Tuffaloy Precision Manufacturing specializes in machining and forming parts from copper, copper alloys, and brass.
GREER, S.C.—The manufacturing team at Tuffaloy Precision Manufacturing isn’t afraid to do the complicated but necessary work needed to make its customers’ experience easier. Whether they’re solving engineering problems, scaling up the manufacturing of a complex machined part, or reducing a customer’s supply chain risks, their goal is to deliver parts “on time, in-spec, and in full.”
Tuffaloy employs more than 50 team members at its Greer, South Carolina facility, where the magic happens on a shop floor offering 45,000 square feet of manufacturing space.
“We provide print-to-part manufacturing services using multi-axis CNC turning, Swiss turning, and cold heading processes,” said Tuffaloy President Sean Simmons, in an emailed response to Design-2-Part. “We specialize in machining copper, copper alloys, and brass products for industrial, automotive, and energy industries.”
The ISO 9001 certified manufacturer produces components such as gas regulators, manifolds, fittings, couplings, fasteners, and bushings. It also machines stainless steel and aluminum bolts, fasteners, fittings, manifolds, guide rollers, and other customer machined parts.
“We provide engineering design services to improve the manufacturability of parts,” Simmons added. “Our engineering team is also adept at reverse engineering or updating legacy prints.”
Simmons said that one of Tuffaloy’s major strengths as a supplier to OEMs and product manufacturers is its ability to provide scalable manufacturing from prototypes to production. Along with this, the company offers supply chain management expertise to lower costs, as well as stocking programs to ensure products are available to support customers’ needs.
Tuffaloy’s manufacturing team supports and enhances scalability through its use of a combination of Swiss turning and cold forming machining methods. The combination enables them to account for different volume requirements and makes it easy to keep pace with their clients’ growth, “regardless of the production scale,” according to the company’s website.
“Cold forming also helps us reduce costs for our clients by creating zero waste, and by speeding up cycle times,” the website stated.
Another strength, Simmons said, is Tuffaloy’s continuous investment in new equipment, including high precision multi-axis turning centers and Swiss machines. The company recently installed five new multi-axis turning centers and a new Swiss lathe. It also updated its quality control (QC) lab and is said to be the first shop in the U.S. with LNS’s new dynamic channel bar feeder.
“We continuously invest in new equipment to ensure our skilled machinists have the best tools to make parts,” Simmons said. “We updated our QC lab with a new Digital Optical Comparator and CMM (coordinate-measuring machine) to ensure our team has the best tools to validate parts are manufactured to specifications.”
Tuffaloy is able to maximize the potential of its equipment with a talented team of manufacturing engineers and skilled machinists who offer decades of experience in solving problems and machining complex parts.
“We utilize state-of-the art tools, such as SolidWorks, SolidCAM, robotics, and machine monitoring tools, to continuously improve our processes,” Simmons explained. “Our team and equipment can hold tolerances of 0.001 inch on a variety of metals, and we pride ourselves on delivering products to customers on time and in full. We produce thousands of different SKUs annually, with a fill rate of 95 percent on time.”
In addition to manufacturing, Simmons said Tuffaloy provides light assembly and can provide custom packaging solutions to meet customers’ needs or requirements. The company has also established relationships with platers, coaters, and heat treatment companies that have expertise in specialty metals.
One of Tuffaloy’s projects involved machining a complex brass part with angled holes, threads, and internal machined features.
The part required tight tolerances of +/-0.001 inch on numerous internal and external features. It also contained four internal, angled holes that had to be machined through the part. The part was previously run using multiple operations on two different machines.
“We utilized our new multi-axis machining center with an articulating head to machine the part complete in a single operation,” Simmons noted.
Tuffaloy’s engineers developed the program to machine the part complete in a single operation. Total setup time was reduced by 70 percent, and cycle time, by 45 percent. The part also required a deburring operation that was eliminated with the new program.
For tooling, Tuffaloy’s team designed a custom form tool to reduce cycle time and machine complex internal features. The company’s ability to source copper and brass alloys directly from mills around the world also came into play as it helped reduce the total cost of manufacturing, Simmons said.