RIVAL upgrades machine park with a DMG MORI CMX50U

RIVAL extends the capacity of the serial production in high quality and to a competitive price with the new DMG-machine, which will cooperate with a new robot from Bila. It’s a part of the company’s to-sided production strategy.

With the latest upgrade, RIVAL has eight vertical small milling machines. The 5-axis milling machine can run with up to 12,000 turns on the mandrel per minute and with very high movements (30 meters per minute). The machine cooperates with RIVAL’s fourth robot.

The market wants RIVAL
With the two-sided production strategy RIVAL has created a high-quality and cost-effective production of critical and costly one-off components and more simple components to be serial produced. “A very important part of this strategy is the increased automation,” RIVAL’s CNC-expert Claus Mikkelsen says. “In our experience, we are competitive at European level, because the customers are aware that they can benefit from the way, we have chosen to handle things.”

New machine causes joy
The new DMG MORI machine is the lasted invest in the new two-sided strategy, which RIVAL has successfully implemented and improved through the last couple of years. The employees are still excited, when a new machine arrive at RIVAL. “They have all stopped by the new machine to pat it and say welcome.”

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Lene is in her element at the Mazak milling machine

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Lene was surprised, when RIVAL’s production manager suggested, she should work with the big milling machines. However, she picked up the gauntlet, and today she is working hard to optimise and produce complex components.

In January 2019, Lene Kruse Jensen finished her adult apprenticeship at RIVAL. Through her apprenticeship, Lene mainly spent time working with the small milling machines. “I didn’t make friends with the big milling machines, neither at school nor at RIVAL,” Lene says. “My apprenticeship was shorter than the usual one, because I’m an adult apprentice, and therefore I focused on getting comfortable with the small milling machines only.”

Proud of the opportunity
Lene was surprised, when she was about to sign her new contract at RIVAL and the production manager Søren Djursland suggested, she should work with the big milling machines instead. “However, I was proud of the opportunity, he gave me and that he believed in my skills,” Lene says.

Teamwork with experienced colleague
Today, Lene is working at the Mazak FH-6800 milling machine. In collaboration with her colleague Frederik, Lene works with the optimisation and production of valve blocks to a customer in the marine industry. She values the professional discussions with her very experienced colleague, who can help her move in the right direction, if she is confused.

 

Grey hair and new insights
“The work has given me grey hair many times,” Lene says. “It’s been new for me to work with 5-axis machines, and there is a lot of optimisation work on the components, we produce. We mill “holes” crisscross and in difficult angles, and we have to feel our way to test if the tools can operate in the way, we want them to. After all, it’s all about finding the best possible solution for the customer.”

I do all the fun things now
Today, Lene is very experienced in the work with the big milling machines, and therefore she makes the instructions to her night-shift colleagues. “Today, I get to do all the fun things. I appreciate, RIVAL has given me that opportunity, and I’m proud, I’ve been able to seize it.”

The right choice
The machine industry and RIVAL in particular has been the right choice for Lene, who originally was trained as a physiotherapist. “I might still be able to teach my male colleagues a few things about order and cleaning, but there are many things, I can learn from them as well – and I’m happy to do that,” Lene says with a smile.

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The Danish Defence visits RIVAL

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On Tuesday, October 22, General Lieutenant Flemming Lentfer, head of Danish Ministry of Defence, visited RIVAL with some of his colleagues and representatives from General Dynamics European Land Systems-Mowag (GDELS).

In the past years, RIVAL has been a supplier to GDELS and therefore to the Danish Defence as well. The visit was a part of the Danish Defence’s – including the Danish Ministry of Defence’s – work and dialogue with the Defence Industry and its’ suppliers.

General Lieutenant Flemming Lentfer attended the tour and the dialogue at RIVAL with Lieutenant-colonel Carsten Hasenfuss, Major Torben Grinderslev and Major Christina Hviid Mailund. Representatives from GDELS also joined the tour, hosted by sales director Christian Aarup and owner Henrik Holvad from RIVAL.

Competent company
Flemming Lentfer experienced RIVAL’s interest during the visit, and he gained new insight and inspiration.

“In our dialogue with the Industry, market knowledge and ongoing visits at Danish companies are important aspects. We need to attain greater knowledge of what Danish companies can offer FMI and the Ministry of Defence’s authorities,” Flemming Lentfer said. “You are a very competent company, and it’s so important that you maintain your mantra about quality and delivery reliability.”

