Liberty Pumps Inc. gained an addition to their fleet of machines last week, special ordered from Japan, increasing efficiency and productivity.
Don Cunningham, the machine shop and paint department supervisor, said it is the largest vertical machining center in their factory.
“It was driven by more sales volume,” Cunningham said. “Plus, we keep getting bigger and bigger parts we have to deal with, so the machines keep getting bigger and bigger as well.”
A vertical machining center has rotary cutters to remove material from a piece in a direction at an angle with the axis of the tool.
The machine weighs about 38,000 pounds and cost just under $400,000. With the size of the machine, Cunningham said it can handle bigger parts.
Liberty Pumps Inc. is a manufacturer that builds dirty water pumps, such as sewage or sump pumps, located at 7000 Appletree Ave. in Bergen.
Cunningham said the new machine has a feature known as a pallet changer, making the machine more productive and efficient.
“One pallet or table can be in the machine being worked on with the cutting cycle, while another pallet or table is staged outside the machine,” Cunningham said. “The operator loads that and when the running cycle is done inside the machine, it will swap tables and keep going.”
There is no downtime for loading or unloading, which older vertical machine centers in the factory have, Cunningham said.
Cunningham said the new machine is part of the testimony to the growth of Liberty Pumps Inc.
“It is part of what will take us into the future,” Cunningham said.
A crane was needed for the delivery of the new vertical machining center. (Submitted photo.)
