Turning Green!

Machine tool manufacturer Okuma announced that, since October 2022, production in its three main factories in Japan has used only carbon-neutrally generated electricity, a goal that was achieved earlier than expected. The firm’s machining centres, CNC lathes and grinders are sold in the UK and Ireland through sole agent NCMT.

In a further announcement, Okuma says that from April this year it will be labelling certain of its products Green-Smart Machines if they have been shown to cut energy usage considerably. The company claims that three technologies developed in-house particularly assist in energy efficiency when its machine tools are in operation.

One is the proven Thermo-Friendly Concept applied to both the machine structure and spindle, which uses feedback from temperature sensors to deliver high accuracy machining in a normal shop floor environment, without the need for a warm-up period. This saves not only power but also money and raises production output.

ECO Suite plus provides autonomous energy saving by monitoring spindle temperature and, when it is stable, automatically turning off the coolers. It also monitors hydraulic demand and activates the pump only when necessary, while auxiliary equipment runs when required and stops automatically. A display on the machine shows exactly how much energy is being saved.

The other power minimisation technology is Okuma’s systems for spindle cooling, which it says reduce energy consumption by as much as 68 percent due to optimised control.