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March 5, 2008 ~ Windsor, ON; It's been nearly 15 years since former sales manager, Carlo Miceli, made a major career move by enrolling as an adult student at St. Clair College. Today, the Toolmaking Technology graduate not only runs his own company, but has introduced a CNC controller (computer numeric control) that promises to double productivity for the die mold and production machining industries by cutting cycle times in half.
The controller is manufactured by Essex-based Miceli Technologies Inc. (MTI) and was field tested in Windsor and Detroit area tool shops. Test data shows the MTI Constant Velocity CNC Controller sets new standards against the Japanese, European and American competition.
As a result of his innovations and his passion for his alma mater, Miceli is donating a $40,000 controller to the College, something which will ensure that students graduating from a variety of precision metal cutting programs will have the latest skills under their belt when they begin their careers in industry.
"There is so much that the machining and die mold community can be doing today,” says Miceli. “We do not have to feel totally dependent on the automotive industry for our livelihoods in this area. There is a lot of work out there and with our state-of-the-art constant velocity CNC controller companies can become much more competitive.”
The main innovation of the MTI product is its speed processing capabilities. Regardless of the machine tool the controller is connected to, from a brand-new, high-speed machine to a 30-year-old ‘turtle’, at the very minimum it will cut that machine's normal cycle times in half when cutting complex geometry.
According to Bruce Gadal, Supervisor at the College’s Ford Centre for Excellence in Manufacturing having the MTI controller connected to one of our machines for evaluation purposes has really been an eye opener. “We provided Miceli with one of our CNC machines to evaluate his new controller on. We were amazed at the speed, flexibility and precision with which this controller did the job.”
Though increased global competition has put the local die and mold industry under an unprecedented amount of stress, Miceli says he still loves the trade. He holds the hope that the industry will salvage itself after the dust settles from current lay-offs and shop closures.
Tracy Pringle, Director of Business Retention & Expansion at the Windsor-Essex County Development Commission is enthusiastic about the caliber of work being done in our community. “MTI is certainly on the right track when it comes to investing in R&D and bringing new innovations to the market, not just for our region but globally. I have traveled around the world and can say that I haven’t seen shops with the level of equipment as is found in the Ford Centre for Excellence in Manufacturing. The fact that MTI and the College are collaborating is important for student learning and for industry.
"We have a tremendous pool of intellectual and skilled talent in our community, but the industry cannot continue to do business as it's done in the past. We must focus on being world leaders in the industry," said Miceli. "There will be little room for people to muddle their way through in this industry anymore. Anybody who wants to get into this trade will have to possess the motivation to be the very best at what they do. I think the opportunities are still there."
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