Demand is increasing in Thailand! Swiss PCM Willen SA’s ‘Live Tool’ makes revolutionary changes in the work efficiency of lathes! [Yamada Machine Tool] 10/07/2020 PCM (PCM Willen SA) is situated in the town of Villeneuve, Switzerland near the French border. Villeneuve is a region at the foot of the Alps where industrial fields such as watches and other precision machinery are well developed. This time, we will introduce the “Live Tool” of PCM, which is most suitable for the compound processing of lathes. ▲ PCM Willen SA Headquarters *A part of the Alps can be seen on the right PCM is developing 60 models of new products (precision tools) every year, disciplined by the demanding accuracy requirements of the precision industries, mainly watch manufacturing such as Rolex and Patek Philippe. Because we indirectly handled PCM tools in Japan, upon establishing the Thai corporation, we are able to handle their products as a Thai distributor of PCM. PCM “Live Tool” realizes work efficiency and labor savings sought after in Thai market In recent years, the sales of the PCM Live Tool has increased among our handling. The Live Tool is a tool that realizes compound processing by mounting it on a CNC lathe. The reason why the Live Tool is selling well in Thailand is, frankly, that they are “shortening the process” and “saving labor” . Because labor costs used to be cheap in Thailand, production was basically a division of labor. However, the number of Thai workers is declining, while salaries are rising. Presently Thailand is in a transitional period from the conventional division of labor to shortening the process and reducing labor. Therefore, there is a growing need to do all-in-one as much as possible in the manufacturing industry. Conventional lathe processing used multiple machines. It takes a lot of time to set up machines and change tools. But with PCM Live Tools, those times can easily be reduced. ▲ For complicated precision parts processing, there is no need to change tools manually Since the Live Tool adopts high precision grade bearings and special seals, its structure has little runout and is hard to break. Therefore, it is easy to increase the speed, and it has achieved a good track record of shortening the cycle time in all kinds of processing. For example, when processing a hexagonal outline, if the PCM polygon unit of PCM is used instead of the end mill, it is possible to do insert processing of all six sides at once, reducing cycle time and tool cost. ▲ Tools that are in and out one after another, condensed with PCM technology which has been utilized for making precision parts such as watches It is amazing! Features of PCM / Live Tool ① As it can be processed with one chuck, the concentricity is high. ② Equipment, labor and space can be saved by shortening the process. ③ Cycle time for polygons, waring, speed-up spindles, etc. can be shortened. ④ The multi-axis unit can supplement the number of tools. ⑤ The run-out accuracy of the acceleration spindle is high. ⑥ The deceleration spindle can make up for the insufficient torque. ⑦ The angle unit can achieve processing of diagonal holes by automatic lathes. ⑧ Improvement of the tool life and surface roughness can be achieved by adopting a coolant system through the rotary tool in the automatic lathe. Currently, many customers who adopted the Live Tool use it also as a tool to finish complicated parts at a lower cost. The main reasons for the introduction are the improvement of concentricity by one-chuck processing, the enhancement of yield by shortening the process, and the budget reduction of new equipment. ▲ General Sales Manager, Mr Uchitani who visited PCM The Alps and Lake Leman in the background ■If you are interested in YMTT’s PCM “Live Tool”, please contact us using the form below.