Sugino Wash System Helps a Major Manufacturer Eliminate Contamination

A major manufacturer of train brake components faced a big contamination problem because of the pneumatic applications in their equipment. Their freight car control valve is poppet valve technology. Poppet valves are rubber checks sealing on radius bushings, and any contamination on the bushing or the check causes a leak, which leads to varying degrees of system failure. Contamination had become the leading cause of failure and the main reason for customer failure/return. They needed a new cleaning technique—and fast.

Previously, the cleaning method for the major machined castings in the valve was a simple dunk tank with oscillation in the wash solution. After washing, the castings were blown out in a high pressure blow booth. The nature of the coring in these castings made it difficult to ensure the evacuation of all of the machining debris. Another contributing factor to the lack of quality was the fact that it was entirely manual and subject to manual alterations. As stated earlier, their control valve was very susceptible to contamination.

In 2004, their Continuous Improvement Manager attended The International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) looking for a better cleaning solution for their major casting. When he saw the operation of the Sugino Corp’s (Itasca, IL) Sugino U-Jet, machine, he realized the machine’s high potential for correcting their problem. The Sugino U-Jet is a high pressure water washing system that utilizes a programmable “horn nozzle” that moves to critical features requiring cleaning under water and ultimately creates controlled cavitation inside complex work-pieces with a water flow rate of 13 gallons per minute. All chips and debris are subsequently ejected from the work-pieces, leaving the parts extremely clean. Reviewing the operations necessary for supply of these castings, the train brake manufacturer determined that this machine could be run by the operators in the previous work center.

After machining, the company’s castings are deburred, where they remove any hanging burrs or sharp edges. Considering that the Sugino U-Jet was basically a CNC work center, the manufacturer decided to have the deburr operators load and unload the machine and deburr parts internal to the cleaning cycle. This reduced their direct labor costs for the wash process by an average of 90 percent, which helped justify the capital investment. The overlying reason for the purchase, however, was improved quality to their customers.

The train brake manufacturer has had their machine in operation since October 15, 2006. In the beginning, they purchased only one Sugino U-Jet until they could verify that the machine worked to their standards, and used it to wash the most troublesome castings with the highest level of returns. Prior to washing using the Sugino U-Jet, it was typical for them to receive one to three control valves from their customers per week due to failures related to contamination. Since the installation of this operation, they have not had a failure return for the Service portion that could be related to Sugino U-Jet machine. Based on this result, the manufacturer has purchased a second Sugino U-Jet which will allow them to wash all of their castings 100 percent. They anticipate that this installation will virtually eliminate machining-produced contamination as a cause for a customer return.


For more information on Sugino Corp. visit www.suginocorp.com.