Custom Machine Shop Demands Perfection (Engineering)

Glen Franks is maintenance manager for Aztalan Engineering in Lake Mills, Wisconsin.

The company has been manufacturing parts and assemblies to customer specifications since 1978. It has established a solid reputation for its Quality Control program, which is based on defect prevention, rather than defect detection. Aztalan promises to provide its customers with parts that will arrive ready for the assembly floor without a need for in-coming inspection.

They demand perfection in every stage of the manufacturing process, working to a tolerance of +/- 5 microns in brass, stainless steel, aluminum, carbon steel, and plastics. Before Beach filters were included in their manufacturing process, Aztalan’s compressed air was contaminated with small particles, plus a mixture of air and oil that left spots on the material. The contamination would actually eat into the metal, and the spots could not be removed.

Using nitrogen as an air blast helped solve the problem, but at $7 a bottle and a need for four bottles each day, it was not very economical. After talking to Distributor Sales Representative Yvonne Honeck of Filtration Solutions, Glen installed Beach Filters in September 2000 and has not had a contamination problem since.

Beach Filters were installed on Aztalan’s Mitutoyo Coordinate Measuring Machine, an Okuma LR-10-M which makes anesthesia parts, and a Flat Master Laser which measures material.

Glen says, “The Beach filter gives an excellent quality of compressed air. I had a five micron filter that worked okay, but the Beach .3 micron makes a world of difference.” He also gave credit to Beach Filters’ seven-minute average service time in helping to reduce Aztalan’s downtime!