{"id":2551,"date":"2021-11-01T14:57:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-01T18:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.emecmt.com\/?p=2551"},"modified":"2024-04-23T11:38:11","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T15:38:11","slug":"hit-from-both-sides-customer-testimonial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.emecmt.com\/en\/hit-from-both-sides-customer-testimonial\/","title":{"rendered":"Hit from Both Sides \u2013 Machine Shop Realizes Big Benefits From Double Column Machining Center \u2013 Customer Testimonial: XL Tool"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u201cIt\u2019s probably the busiest machine in the shop right now. And regardless of all the current trade issues and government interference, we\u2019re on solid footing. Canada\u2019s nuclear industry is strong. Its automotive business is strong. GM and Ford have stayed, Toyota\u2019s here big time, and we see a lot of electric vehicle activity in Canada. Best of all for us, these companies see value in our tooling. That\u2019s because we\u2019ve built great facilities with cutting edge equipment. Now, if we as a country can just learn to utilize our manufacturing capabilities and lock our doors a little bit more, we\u2019re all going to be in great shape.\u201d \u2013 Chris Hergott, Vice President of Operations, XL Tool<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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By Shop Metalworking Technology <\/strong>MANY MANUFACTURING COMPANIES open their doors focused on a certain industry or market segment, only to expand well beyond the initial business plan. So it is with XL Tool Inc., which was originally a part-time tool and die shop doing work for the automotive and appliance sectors. That was in 1993, and when one of the original partners decided eight years later that it was time to move on, owner Gord Jokic hired vice president of operations Chris Hergott to help grow the business.<\/p>\n

Slow but steady growth<\/strong><\/p>\n

A machinist and toolmaker by trade, he was quite successful. Today, this ISO 9001:2015 shop has 50 employees, a 3400 sq m (37,000 sq. ft.) plant in Kitchener, ON, a stamping facility in Quer\u00e9taro, Mexico, and has recently earned its N299.4-16 nuclear certification. It also made a substantial investment earlier this year in an equally substantial machine tool, an Okuma MCR-A5CII double column CNC high speed machining centre from EMEC Machine Tools Inc. in Mississauga, ON.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not XL Tool\u2019s first Okuma. Far from it. There\u2019s also an MU-5000V five axis vertical machining centre (VMC), an MB-46VAE three axis VMC, a Y axis LB4000 EX II and Genos L300MW CNC lathes, both with live tooling, and an M560-V vertical with a five axis table. XL Tool\u2019s well-equipped production floor boasts numerous other manual and CNC lathes and mills, surface grinders, and wire EDM machines, among them a 4-metre (157 in.) X axis horizontal machining centre from Awea, an 800-ton Bliss tryout press, and the latest addition, a 1600-ton Blow straight-side stamping press.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the Okumas that have perhaps had the biggest impact on growth over the past decade, however. \u201cWe started buying Okumas around ten years ago and quickly found that you just can\u2019t beat them,\u201d says Hergott. \u201cThey\u2019re reliable, extremely accurate, and there are rarely any difficulties. Yes, there\u2019s less expensive equipment out there, but there\u2019s a reason they\u2019re called mother machines.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Challenge: <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n