St. Charles, Ill. — Plastic welding equipment manufacturer Dukane Corp. is expanding its in-housing machining capabilities with five computer numerically controlled machines that company officials say will shorten lead times and widen design flexibility to grow with customers.
The Haas CNC machines were purchased for the St. Charles headquarters site in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to a company news release.
Dukane has met unprecedented expectations from customers in the past few months and is anticipating a surge in demand for more complex tooling in the near future, particularly for the medical, automotive and home appliances markets, the release says.
The Dukane website promotes its ultrasonic bonding technology for surgical masks and N95 face masks.
In 2020, Dukane saw "tremendous" demand for ultrasonic tooling and equipment for assembling personal protective equipment, the release said. By the end of 2020, the company needed to expand its in-house CNC machining capabilities.
The investment includes several five-axis machines to position a work piece to almost any angle for machining complex surfaces and geometries with high tolerances. These machines have large T-slot tables and fixtures to access nearly any angle on the part for shapes and undercuts often required for exterior automotive lighting applications, the release adds.
Dukane customers are designing plastic parts with complex 3D geometries and they need high precision tooling and fixtures, according to Mark Mars, Dukane's senior buyer.
"New five-axis machines will add to our capabilities of seamlessly machining complex tooling in house. We will be more cost effective and will provide shorter lead times to our customers," Mars said in the release.
The company also serves the electronics, packaging, nonwoven and automation markets.
Dukane has manufacturing facilities and offices throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, go to dukane.com.