Dimatec Drills Deep and Discovers Machine Tool Gold with Doosan
Dimatec, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is a manufacturer of high-quality, metal-bond diamond tools and related, down-the-hole drilling equipment. Their products are used globally by mineral exploration, geotechnical survey, and oil and gas—routinely drilling through all types of geological formations miles beneath the surface of the earth.
That’s not a good time to discover that something went wrong during the machining process, so Dimatec has high quality standards. To maintain those standards, they manufacture precision products through the application of strict process controls and state-of-the-art technology.
That’s why Dimatec is a Doosan Shop.
Long-Term Partnership
Dimatec has over 20 pieces of Doosan equipment on their shop floor. Operations Manager Sean Fuller said, “Doosan machines were already well established here when I joined the company 15 years ago.” A Daewoo PUMA 12 and PUMA 400 are two of the oldest machines on the floor that currently still running.
“We have a great relationship with our Doosan distributor, Source Atlantic,” Sean said. “We appreciate that they have an office right here in Winnipeg. Ron Myall is our Machine and Automation Manager, and Mark Perry is the Machine Equipment Technical Specialist who takes care of us. A quick call and they’re here in a flash.”
Ron gave us a rundown of just a few of the company’s recent acquisitions. “In 2010, we put a PUMA TT1800SY in to run one of Dimatec’s products. That’s a twin turret horizontal turning center with sub-spindle and Y-axis. They were running this machine for three shifts to keep up with demand, producing about 300 parts per day.
“We installed a Lynx L220LSYC with a FANUC robot in 2014.
“In 2016, we delivered another TT1800SY with a drawer system and a collet rack along with a Renishaw Equator to help them make adjustments on the fly.” According to Sean, the company is making about 900 parts a day on that machine. “These are just a few examples of how Source Atlantic really provides what we need on the go,” he said.
The 9-Axis Wonder
Of all the recent acquisitions, Sean says the PUMA SMX3100ST multi-tasking turn-mill center has really been a big game changer for the company. “We were looking for a way to complete complex parts in a single setup,” Sean said. “Some of the pieces we make take up to 50 tools to complete. We just fill the SMX’s 80-tool magazine with the required tools and run the entire part.” Jobs that used to require four machines are now finished on the PUMA SMX3100ST with just one setup. “We can hit all the facets with one machine. Some pieces can be done in two hours, where it used to take us four to six hours.”
The company runs a whole range of materials on the big 9-axis machine, including NITROINC® 50 and 60, Inconel®, 4140 alloy steel, titanium and high-grade stainless steel. We've attained tolerances as tight as 0.0002" on some milling operations," Sean added. “We’re pretty happy with the 9-axis already and we’re still finding ways to fine tune the operations for even more savings.”
You don’t have to dig deep to find increased productivity and reduced cycle times on your machining projects. Contact us and we’ll show you how to make your drilling (and milling) operations go smoother and faster with Doosan.