Gezinmeyi Al
Task: INHOM-98 is a manufacturer of glass moulds for the glass industry. To keep its competitive position on the market and to meet the growing needs of the customers, the company strives to produce glass moulds with increasing design complexity, with guaranteed high quality of the surfaces and with a fast turnaround. INHOM-98 aims to ensure maximum uptime and utilization of all machines to guarantee the continuous production cycle - 24/7.

Solution: INHOM-98 builds the manufacturing technology of the mould kits based on machines with FANUC CNC controls and has implemented five milling machines - FANUC ROBODRILLs. To guarantee minimal unplanned downtime, the company has been relying on FANUC Bulgaria’s service for the maintenance of their FANUC equipment for 25 years.

Result: Due to the high speed and performance of the FANUC RОBODRILL machining centres, the percentage of parts manufactured with deviations in the quality and tolerances of surface roughness is very small, and customers’ orders are completed quickly and on time. By using all the resources and elaborate services of FANUC, the breakdown time of FANUC equipment at INHOM-98 is minimized.
INHOM-98 has been relying on FANUC products since the establishment of the company in 1991 and today 24 machines with FANUC CNC controls have been installed in the production, from a total of 42 machine tools. "We can honestly say that the comparison with other CNCs is in a favour of FANUC. We believe that they are better and that‘s why we venture the growth of our company to be based on machines with FANUC controls,” says Eng. Vanyo Palazov, owner and CEO of INHOM-98 Ltd.
 
In early 2009, the company implemented two FANUC ROBODRILL vertical machining centres. After the implementation, the management was convinced of the advantages of these machining centres and further installed three additional ROBODRILL machines in the production. "We rarely have any problems with them. Furthermore ROBODRILLs have extremely high performance rates, work fast and are accurate and efficient. The 24000 rpm spindle for a milling machine - this is unique. FANUC guarantee the quality of the surfaces and volumes of the glass moulds," declares Mr. Palazov.

INHOM-98 has been relying on FANUC Bulgaria’s services for more than 25 years now. INHOM-98’s owner, Mr. Palazov, openly shares his satisfaction with the easy communication and the quality of the services provided by FANUC engineers

"We have had extremely good experiences with FANUC's service engineers. Highly qualified specialists have the necessary knowledge, the right equipment and the spare parts to provide timely, high quality and reliable services. Spare parts arrive fast, are high quality and a reasonable price. The warranty is not only for the repair itself, but also for the spare parts. This is very important for us.”

INHOM-98 uses all of FANUC services and relies on their competence and fast reaction. "FANUC has built reliable and stable systems that do not require  frequent repairs. However, when emergency repairs are required, which is very rare, they respond with a fast and qualitative service. Our last repair was on one of the ROBODRILLs, which is 11 years old now. Due to increased backlash, we needed to repair the ball-screws of the X and Y axes. I have to emphasize that after the repair, the machine has reached the parameters of a brand new machine. We are extremely happy with this."
To ensure zero downtime and successful operation of all FANUC machines, every year FANUC service engineers perform Preventive Maintenance on all FANUC CNC systems and ROBODRILL machines in the company. "This is very important for us. For the older CNC controls, we have added options to make the operators’ work easier. The new machines have a warranty service, which is more of a reassurance, as they don't really need one. Sometimes there are problems that we solve with support by phone, which is a great option because it saves us time and money,” adds INHOM 98’s owner.
 
A new production facility is currently under construction, which will allow the company to significantly increase its production capacity and at the same time, offer better and faster service to their current customers. "To remain competitive in the market, we rely on continuous process optimization and in the coming years, we will rely on an increasing level of robotization. The investments we plan to make also include new machines with FANUC CNC controls - the future development of INHOM-98 will continue to be closely related to FANUC equipment and FANUC Bulgaria services. We see them as our long term trusted partner, which allows us to feel secure," concludes the CEO, Eng. Palazov. 

About INHOM-98

INHOM-98 is located in the town of Aksakovo, near Varna. The company is the only Bulgarian manufacturer of moulds for the glass industry, namely moulds for glass bottles and jars. The company designs and manufactures glass moulds for both standard glass packaging and products with a unique design. INHOM-98 operates in a continuous production cycle - 24/7 and thanks to its high-quality products and competitive prices, the company has satisfied customers in 14 countries on two continents.