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Left - The modified Harding lathes make the RKL’s smallest part and the only implantable. It is a marker for surgery? They are small, 3 times the thickness of your hair. Right - Honing and tumbling are all part of the daily grind at RKL. Every part gets tumbled in their extensive tumbling lab.
and word of mouth referrals to gain business.” “Word of mouth has always been our best sales tool,” adds Roy. “That’s how we grew in the beginning. I was Director of Engineering at AMO and engineers I used to work with, work for, or had working for me moved around from company to company and brought us with them.” RKL still works for companies that started with Roy and Kerry over 30 years ago.
A lot of new business is driven by internal recommendations from RKL’s key customers. Some of the organizations are so large that each department might as well be a separate company. “As an example: we have a relationship with the Heart Valve group in Irvine for
the last 3 decades and one of their engineers moves over to new a department within the company” explains Kip. “They rave about us and now we are getting new PO’s for prototype fixtures out of the Colorado group. Having the ISO13485 certification has opened many doors for us in the Medical device industry. Companies contacted us after seeing the certification posted on the website. Having lent a hand in the qualification process gives me an edge when engaging with potential clients.”
MACHINES
RKL has an extensive list of CNC machining centers that range in age and brand depending on the need. With an AQ325 Sodick wire EDM, various brand mills, multiple turning centers and Swiss screw machines, basically, there is a lot they can manufacture. The newest machines are 3 Hyundai WIA lathes, 3 Takisawa LA-200 lathes and a pair of Star SB-20R Type G Swiss turning centers. “The Star SB-20R’s are the newest machining centers and were installed back in August,” tells Torry. “We get most of our new equipment from Kraig Wilson at West Coast CNC. Even though we have extensive experience in Swiss turning, these are the first Star turning centers for us, so we wanted a little training to minimize the learning curve. Even with the pandemic in full effect, Kraig with his Star training team got us going quickly and efficiently.” The pair of Star SB- 20R’s were brought online to replace a set of older Citizen machines that have ran a single part nonstop since 1995. “We’ve made almost 9 million units
Most of RKL’s turning centers were dedicated to a plastic catheter part when CNC West was on site, but several were left open to be able to run other jobs. Long run parts are programmed to run on both the Hyundai and Takisawa lathes for the most flexibility.
36 www.CNC-West.com
CNC WEST February/March 2021