From Computer-Free to High-Tech in 6 Months (Cadalyst Daily Archive)

SCP Plastics competes worldwide after implementing CNC milling tools and automation software for engineering and machining molds.

In 1999, SCP Plastics' shop looked nearly the same as it did in 1966, the year the company was founded. When Bud Hanna bought it seven years ago, the company's toolmaking technology had not changed since the Johnson administration. There wasn't even a computer on site.p>

After the sale closed, Hanna wasted no time in upgrading the Boonesville, Mississippi, facility, which specializes in high-volume, injection-molded components. Laying out an ambitious, fast-paced plan, Hanna began by purchasing two sets of vertical and horizontal milling centers with CNC (computer numeric controls), along with software to automate the engineering and precision machining of molds. In just six months, the automation transformed the old-fashioned SCP shop into one of the most technologically advanced of its kind.

"The biggest reason SCP's modernization was so successful was Bud Hanna's dedication and commitment to one platform and then implementing it start to finish," says John Edwards, Axion3 technical manager, who assisted SCP in deploying the new systems. "A lot of times that doesn't happen, and automation becomes a hodge-podge of formats. Management has to have the vision."  Read more >>

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