EMBREE
RECOGNITION SYSTEMS
CNC Router Helps Produce Innovative Wood
and Plastic
3D Donor Wall Designs
Implementation of a new CNC router has led to the design and production
of a wide range of innovative wood and plastic donor wall designs at
Embree Recognition Systems, Hamilton, Ontario. One of the largest
companies specializing in donor wall systems, Embree previously focused
most of their attention towards producing stone, stainless steel and
glass designs designed to motivate donors to make additional
contributions. With the idea of expanding their market base by
developing new styles and new designs, the company purchased a CNC
router that gives them the ability to produce wood and plastic designs
with 3D contours based on a computer aided design (CAD) file. The
company immediately began generating new concepts for its clients, such
as clear acrylic stars to recognize parents that had delivered babies
and donated to the maternity ward of a hospital that paid for the
machine in a single job. “We believe the styles in the donor wall
business are moving towards wood designs that provide a warmth and
traditional appeal beyond what can be found in steel or glass,” said
John Cunningham, President of Embree. “Our CNC router positions us to be
at the forefront of this trend.”
Norm Embree, who founded Embree, served as the president of the local
Victoria Order of Nurses, the local professional theatre, and Vice
Chairman of the Hamilton Civic Hospitals, among other community
leadership positions. This involvement gave him the opportunity to see
that organizations needed affordable recognition system alternatives,
thus Embree Recognition Systems was founded. John Cunningham, who has
owned the company since 1995, has further expanded the company’s
capabilities by implementing the latest production methods in order to
do the job right the first time and provide the highest possible quality
at a reasonable cost. “Our product tells an emotional story,” Cunningham
said. “Someone passing by that might not even know the hospital has a
foundation learns of the generosity of their neighbors and is inspired
to make a contribution.”
Fitting the customer’s needs
“We work individually with each of our clients and, based on their
environment and budget, develop a product that fits their needs,”
Cunningham continued. Examples include: 1) A main wall with an
artistically appealing display that captures the spirit of the campaign,
the heart of the institution and the rationale for fundraising - be it a
critical need for a new neonatal unit or funding for financially
strapped undergrads. 2) Electronic wall systems incorporating
interactive displays with audio and video capabilities, housed in a
kiosk, and operated by the touch on the computer screen that offers a
sign-up sheet where donors can commit to a pledge. 3) An in memoriam
section that not only recognizes the institution to which it is given,
but is also a fitting tribute to the recently deceased. 4) An engraved
plaque or a framed memento that offers a tangible show of appreciation
for a recipient's generosity and acts as a constant reminder of a
continuing opportunity to support the facility.
Up to this point, the vast majority of Embrees recognition systems, like
those of its competitors, have been made of steel, glass or stone. “We
have identified a desire in the market to move to wood products because
they provide a warmer texture and a more traditional appeal than you can
obtain from stone, metal or plastics,” Cunningham said. “Wood also opens
to door to a wide range of 3D patterns that are limited only by your
imagination. The challenge that we faced, however, in moving in this
direction was gaining the ability to produce complicated 3D sculpted and
inlaid patterns to a high level of accuracy and at a reasonable cost.”
Using traditional woodworking tools, complex donor wall systems would
have been too labor intensive to be profitable. Another problem is that
it would have been difficult to achieve the level of accuracy required
to, for example, develop a complicated inlay that fit just perfectly.
Selecting a CNC router
Cunningham began looking for a CNC router that would allow him to define
the geometry of wood and plastic components with CAD software and then
reproduce his designs to their full precision. He was determined to
avoid expensive traditional CNC machines that would cost on the order of
$100,000 for a model that would provide the area that would be needed to
produce a larger donor wall system. Instead he looked at five much less
expensive machines that were designed specifically for producing wood
and plastic parts to a high level of accuracy. He narrowed his selection
to two machines that seemed to offer the greatest level of precision and
investigated the details of their design. He found several significant
differences. In particular, the Techno machine offers faster cutting
speeds and exceptionally accuracy because it uses a servo motor to
control cutting motion while other machines use stepper motors, which
can give a stair-step cutting effect."
Cunningham also noted that the Techno machine is constructed on steel
stress-relieved bases with hardened steel linear ways. Its
shaft-and-bearing system produces very smooth, play-free motion and is
an extremely rigid system that produces high-quality cuts. The machine
also uses anti-backlash ballscrews. These screws have excellent power
transmission due to the rolling ball contact between the nut and screws.
This type of contact ensures low friction, low wear, and long life. The
ballscrews also make it possible to produce wooden parts to the machine
resolution of 0.0005 inch. In comparison, less expensive machines use
rack and pinion gearing, which has too much play to make accurate cuts
in small areas. Also this type of gearing wears out quickly in the dusty
environment of a carpentry shop. As one more factor in the decision,
Cunningham said that the local Techno representative, Jason Robinson of
Oldham Robinson, Ancaster, Ontario, demonstrated a superior level of
technical knowledge and willingness to provide a high level of
assistance in the implementation process.
Paying for the machine on the first job
Almost as soon as new machine was delivered, Cunningham had his first
opportunity to put in to use. A major hospital was looking for a new
concept for a donor wall in a maternity ward designed to honor parents
of babies delivered in the ward who had chosen to contribute to it.
Excited about the possibilities that the new machine offered, Cunningham
conceived of an innovative design that features a clear acrylic star
with the baby’s name engraved on it in black ink against a gold
background. “I was very excited about the new design and apparently the
hospital liked it to because they placed a large enough order to pay for
the Techno machine in the very first job that we ran on it,” Cunningham
said.
Not long after, the company designed a wall system used by a university
athletic department to honor distinguished athletes and coaches. In the
past the university had simply mounted each plague on the wall but with
well over 100 plaques the wall had become cluttered and unwieldy.
Cunningham’s developed a simple bar design that holds each of the
plagues within a much more organized and pleasing framework. The
university liked the concept and awarded Embree the contract to produce
it. While the design was simple, it had to be produced to a very high
level of precision in order to achieve the right look. “It would have
taken a long time to build this wall system by hand and we could have
never achieved the level of accuracy that I was looking for,” Cunningham
said. “With the router, on the other hand, we got exactly what we laid
out on the CAD system within a few thousands of an inch. The customer
loved it!”
In another application for the new machine, Embree produced honor roll
plaques for a private school. The company’s designers replicated the
school shield in three dimensions in a CAD program. The final product
has a very traditional look that could never have been achieved using
stone, metal or glass. At the same time, Embree would have had no way to
produce the intricate 3D design to a high level of accuracy prior to
purchasing the Techno machine. “In the past we would have had to either
settle for a much simpler design or else contracted out the
manufacturing, which would have eaten up much of our profit on the job,”
Cunningham said. “With the Techno router, on the other hand, we were
able to produce beautiful pieces in a very reasonable amount of time.
All in all, the Techno machine has helped us to become more innovative
and creative and reach far beyond what we were able to do in the past.”
For more information contact: Techno, Inc., 2101 Jericho
Turnpike, New Hyde Park, NY 11040.
Phone: 516-328-3970 Fax: 516-358-2576 E-mail: TECHNO
CNC ROUTER SYSTEMS
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