite.

Stepping onto the shop floor during this visit immediately reminded me that SelfLube is a small manufacturer with many of the same challenges as our mold-building readers. I often forget that many of our advertisers are manufacturers too😊 This also reminded me of a conversation I had with SelfLube President Phil Allor a couple of years ago concerning his year-and-a-half journey to automate the company’s high-mix, low-volume manufacturing environment with a Universal Robot robotic arm on a Haas machining center.

The robot cell gives SelfLube variably capacity. 

So I thought I’d share that story again but this time with some of our own photos and a video clip of the robot in action shot by MMT Digital Editor Cara Decknadel.  Click here to read the whole story.