IMTS 2018 Conference: Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL)—Benefits and Lessons Learned for Production Implementation

Plan to attend The IMTS 2018 Conferences to gain deeper insights into new manufacturing technologies and ideas!

About the topic 

The seven wastes are a fundamental part of lean manufacturing. Minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) is an environmentally and worker friendly means of reducing these wastes. MQL has been widely adopted in the automotive and aerospace industries with remarkable results. In automotive production it permits moving manufacturing cells closer together, reducing movement, and transporting waste. Additional benefits include reduced workforce exposure to mists, smaller cell footprints, reduced cycle times, lower variable costs, and reduced energy and water use. This can result in a 15% lifecycle cost reduction compared to conventional high-volume water-based coolant. Furthermore, inappropriate processing waste can be greatly reduced. One plant halved the energy needed to produce diesel engines and cut water requirements by 99.8%. 
Many manufacturers could benefit from implementing MQL in their operation, but they often do not know where or how to start. This session will share experience and knowledge of what is needed to implement MQL in CNC machines:

• MQL overview: Definition, advantages, types
• Materials & operations: What does, doesn’t work
• What Is Needed: Walk through the system explaining what is needed and what is desirable, from the application down through spindle and through the tool
• Other process considerations
• Safety
• Tooling
• Oils effects
• Dimensional control
• Air and chip handling

Registration is now open, so check out the IMTS 2018 website for more information. 

Meet your presenters

Tim Walker, senior vice president at Unist Inc., has more than 25 years of experience in jobs ranging from engineering to senior corporate management. Walker wrote The MQL Handbook: “A Guide to Machining with Minimum Quantity Lubrication,” which was published in 2013. He holds patents on various technologies and has written on the theory and practice of MQL. 

David Stephenson has worked on MQL development and implementation at Ford and General Motors, the University of Michigan, and Fusion Coolant Inc. He is the author of numerous technical papers on MQL and conventional machining, and is the co-author, with John. S. Agapiou, of Metal Cutting Theory and Practice (3rd Ed, CRC press, 2016). 

Ethan Hughey oversees the testing of new machining processes and technology at Ford. Through the recent Ford Corporate Graduate Rotational Program, he gained experience as a cylinder head process engineer, assembly launch engineer, and hourly plant supervisor.