Machining / Case Study

By Peggy Malnati

Michigan Moldmaker
Debottlenecks Gundrilling,
Increases Efficiency and Profitability

Images courtesy of Paragon D&E.

Swapping three gundrills for two CHETO multifunction
machining centers, Paragon D&E reduced setups, operatingtime, increased profitability and shop safety.

F

ounded in 1942, Paragon D&E of Grand Rapids,Michigan, is a family-owned and operated moldmaker
known for the precision and size of the tools it builds
and its quick turnaround. With customers hailing from automotive, commercial truck, agricultural equipment, aerospace/defense, oil/gas, marine, wind energy, large appliance, packaging and the nuclear industry, Paragon designs and builds
molds for the injection, compression, vacuum bag and resintransfer molding (RTM) processes.
The company also offers mold tryout services, fixture designand production, mold repair and maintenance, contract
machining of metals and composites and low-volume produc-18

MoldMaking Technology —— OCTOBER 2020tion of both plastic injection
and composite compression
molded parts. Given Paragon’s
customer base, it’s not surprising the company is ISO
9001:2015 and AS 9100D certified, NQA-1 compliant andCCR and ITAR registered. Itemploys just under 200 teammembers—at least a third ofwhich are highly experienced
moldmakers. Mold design
and manufacturing, as well as
mold tryout and low-volume
part production are housed ina single 195,000-square-foot/18,116-square-meter facility.
The company also operates
a mold-repair facility in
Brownsville, Texas, near
the Mexican border to support customers in multiple
industries.

Seeking Greater Efficiencies
About four years ago, business was booming and company
management was busy upgrading equipment and looking foropportunities to make manufacturing more efficient. “Froma sales perspective, we wanted to be more cost-competitive,”

Michigan-based moldmaker Paragon D&E is known for the quality andsize of the tools it builds and its quick turnaround. Four years ago, having justupgraded CNC, finish-milling and boring-mill machines, company management
was looking for new opportunities to make its manufacturing more efficient.
Gundrilling was identified as the next target, since Paragon not only drills its
own molds but does contract drilling for local tool shops.

recalls Greg Eidenberger, Paragon vice-president of sales. “We’dalready upgraded all our CNC, finish-milling and boring-millmachines, but one area where we needed more efficiency todrive down cost and improve quality was in deep-hole drilling.
At the time, we had four dedicated gundrills because we not
only used them to make our own tools, but we also drilled forother tool shops in the area.”
Gundrilling can be a slow and involved machining step—particularly given the size tools Paragon builds (typically nothing smaller
than will fit in a 500-ton press). It’s also a machining technology
that, until recently, hadn’t seen much innovation in decades.
“We’ve had a long relationship with Performance Machinery(now Merrifield Machinery Solutions, Sterling Heights,Michigan) and we keep them updated on what we’re doing andwhat we need,” explains Eidenberger. “When we discussed gundrills, they had just started repping CHETO, so they invited us
to their showroom where we looked at different machines. Once
we became aware of all the new technology CHETO offered, wesaw that as an opportunity. We were immediately captivated bythe IXN product line, because it had all the capabilities we werelooking for and then some.”
One Machine, Five Functions
CHETO Corp. (short for Create High Efficiency Technology
Obligations) of Loureiro Oaz, Portugal, was founded in the late
1990s by owners with over 30 years of molding and moldmaking
experience and a goal of developing multitasking machining centers. It was the first machinery OEM to offer milling with deephole drilling, and has subsequently added radial drilling, tapping
and boring to the functionality of its machining centers, although
it’s best known for its innovative approach to deep-hole drilling.
“Deep-hole drilling is a critical step in moldmaking, yet it’slong been a big gap on everybody’s Gant chart because it’s
traditionally an area with many problems and few solutions,”
explains CHETO CEO Carlos Teixeira. “Usually, everyone
focuses their investments on finishing operations like milling,but 50% of the production process can be drilling—especially onreally big molds. You invest in new CNC machines to speed up

PARAGON DIE & ENGINEERING
PROBLEM: Moldmaker known for the speed, quality
and size of its tools sought additional efficiencies in thegundrilling area of its manufacturing process.
SOLUTION: Purchased two multifunction CHETO
7-axis deep-hole drilling and milling machines withautomatic tool changers.
RESULTS: Eliminated three single-function gundrills,
increased speed and efficiency, improved shop safety.