The stakes are high – every time
Through the years, RIVAL has produced critical and costly components to combat vehicles such as PRIANHA P5, EAGLE 5, Leopard 2 and Ajax.

“When it comes to such jobs, it’s so important to focus a hundred percent on quality and delivery, because the stakes are so high,” owner Henrik Holvad says. “If we fail on the quality, catastrophic consequences might follow. It’s a matter of life and death, and our employees are extremely aware of that. Therefore, they go to great lengths to solve the jobs to the letter.”

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Engagement and inquisitiveness cause top level solutions

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The employees at RIVAL have a great inquisitiveness and interest in the components, they work on. That means, they give competent feedback to the customers and they make an effort to improve the ideas and solutions.

“My colleagues are very inquisitive and truly interested in knowing how the components, they process, will operate – perhaps several hundred metres under the surface of the sea or 150 metres up in the air,” group manager Torben Pedersen says. “That gives us the opportunity to provide the customer with inputs that can optimise the production and cause new points of view on solutions.”

Development projects with strict non-disclosure agreements
Several of the development project, RIVAL is engaged in, are very secret and have strict NDA demands. That applies to one of RIVAL’s recent agreements with a big wind turbine manufacturer. “We will contribute to develop brand-new components to the wind turbines of the future,” Torben says. “The customer’s engineers, who work on the development tasks, have a very theoretical approach to the job, which is a crucial competence in the initial work. However, our practical approach and knowledge can help transforming theoretical ideas into a production. Often, that give rise to new perspectives and solutions.”

Order in chaos
Often, the customer hasn’t completed the development projects, when RIVAL is involved. That could mean, the customer doesn’t have an overview of the procedure, which can result in continuous updates of tolerances, demands and drawings.

The employees at RIVAL need to keep a cool head in the “chaos” and maintain the overview of the situation, which they have lots of experience with. It happens in close cooperation with the customer’s engineers, and thereby they secure an ongoing optimisation of all elements in the project.

We consider the details – and the economy
“We have built a great experience in always studying the details of the drawing to a component as well as considering potential flaws, which can ultimately result in the component not living up to the customer’s demands and expectations. It means the world to our customers that we help quality assuring the process,” Torben says. “Furthermore, we bear the cost reduction in mind. If strict tolerances are not crucial for the component, maybe we can lower those and most likely reduce the costs. That is important knowledge to our customers, and they appreciate that we offer it to them. Actually, we can’t stop doing that.”

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Welcome on the front page

This Monday, we were on the front page of the leading business paper in Denmark – Børsen – with the headline “Many CEOs deselect temporary refugees”.

We are not supporting the current paradigm shift in Danish politics, as we have successfully employed many Syrian refugees, who fit well into our “RIVAL-team” due to their drive and openness despite the fact that they were non-educated.

However, we do know from our own experience that it is resource demanding to train them to run the machines in the production at night.

Therefore, we do consider whether we are going to continue investing in more refugees, if the current focus on repatriation rather than integration continues in Danish politics.

“Obviously, if we know that they will be sent home again as soon as possible, I will consider, if it’s worth our while,” owner Henrik Holvad says in the article in Børsen.

Read the full article here (log-in required)

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Strong three-shift system on the DMC 80 FD

RIVAL’s 5-axis multi-machine runs day and night. Right now, the machine produces components to a big customer in the defence industry.

The processing centre works perfectly with components, to which the precision demands are high and where there is a relation between the turning and milling surfaces. This is applicable for the components produced to the defence industry. Among the critical measurements of the components is a flatness of 0.05 mm and a drilled hole of Ø4 mm through two types of material over a length of 200 mm. Therefore, RIVAL’s Zeiss measurement machine continuously measures up spot checks to always have the right knowledge of the tolerance compliances.

Ongoing optimisation
Karsten, Glenn and Kenni make up the team of the DMC 80 FD, and they work to optimise all processes continually. “Over a longer period, Karsten has optimised all the milling work, and Kenni is now focusing on all the parts, which have to be turned,” production manager Søren Djursland says. “Kenni is relatively new here at RIVAL. He has settled in very well and we all respect his many professional competencies.”

High capacity
The 5-axis multi-machine is in great demand, and the work is carefully organised. The team produces components to the big customer in the defence industry for three weeks followed by one week of producing other components. “It is organised in this way to optimise the production, make room for all components and to ensure variety to the team that works on the machine,” Søren Djursland says. “It is a vital part of our orderliness, and both our employees and customers benefit from it.”

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