Mass customisation in action – Lonati
CUSTOMER INFORMATION
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MACHINE INFORMATION
Customer Profile
Lonati S.p.a is a historic Brescia company specializing in the design and construction of circular machines for hosiery factories. Watch the interview and find out how Lonati uphold strict standards for accuracy, quality and lead time whilst managing demand for large product variation and hundreds of customisation options.
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Lonati, founded in Brescia, Italy, specialises in the development and production of circular machines for hosiery factories. Evolving industries like apparel come with customers that have clear ideas about what they want, and choose products as close as possible to their specific needs. Therefore, combining traditional production logistics in order to supply adequate volumes in the right time with responsiveness to customisation is paramount.
defeating the odds
Lonati has all the features – and the numbers – of a leader. The Brescia office employs over 600 people, spread over 80,000 square meters. With an output of 7,000-10,000 machines per year, Lonati can operate in over 120 countries world-wide.
The heart of the machine is a cylinder, on the circumference of which the needles are arranged, ranging in number from a few tens to a few hundreds.
The running of the needles along the cylinder and the rotation provide the needed accuracy to create the socks right down to a micron level. All movements are then regulated by series of cams, which determine all the kinematics of the machines.
“Ours is a flexible offer, divided into four product lines consisting of single cylinder machines, double cylinder machines, women’s stockings and medical stockings. We have over 170 models in our catalogue with hundreds of customisation options.”
Commercial Director of Lonati, Mark Frost
MACHINING CHOICE
In order to meet the strict requirement for multiple variable batches, short delivery times, high quality and small tolerances, Lonati have invested in multiple Mazak machining centers including the HCN-4000, HCN-5000 and VARIAXIS i-500.
Paolo Faroni, head of CNC Machining explained “What distinguishes our production is that we need efficient, precise and highly versatile machines. We have certainly found these characteristics in Mazak. We concentrated the production of cams on the five-axis machining centers, which require high precision. This allows us to finish the machining of a cam with only one placement and, of course, the fewer repositionings during the work cycle the easier it will be to obtainthe quality and precision expected. The horizontal machining centers, with four axes give us all the flexibility that we need”.
“Today the production workshop is based on thirty-eight Mazak machining centers including vertical, five-axis and four-axis horizontal. We have entrusted the machining of all mechanical components on board our machines to Mazak machining centers”.
Paolo Faroni, head of CNC Machining
Productivity increase
Lonati processes many materials: from tempered steels, chromium steels, brass, precision castings and aluminium. This, combined with the need for specificity and quality, demands the best results in terms of precision and versatility. Mark Frost adds “When we receive an order, the delivery time is a promise made to the customer. This means that in production everything must go smoothly and, also in this respect, Mazak is always present and able to support us in the best possible way.”
“The performance of newer Mazak machines, in terms of rapid speed and acceleration of the axes, as well as the power of the drives is very important. This improvement has resulted in a 25 percent increase in productivity compared to previous generations of Mazak machines.”
Paolo Faroni, head of CNC Machining
