Erlson Precision Components’ (
www.erlson.com) 7,000m
2 development and production facility in Skelmersdale is a global centre for producing precision-machined electron-beam-welded and balanced turbocharger shaft-and-rotor assemblies for direct-to-line delivery.
As a result, finishing operations such as high-precision grinding to micron tolerances have become key to the company’s successful operation; it currently produces 33,000 units a week for passenger cars and a further 2,000 a week for commercial-vehicle and off-highway applications.
Part of the £300 million Midlands-based GIL Investments, Erlson has seen its sales grow from £9 million in 2010 to £16 million in 2014-15, followed by a massive leap to £23 million in 2015-16.
This level of performance has seen the company become the market leader for out-sourced turbocharger shaft-and-rotor assemblies, with 90% directly exported to the European Union, North and South America and Asia.
To meet the massive increase in sales, the company has invested some £2.7 million over the last two years, with a major focus on its grinding capability; here, sub-4µm tolerances are required on the turbo shaft, along with a Cpk value within 1.33.
A total of 21 Toyoda cylindrical angle-head grinders and groove grinders have been supplied by Hinckley-based 2D CNC Machinery Ltd (
www.2DCNC.co.uk); a further machine is currently on order.
Erlson has also set up its own grinding school at the Skelmersdale site; its aim is to transfer skills and ensure a consistent and high standard of working practice across the shopfloor.
Mark Corns, Erlson’s director of technical services, said: “Toyoda is our prime source of production grinding machines. The company has established a reputation for meeting the rigorous demands of the automotive industry for machine longevity, capability, reliability and consistency of process.
“In our case, high levels of machine versatility are important, allowing us to easily reconfigure the basic machine for different applications or to meet process changes.”
Erlson relies on 2D CNC to source the appropriate type of grinding machine from its international contacts, then re-engineer, recondition and adapt the specification to meet the specific requirements of Erlson’s processes.
For the latest machine, 2D CNC sourced, re-engineered and retooled an angle-head cylindrical-grinding machine and performed process capability trials prior to installing it. This installation also involved 2D CNC moving existing machines.
Shaft and rotor combinations
For passenger cars, there are three sizes of turbocharger shaft-and-rotor assembly, comprising 12 different combinations of these components. For commercial vehicles, there are five types using a common shaft and a different wheel rotor, depending on the intended application (engine capacities go up to 12.7 litres).
Based on the application and required component volumes, some machines are stand-alone, while others are configured into a cell with a shaft profile grinder, a groove grinder and a thread-rolling machine for producing external threads on the end of the shaft.
For high-volume production requirements, 2D CNC has supplied automatic load and unload gantries that are fully integrated with the grinding machines. Furthermore, each grinding cell has real-time SPC data capture, which is displayed at the point of production and strictly monitored by the inspection team.
The Skelmersdale facility currently employs 260 people in three units on the same site. Unit 1 covers an area of some 2,000m
2 and produces turned and ground turbocharger, powertrain and hydraulic components.
Unit 2, which is also 2,000m
2, turns brass and bronze components for turbocharger and defence customers; while Unit 3 covers 3,000m
2 and produces turbocharger shaft-and-rotor assemblies for passenger cars and commercial vehicles. This unit is also responsible for product development and prototyping.
Over the last five years, Erlson has shipped some 13.6 million steel parts, 10.8 million brass, bronze and aluminium parts, and 4.6 million bearing components made from brass, bronze and sintered iron.
The company has also produced more than 3.5 million turbocharger rotor assemblies. Indeed, it has been so busy that there was no traditional summer shutdown this year.
The number of skilled machine setters is being increased by 10%, and the number of top-level skilled machine setters (known internally as ‘super-setters’) is being increased by ‘up-skilling’ training.
Mr Corns said: “Some of our long-serving highly skilled grinding specialists are now approaching retirement age, so we need to pass their skills on to younger people and continuously develop our processes.”