Duraline Expands In-House Machining Capacity with New Eurotech Ultima CNC
Duraline is continuing to invest in its domestic manufacturing capabilities with the addition of a new Eurotech Ultima B620 51-SLY multi-axis CNC machine to its in-house machine shop.
The new equipment replaces an older machining system that offered more limited automation and restricted the length of brass bar stock that could be processed. By upgrading to the Ultima, Duraline is expanding both the capacity and automation available to the machine shop, with the company targeting an increase of up to 40% in productivity for single-pole connector production.
Investing in the Equipment Behind Duraline Connectors
Many of the electrical connectors Duraline produces begin long before the final rubber molding and assembly process. Precision-machined metal components form an important part of the finished connector, making the capabilities of Duraline’s machine shop directly connected to overall manufacturing capacity.
The new Eurotech Ultima is designed specifically for high-productivity bar machining. The B620 51-SLY combines multi-axis turning and milling with main and sub-spindles, live tooling, a 15-station turret, and support for extensive tooling configurations. Its 51 mm bar capacity provides Duraline with additional flexibility when machining brass components from bar stock.
For Duraline, the upgrade means more than simply replacing an aging piece of equipment. It provides an opportunity to rethink how components move through the machining process.
More Automation, Less Manual Handling
A major limitation of Duraline’s previous equipment was the amount of operator involvement required throughout production.
The Ultima introduces significantly greater automation into that process.
The machine incorporates a bar-feeder interface, automatic tool presetter, tool monitoring and wear management, chip conveyor, programmable part evacuation, and a tool probe capable of performing in-process checks and making offsets when required. Eurotech designed these systems specifically to support extended unattended production and higher throughput.
Finished components can also be automatically removed from the sub-spindle and transferred onto a conveyor rather than relying on an operator to handle each completed part.
For Duraline’s machine shop, this increased automation allows skilled employees to spend less time performing repetitive machine-tending operations and more time overseeing production, quality, setup, and other machining requirements.
Longer Bar Stock Creates More Continuous Production
The ability to work with longer brass bar stock is another important part of the investment.
The previous machine’s limitations meant that bar length could become a constraint during production. Longer compatible bar stock, combined with automated bar feeding, allows the new system to remain in production for longer periods before requiring operator intervention.
For frequently produced components used throughout Duraline’s single-pole connector families, those improvements can accumulate across an entire production run.
Instead of looking only at how quickly one component can be machined, the objective is to improve the efficiency of the entire process—from loading raw brass through machining and unloading the finished component.
Targeting a 40% Increase in Single-Pole Connector Productivity
With the combination of increased automation, longer bar-stock capability, reduced manual handling, and more efficient machining, Duraline is targeting up to a 40% increase in machine-shop productivity for single-pole connector production.
That additional capacity is particularly important as Duraline continues supporting customers that depend on high-power electrical connections for demanding industrial applications.
Single-pole connectors are used throughout temporary power distribution, shipyards and ship-to-shore power, construction, mining, utilities, generators, industrial facilities, and other applications where dependable high-current connections are required.
Increasing the rate at which critical internal components can be produced helps strengthen the manufacturing process behind those product families.
Precision and Repeatability Remain Just as Important as Speed
Increasing output isn’t useful if it comes at the expense of consistency.
The Ultima’s automated tool monitoring, tool-life management, in-process probing, and Fanuc-based control system provide additional tools for maintaining repeatability throughout longer production runs. The machine is designed to perform multiple machining operations within a single system, reducing the number of separate handling and machining steps that may otherwise be required.
This fits naturally with Duraline’s existing approach to manufacturing.
Machining, molding, soldering, crimping, assembly, and testing are closely connected parts of producing a finished electrical connector. Improving one stage of that process helps Duraline increase capacity while continuing to focus on the quality of the final product.
Supporting American Manufacturing in DeLand, Florida
The new machine represents another investment in Duraline’s DeLand, Florida manufacturing facility and the equipment used to produce its electrical products domestically.
Rather than treating increased demand strictly as a reason to outsource additional production, Duraline continues to invest in the equipment, automation, tooling, and people required to expand its own manufacturing capabilities.
For customers, increased internal capacity can help support larger production requirements while giving Duraline greater control over the components that ultimately become part of its finished products.
The addition of the Eurotech Ultima is one more step in modernizing that manufacturing infrastructure.
Building More Capacity for What Comes Next
Duraline has supplied safety-engineered electrical products to demanding industrial applications for decades, and the equipment used to manufacture those products continues to evolve.
Replacing an older CNC system with the automated Eurotech Ultima gives Duraline’s machine shop greater flexibility, increased bar-processing capability, improved automation, and additional production capacity.
Most importantly, the investment is being made with the next stage of production in mind.
As the new system is integrated into Duraline’s manufacturing operations, the company is targeting up to 40% greater productivity in single-pole connector production, helping prepare the DeLand facility to support growing customer demand and future manufacturing requirements.
The equipment may be new, but the objective remains the same: manufacture dependable electrical products with greater control over how they’re made.