As a designer and manufacturer of cutting tools for machining and turning in particular, pushing the limits of what is possible, PY Industrie offers a striking demonstration of its expertise in productivity optimisation at its factory in Pau. Thanks to special equipment with air and fluid filtration, the Technifiltre installation guarantees a continuous tool grinding process 24 hours a day without special supervision.
Lifting the bonnet and contemplating the purity of beautiful mechanics gives you a little of the same feeling that a machining specialist might have when discovering the work of René Marquesine, CEO of PY Industrie. Organised according to a global logic and then applied with extreme rigour, the principles of maximum productivity make this robotised grinding workshop a benchmark for performance.
‘Sharpening is no longer an end in itself; we want to go beyond the status of a simple service provider,’ explains René Marquesine, CEO of this unusual company. By listening to customers, the CEO has found his niche and devised an innovative structure. PY Industrie develops creative tool solutions that exceed the performance benchmarks commonly achieved in high-volume applications! These special carbide, ceramic or diamond inserts are given a specific geometry tailored to each customer application.
A meticulously maintained environment
The workshop is equipped with robotic grinding machines that operate continuously, 24 hours a day. The machining of tungsten carbide promotes filter clogging and the dispersion of cobalt particles. The health of people and the ageing of equipment are major factors that must be taken into account. This is why the manager chose machines with a sealed working chamber and an Icarus Losma mist extraction system recommended and installed by Technifiltre.
In a 24-hour continuous production environment, the high-pressure cooling of the robotic machines requires continuous and calibrated treatment of the cutting fluid. For reasons of efficiency and space, a high-capacity filtration system serves as the common base for supplying a group of three grinding cells. This consists of two centrifugal units for the removal of solid sludge, an STA brand filtration system and a 2,000-litre stabilisation tank, cooled to 24°.
Perfectly regenerated, the lubricant retains its properties and maintains a constant temperature throughout the process. The machining parameters are fixed at their optimum level of productivity and repeatability, avoiding any quality drift when grinding a series of inserts.
This solution is the result of collaboration between PY Industrie, which knew exactly what was needed, and Technifiltre, which carried out the design, equipment selection and custom installation. The results have met René Marquesine’s expectations: “The quality of a tool depends on how well it is sharpened. In other words, the quality of grinding is at its highest when the cutting parameters are optimised through a suitable cooling strategy. In addition to the geometry of the insert, the surface finish is a fundamental criterion for promoting material penetration. The quality, productivity and longevity of a cutting edge depend on it.”
Air and fluid filtration: Air quality despite equipment density
Here, the equipment density is probably one of the highest in the country. Fifteen machines operate in a healthy environment on dry ground. Since Technifiltre’s intervention, air quality has been regulated without any loss of energy. ‘The machines are like new,’ explains the CEO. ‘Thanks to the powerful extraction systems, there is no oil mist. The oil provides excellent protection inside the machine and we make significant savings on maintenance.’
Christian Strippoli, director of Technifiltre, recommends installing individual extraction systems when high-pressure water is used or in the case of grinding. ‘It is essential to protect personnel from mists and volatile particles that are harmful to their health. By doing so, we also protect the workshop equipment.’ During grinding, the contact between the grinding wheel and hard material generates a lot of heat. It is therefore essential to control the risk of oil flammability, which has a flash point of around 80°C, by extracting the mist and cooling the lubricant.
Equipping the machines, Losma’s Icarus model offers an extraction capacity of 1,000 m3/h. Its filtration system has three levels: particle removal, mist recycling and absolute filtration. With an efficiency of over 99.95%, the latter guarantees the required sanitary quality. The individual extraction devices replace a centralised air treatment system that was both noisy and, above all, energy-intensive. It was designed to completely renew the air in the workshop every 20 minutes. This continuous exchange of air with the outside was a waste of energy. In winter, warm air was expelled outside. In summer, the heat extracted from outside contributed to a heavy working atmosphere.
