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32 www.CNC-West.com CNC WEST February/March 2018 P lacentia, Ca. based Harley & Son has spent the last 40 years building a reputation of quality and precision in the aerospace and medical device sectors. Since taking over the company, Luke Soule is ushering in a new era of tech- nology investment and innovation to provide better products and lead times for its customers. Luke dedicated a lot of his time to operational improve- ment and replacing aging machines. Little things like an out- dated looking website and old logos didn’t convey the image of a high precision, highly skilled manufacturing facility. Other improvements such as a manufacturing-focused ERP system were less visible but set the stage for continued improvement in quality and delivery. “We needed an upgrade in the shop and in the office,” explains Luke. “Customers notice if your look is antiquated. I couldn’t expect new customers to trust our quality and delivery when their first point of contact doesn’t represent our high standards of machining.” With decades of experience and long-term contracts to match, Luke knew Harley & Son was positioned to grow with the right branding and right ma- chines. “I knew coming into this that a big part of my capital investment would be adding updated machining centers to the shop floor with newer technology like 5-axis machining and on machine parts probing,” continued Luke. “I also knew that we turn out amazing parts with the machines we had so anything new would be icing on the production cake. Not being a ma- chinist myself it was an arduous task of researching possible machining solutions that would make the biggest impact on the bottom line. I relied heavily on my production manger when it came to what capabilities would net us back the largest return on investment.” Luke and his production team went part-by-part and deter- mined the time it was taking to manufacture each one. They decided the biggest initial gains could come from trading in an older bar fed lathe for a brand-new Doosan Lynx. “One of the first things I did was invest in a new Doosan Lynx multi-axis mill-turn center from Ellison Technologies Inc.,” details Luke. “We can make a lot of parts in one pass now. I liked the idea of a finished part coming off the machine in machining cycle. We have been taking the company in a lean direction – reduc- ing inventory including in-process inventory and the waste of overproduction – to provide better lead times for our custom- ers. Having a machine that could complete parts in a single HARLEY & SON PRECISION MACHINING Article & Photos by Sean Buur 5TH AXIS MACHINING ADDS INCREASED CAPABILITIES