They have Cobras, Pythons, DiamondBacks and SideWinders in stock ready to ship. And, no, they're not a farm selling snakes for research. They're MK Products, a 40-year-old company located in Irvine, CA that specializes in the production and sale of advanced technology MIG (Metal Inert Gas), and Orbital TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas) welding equipment.

MK Products is a highly successful family-owned and operated business. Its broad line of Cobra welding systems are sold both direct and through distribution in more than 40 countries around the world.

"Our first welding guns were called Cobras," explains Chris Westlake, MK vp Operations. "In fact, for years we were known as the Cobra company. Ever since then we've named most of our products after snake families. Python guns, Copperhead weldheads, Cobra Coolers, Cobra TIGS, and Cobramatic cabinets are some examples of our products."

The company's line of patented GMAW and GTAW orbital tube welding products are designed for industrial manufacturing and aerospace technologies. MK's orbital tube welders are used in the field and in manufacturing to weld tubular items ranging from handrails to fuel transfer lines in jet engines. Their GMAW push-pull welding guns and their self contained spool guns (coil of wire in the handle) are used in a wide spectrum of aluminum manufacturing applications from baseball bats, golf carts, NASCAR transporters, to yachts. They offer power supplies, wire feeders, tabletop positioners and a broad line of accessories. And in addition to their own products, they produce OEM components for such welding names as Lincoln, Miller, ESAB, Fronius, and Thermal Arc.
"In total we probably have about 8,000 active parts and components we have to buy or build to inventory," Westlake says. "Our guns are very advanced systems designed to provide all the accuracy needed for precision welding. At least 700-800 of those 8,000 are either copper, aluminum or stainless steel parts produced on our in-house CNC machining equipment."

Implementing Change

Being the grandson of Mike Kensrue, CEO, and the nephew of Doug Kensrue, president, Westlake is not the stereotypical family kid thrown into a big job. Instead, he is a hard-driving, very bright young man responsible for bringing the company's manufacturing processes into the 21st century.

"Mike Kensrue's passion for new designs has propelled our products to become an industry standard. With OEM companies driving the need for these new products, it was inevitable that change was necessary. Before we started buying CNC machines twelve years ago, our machining capabilities consisted of banks of drill presses, manual lathes, manual mills, and NC horizontals. We produced quality parts back then, but it was very costly. We consulted with Pat Urian, vp sales and marketing of Ellison Machinery, who supplied us with what we consider the latest and greatest of machining technology. Today we have everything from single spindle CNC lathes, 7-axis multi-spindle Tsugami Swiss style lathes, all the way up to a 32 pallet Mori Seiki LPP (Linear Pallet Pool) system with two Mori Seiki NH5000 horizontals. We were able to reduce labor by more than 70% due to the Mori Seiki machine.”

At present Westlake is working with Rick Dietz, vp Administration and Mark Bell, Materials Manager to implement a new manufacturing system to better track production costs and flow throughout the entire plant. This software, called Vantage and provided by Epicor, will provide greater visibility from the time the customer order is placed, through the manufacturing processes and up until the order is shipped. Says Westlake,

"We'll be able to give our customers even better service than now. I want this plant to be on the cutting edge when it comes to using technology. We're a lot more efficient than we used to be, but we still have a long way to go."

MK Products runs two shifts now, with some very advanced manufacturing equipment, yet Westlake adds, the company still faces many challenges trying to meet the demands of just-in-time manufacturing.
Taming the Python

"We were always on the cusp of falling behind," he says, "and with the new OEM demands for the Python guns, we knew that the addition of the Mori Seiki system would provide an effective resolution to our growing workload."

Westlake continues, "The bottom line is that if we hadn't bought the Mori Seiki system, we wouldn't have gotten the OEM business at all."
MK Products’ implemented the modular system with the purchase of a Mori Seiki 120-tool, 4-axis NH5000 horizontal and a 12-station LPP in November 2002.

"We originally bought 12 pallets for the system," Westlake says. "They're what we refer to as a double-stack, six pallets on top of each other. Once we saw the benefits of the Mori Seiki, we decided to expand the system to enable the growth our new found OEM Python gun business."

Recently, MK Products has purchased a system expansion that includes an upgraded NH5000 with 240 tools, 20 more pallets, and an extra load station. Westlake explains, "We now have a 32 pallet system with two load stations feeding two NH5000s. That was one thing we learned, you can never have too many tools, especially with the size and complexity of our product line."

Advantage of Going Flexible

Westlake divides the major advantages of the Mori Seiki system into three categories.

"First is the gains we made on cycle time," he says. "On just one part, we went from 105 minutes down to 50 minutes when we put the part on a dual-pallet Haas. Then when we shifted the part to the Mori Seiki, we went down from 50 to 18 minutes. That's a huge gain in productivity. We've had gains like that on nearly all the parts we've switched over the Mori Seiki."

But the cycle time wasn't the principal reason for making the big investment in the Mori Seiki system.

"The biggest thing for us was the savings on setup time," he says. "We had jobs that took three or four days to set up on the dual pallet machines. At this point the jobs we run are set up once and remain resident in the LPP system and are called upon when parts are needed."

So far Westlake and MK Products’ R&D manager, Alex Thinh, have put only the main, most time-consuming components on the NH5000s. Thinh, a specialist in tooling design and programming, is tasked to optimize use of the Mori Seiki system.

"We spent time creating efficient workholding that allows for a quick change of parts," says Thinh. "Keeping the tombstones full provides the system's built-in job scheduler the ability to assign jobs as needed. Our programs are stored in the machine controller, the tombstones are stored on the LPP racks. It's an incredible time saver."

The third big advantage Westlake finds in the Mori Seiki system is, in fact, the power of its cell controller.

"What I like about the cell controller is its ability to manage all of your production jobs for the system. You enter your jobs and your priorities and the cell controller figures out your schedule for you. It also provides real time reporting of current production status. You look at the screen and it gives you detailed job information. I love it. It's a manufacturer's dream machine."

So what's next for Westlake?

"A third NH5000," he says. "We'll plug the third one into the same system for even more capability. We used to run one-man, one machine. We're still doing that with the Mori Seiki system but the production gains are almost beyond counting."

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