Sane Kuei Sharpens Functionality to Offer High-end EDMs

Not merely touting the motto but actually taking substantial steps to realize the corporate belief that°sdelivering outstanding product quality is the basis on which to build successful sustainability," Sane Kuei Machinery Co. has gradually become one of Taiwan's well-known manufacturers of high-end CNC (computerized numerically controlled) electrical discharge machines (EDMs), a goal achieved by enhancing production processes, employing sophisticated manufacturing skills, and installing state-of-the-art production equipment. Adopting the above strategies allows Sane Kuei to upgrade its manufacturing capacity to develop more diverse product ranges to fully satisfy special requirements of customers.

The firm's dedication to investing time, effort and manpower in developing complex manufacturing skills has offset its relatively short history. Despite being founded only in 1989, Sane Kuei has consistently achieved steady growth in turnover annually, winning considerable trust and loyal support from customers worldwide.

Recognizing that product value has to be intelligently balanced between product quality and price, Sane Kuei does not diverge from rolling out quality products with excellent value, a combination that few buyers can resist.

The company says its has been able to build a solid reputation with its own SKM brand globally due to its long-term dedication to developing precision, high-speed and durable EDMs, with the major product lines being NC, CNC, 3DCNC, C-axis and automatic electrode change EDMs, which are available in conventional, electrode-head-moving, oil-tank-elevating, and enclosure types.

Precise Mechanical Structure

Sane Kuei says it is capable of developing electrodes of specific shapes to machine or cut a wide range of different contours in the workpiece, while its EDMs feature precision mechanical structure, outstanding servo-control system, high-performance finishing power supply, and diverse finishing functions.

An EDM is composed of three main sections, including machine base and table, flushing fluid tank, and servo-control system. The company adopts Meehanite cast iron as EDM construction with machine tank moving on Switzerland-made Scheenberger linear bearings and Japan-made NSK ball screw bearings to enable absolute precision movement of the tank. The servo spindle is constructed of seamless metal tubing of imported chromium-molybdenum alloy with a hardness several times that of steel. In addition to implementing strict manufacturing process and pre-shipment quality-control inspection, Sane Kuei tests its products for 72 hours non-stop to ensure reliability before shipment.

To ensure precise positioning while machining molds, the company employs 32-bit industrial-duty, high-speed computer featuring stability, durability, and super- reliability; while the dedicated software design supports ergonomic operation, dialogue options, instructive learning, with specially designed sparking functionality allowing automatic selection for easy operation by even inexperienced operators.

The company notes that it adopts special electric discharge circuit utilizing high-speed MOSFET transistors for high-speed signal switching that is 1.5 times faster than conventional transistors for rapid finishing. In addition, the three-phase power supply circuit supports a slow machining rate for fine electrode finishing, as well as specialized graphite and tungsten carbide finishing for machining exotic materials.

Super-fine Finishing

Sane Kuei also adopts automatic electric discharge signal system to support stop and extension adjustments to minimize electrode wear and prevent arcing, while enabling deep-hole finishing, preventing secondary sparking and providing large-area finishing functions to realize top-caliber machining. With both high- and low-voltage signal circuits in use, the system is capable of proper output efficiency for super-fine finishing without altering surface hardening on a workpiece. This system is so effective that workpieces may be finished to a roughness of Ra 0.2mm or finer.

Sane Kuei's original founders have expertise in mechanical design and electric-control system, allowing the company to integrate such know-how to develop EDMs featuring optimized electric-controls to enable reliable, desirable machining functions.

Always aiming to compete against industry leaders, Sane Kuei has been since its founding moving steadily toward enhancing machining efficiency and accuracy. Knowing the key criteria that call for continual improvement in EDMs, the company focuses on minimizing electrode wear, shortening processing time, and minimizing surface roughness. Such single-mindedness to extend durability of electrodes, minimize machining time, and enhance surface fineness has enabled the company to build increasingly sophisticated EDMs, so much as that it is able to compete against specialized counterparts from the U.S. and some industrialized European nations.

The company currently concentrates on developing and producing ZNC, CNC and deep-hole EDMs. To further widen its product line, it looks to work with peers at home or abroad to develop wire-cut EDMs, which Sane Kuei has yet to produce.

Independent R&D

Sane Kuei general manager Peter Lin claims that his company can develop personal computer (PC)-based CNC EDMs fully in-house, including hardware and software systems. Backed by considerable investment in R&D that enables the company to meet customers' requirements for complicated machining, Lin says that °smy company has strong ability to develop diverse types of PC-based CNC EDMs, especially to modify special machining functions, and we have achieved over 90% local content rate on developing electric-control systems."

Braving to go beyond the tried-and-true has enabled the company to not only offer more efficient EDMs but also, perhaps more importantly, reduce the likelihood of customers needing after-sales service, which also reduces costs. For instance, a year ago the company began adopting AC servomotor, rather than conventional DC types, on its EDMs; whereby such new approach enabled the company's EDMs to work 20% to 30% faster than before.

Mirror Finishing

Over the past several years, Sane Kuei has made amazing progress in developing high-end CNC EDMs, including P60 and P50 series to meet the increased requirement for mirror finishing. These dual-purpose machines offer both dielectric flushing fluid for rough finishing, or silicone powder for large-area mirror finishing, with such specialized powder being recyclable and needing replacement only at the end of service life. The advantage is not having to change EDMs or replace, adjust molds to go from dielectric fluid to silicone powder or vice versa. To ensure stable sparking and cutting speed under optimal conditions, the company employs imported servomotor and high-precision V-guideway and ball screws on the X, Y, Z axes. With special bearing design on machine head servo system, these machines offer loading capacity twice that of conventional ones.

Quality at Competitive Prices

Sane Kuei positions itself as a manufacturer of medium-priced products globally, albeit its machines are priced near the high end among local peers. The company's product line is typically 40% to 50% cheaper than that made by counterparts from highly industrialized U.S. and Japan.

Sane Kuei mainly sells its products to mainland China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and Europe, with China buying about half its output. The company has set up a service center in China just to cope with the huge pool of customers there; and to offer prompt service anywhere in the lucrative China market, the company has a network of mainland Chinese distributors.

To speed up global sales, Sane Kuei is setting up one agent in each proposed overseas market.°sOur relatively higher prices necessitate sales agents first to make presentations to end-users regarding our impressive machining functionality, which would lead to order placement," says Lin.°sOnce they use our machines, more than 80% of them become loyal customers."

Seeing the international machinery market is coming back to life, the company aims to aggressively boost sales volume globally this year. One strategy to be used is work with overseas distributors worldwide-marketing under their own brands or Sane Kuei's SKM brand.

SANE KUEI MACHINERY CO., LTD.

No. 46, Lane 88, Sec 2, Kwangfu Rd., San Chung, Taipei Hsien 241, Taiwan

Tel: 886-2-8511-2370~3 Fax: 886-2-8511-0517

E-mail: skm.edm@msa.hinet.net http://www.edm-skm.com.tw