Paragon’s customer base hails from automotive, commercial truck,
agricultural equipment, aerospace/defense, oil/gas, marine, wind energy,
large appliance, packaging and the nuclear industries, so the molds it
makes tend to be large and require a lot of deep-hole drilling, a processthat historically has been slow and involved.

your process, but then you’re forced to slow down for drilling.
It’s an old, dirty process with no covers that takes a long time.
Fortunately, we got into the market at a very nice moment whenthings were starting to change.”
One of the most interesting challenges CHETO has overcomeis the traditional instability of long drills, which limits the depththat can be drilled—particularly for small-diameter holes. Thecompany’s systems are known for the steadiness and balanceof their drills, which can go as deep as 2.5 meters/98 inches.
Also, while many CNC machines are equipped with automatedtool changers (ATCs), no machinery OEM in the industry presently installs ATCs on gundrills, according to the company. This
becomes a major selling point for a process that already is known
for being slow and involved because as drills start to wear, operators must stop machines, unload tools, replace them by hand andthen restart operations. With CHETO ATC-equipped gundrills,
there are two types of tool changers—one for standard tools up

moldmakingtechnology.com19

Machining / Case Study

Image courtesy of CHETO Corp.

While best known for its innovative deep-hole drilling technology, CHETO Corp.
produces a range of multifunction machining centers that combine milling, deephole and radial drilling, tapping and boring technology. With both a 5-position radial
drilling arm and a rotary table, the company’s products can machine in 6, 7 or even
8 axes, depending on the configuration. Plus, CHETO is the only machinery OEM
currently installing automated tool changers on gundrills.

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to 600 millimeters/24 inches and one for gundrills up to 1.9 meters/75
inches. Also, the system monitors tool wear and adjusts feeds according
to tool lifetime and workpiece hardness, helping reduce tool breakage
and increase uptime without operator intervention.
“The IXN is CHETO’s best-known model because it features all theoptions,” explains Teixeira. “It can go up to 8 axes and it’s available inbig sizes to cut large and heavy workpieces, which made it perfect forthe big tools that Paragon produces.” The IXN 1000 model can cut up
to 1 meter/3.3 feet in the X-axis and its table can hold up to 10 tons; the2000 model can cut up to 2 meters/6.6 feet in length and is equippedwith a 20-ton table; and the 3000 model can cut up to 3 meters/9.8 feetin length and features a 30-ton table. Each model also is available in 6, 7
and 8 axes thanks to a tilting/5-position gundrill arm and a rotary table.
“With all our models, not only do you get multifunction machines,
but they’re the only gundrills in industry with ATCs on them,” adds

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Teixeira. “Our machines use very little energy as all our motors
CHETO was installed in the first quarter of 2019 and its second
are direct-drive or have inverters for high efficiency. Also, we
was installed in the fourth quarter of that year.
mount our gear box on the spindle to provide more power to“We pretty much ordered all the bells and whistles on thesecut big diameters, and these are fully enclosed systems, which
CHETOs, as our intent moving forward was not only to increasekeeps things neater and cleaner. Another big advantage—one
our capacity but also to be able to do more lights-out machinthat’s common in Europe but almost unknown in Northing,” notes Eidenberger. “Also, we staggered delivery of theAmerica—is that they use an emulsion coolant system that’smachines so we’d have time to have the first one installed, work
mostly water with only a little oil—maybe 8 to 10%. Not only
the bugs out and ensure our operators were comfortable withis this better for the shop, since it’s very
clean and efficient, but it reduces odors
as well as fire plus slip and fall risks, andit’s much better for the environment.
NEED TO IMPROVE YOUR INJECTION PROCESS
Additionally, it reduces the need to flush
AND THE MOLDED PLASTIC PART QUALITY?
workpieces after gundrilling to get oil
out of holes before moving to another
MAIN ADVANTAGES:
operation. Last, we’re headquartered in• Only compressed air is needed to activate the device.
the middle of the Portuguese moldmakRemoves the trapped air in the mold cavity throughing industry, so when perspective cusVACUUMJET • theejector pins.
tomers visit us, we can take them to ourSYSTEM• More units can be added to increase vacuum force.
clients nearby and show them machines• Helps the flow of molten plastic to reach every
operating in real moldmaking environcorner, increasing plastic part quality.
ments. That helps build trust.”
Faster, Better, More Efficient
Paragon ordered two IXN 3000 7-axis
machines with gundrill ATCs. Since theowner wanted to shorten payback on
the investment by ensuring his operators
were as efficient and well-trained as possible before the machines arrived, they
were sent to Portugal to begin training
even as the first machine was built. That
was followed by more training locallyonce the machine was installed andcommissioning began. Paragon’s firstVG

