Lights-Out Hobbing Performance

For those responsible for running a precision gear shop these days, sleep can be hard to come by. Most are trying to do more with less, particularly the short supply of skilled machine operators who make these shops tick. But Illinois Pulley & Gear’s General Manager Richard Wolter reportedly sleeps like a baby, knowing that when he arrives at his factory in Schaumburg, IL, bright and early every morning, hundreds of high-quality, made-to-order spur gears, pinions and IPG’s bread and butter—tight-tolerance timing pulleys—will have been hobbed overnight, deburred and neatly stacked. Better yet, it’s all done on a productive late-model vertical hobbing machine that’s proven reliable enough to leave it running completely unattended throughout the night, thus adding a much-needed 2nd and 3rd shift without the added cost of a skilled operator—and the hiring angst that goes with it.