Connect with a Tooling Specialist Today | Call (800) 486-4243
Connect with a Tooling Specialist Today | Call (800) 486-4243
An aerospace supplier running roughly $10 million a month with Boeing called Lloyd Gage for a specific tool: a 5/8″ diameter, 7-flute, 2 LOC end mill, to cut an 18″-long, 1½”-deep slot in 718 Inconel on a HAAS — 300 parts on the schedule.
Lloyd Gage’s team didn’t just fill the order. Before anything shipped, they asked what the cut actually looked like: material, depth, part count, machine.
718 Inconel is brutal on standard end mills. Run as specified, the job penciled out expensive — before a single part was cut.
| BEFORE — AS ORDERED
Cycle time: 33 min/part 300-part run: 165 hours Shop cost @ $150/hr: $24,750 |
AFTER — GORILLA MILL
Cycle time: 4 min/part 300-part run: 20 hours Shop cost @ $150/hr: $3,000 |
Once Lloyd Gage’s engineers identified the right tool for the cut, they didn’t let a standard lead time sit between the customer and the fix. The correct Gorilla Mill end mill was flown in overnight, at Lloyd Gage’s own cost, so the job stayed on schedule.
“We had an aerospace customer doing $10 million a month with Boeing call in for a specific end mill. We didn’t just ship it — we asked what they were actually cutting.”
FASTER CYCLE TIME
MACHINE TIME FREED
SAVED ON THIS RUN
Once Lloyd Gage’s engineers identified the right tool for the cut, they didn’t let a standard lead time sit between the customer and the fix. The correct Gorilla Mill end mill was flown in overnight, at Lloyd Gage’s own cost, so the job stayed on schedule.
“We had an aerospace customer doing $10 million a month with Boeing call in for a specific end mill. We didn’t just ship it — we asked what they were actually cutting.”
“We called for a tool. We got an engineering review, an overnight delivery, and $21,000 back in our budget. That’s not a vendor you shop around on.”