Paragon ordered two CHETO IXN 3000
7-axis milling machines with gundrill ATCs, eachequipped to make up to 3-meter/9.8-foot cuts in
the X-axis and can hold up to 30-ton workpieces.

+1 248 850 8385
info@cumsausa.com

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21

Machining / Case StudyCHETO’s multifunction machining centers are very energy efficient,featuring gear boxes mounted to spindles to increase power when cutting
larger-diameter features. The systems are fully enclosed, which helps keep
shops cleaner, and they use emulsion-based coolants, which are mostly waterwith only a little oil. Such coolants reduce odors as well as fire plus slip andfall risks, they’re much better for the environment and they reduce the needto flush workpieces after gundrilling to get oil out of holes before moving toanother operation.

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it before the second one arrived. That also gave us time to pullother machines out of the building as we worked these machines
in. We wanted to be very strategic in how we brought these newmachines online so they wouldn’t disrupt production.”
One of the features that Paragon has found to be most usefulis the CHETO Wise tool-management software that’s part ofthe machine-control system. “Using this system gives our operators great confidence that the machine is constantly monitoring
deep-hole drilling and optimizing feed rates and other conditions to avoid wear and damage,” remarks Eidenberger. “Thisextra measure of safety means we can run our CHETO machines
for many hours at a time in a true ‘lights-out’ operation.”
The two new CHETOs enabled Paragon to remove threeof its dedicated gundrill machines while handling the same
volume of work in a shorter amount of time using a smaller
footprint and less energy. “These machines have given us better
capabilities,” adds Eidenberger. “With 7 axes, they give us a lot
more flexibility in how we put cooling and steam lines into ourmolds. And the five gundrills ATCs on each machine have really
impressed us. They’ve been a big part of the efficiency we’vegained, since we have fewer setups and can run unattended forlonger. Also, by switching from oil- to water-based coolant in a
fully enclosed system, we’ve greatly increased our shop’s safety
factor by reducing potential slips and falls.”
While CHETO is a fairly new name to North American
moldmakers, the company is gaining business in both the U.S.
and Canada. When asked what advantages CHETO brings tomachinery design, Teixeira quickly rattles off a list: “First, wehave technology no one else has; second, our machines represent the state-of-the-art in deep-hole drilling; third, we haveautomated tool changers on our gundrills—something no one
else has; fourth, we’re proud that all of our clients today are
profitable and healthy companies; and fifth, we are a young
company with a lot of guts, so if people know us, they love us.”
“In the end, we’re really glad about the decision we madeto buy the CHETOs,” concludes Eidenberger. “Everything has
worked out really well and we’re very happy with the direction
they’ve allowed us to take.”
CONTRIBUTOR

Peggy Malnati is a Detroit-based contributing writer for MoldMaking Technology
focused on application stories and shop profiles. She has provided writingand communications services for the global plastics and composites industries
since 1984. p.malnati@garpub.com
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MoldMaking Technology —— OCTOBER 2020

Paragon D&E / paragonde.com
Greg Eidenberger, Vice President of Sales / grege@paragonde.com
Merrifield Machinery Solutions / merrifieldmachinery.com
Dan Meehan, Vice President of Sales & Marketing /danm@merrifieldmachinery.com
CHETO Corp. / cheto.eu/en
Carlos Teixeira, CEO / carlos@cheto.eu