BIG KAISER Helps Racing Shop Increase Efficiency with UNILOK Pallets

BIG KAISER’s UNILOK pallets were featured in a recent article in Modern Machine Shop magazine. The article highlights how Andretti Autosport used the UNILOK pallets to make setting up jobs more effective, therefore, improving turnaround times of critical racing car parts needed. 

According to Charlie Mitchell, machinist for Andretti Autosport, “Whether the car is going up to North Carolina for a wind tunnel test, or it’s going to Iowa for a road course test, it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars... I can’t say, ‘I’m not going to get that part for you in time.’ I have to hit that mark.”

In 2016, Mitchell discovered the UNILOK pallets in the back of the Andretti shop. While some people see the UNILOK system as useful for cutting multiple parts on horizontal machines, Mitchell saw their benefit for use on his vertical five-axis machining centers. “I knew you could utilize the UNILOK pallets to really turn a shop into a fast-paced operation,” he says.

Before using the UNILOK pallets, it could take Mitchell as long as eight hours to set up his five-axis machine with 10 tools to run 30 to 40 different processes on a part. Now, he says set-up times are 70 to 80 percent shorter.

For the full details on how reduction in time and efficiencies were possible, read the entire Modern Machine Shop article titled “Palletization Slashes Setup Time for Racing Shop” by following this link.