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Replacing ‘Tribal Knowledge’ with Advanced Technology; Ultradent Products’ Story

ON Their ANCA MX-7, Ultradent Grinds Core Pins with Diameters as small as .006 | When you think about manufacturing here in the USA, it is truly inspiring to hear about companies like Ultradent Products. The privately held company, based in Salt Lake City for the past4 decades, designs and manufactures dental products that are used worldwide. And in a testament to manufacturing in the USA, nearly all design and manufacturing of Ultradent Products happens in Utah. The company began humbly — in Dr. Fischer’s basement, with his children as its first employees. As a young dentist, Dr. Fischer realized that rapid, profound hemostasis was imperative for quality operative dentistry. Because there wasn’t a product on the market that predictably controlled bleeding, he developed one. Today, products that address this issue, including Astringedent® and Viscostat®, are flag ship products for the company. Not far from the company’s headquarters, is a satellite building that was added a couple of years ago to accommodate Ultradent’s growth (it has seen year over year growth every year since its inception). The building houses an engineering team, a molding operation plus a machine shop. The employees in this facility aren’t doing production work; rather the intricate parts they make are one-offs used for molds, dies, automation, assembly lines and custom parts. Since the shop does small quantity, often-complex parts, their employees are some of the most experienced Journeyman caliber tool & die makers. Michael Krumpelmann, Machine Shop Manager with 15 years tenure with the company, says, “A few years ago we knew that Eldon, our most experienced grinder, would soon be retiring. We recognized that we wouldn’t be able to replace him with a grinder of his caliber, particularly one who would have the ‘tribal knowledge’ inherent with grinding our products.” To complicate matters, the grinder Ultradent had acquired more than a decade ago would have to be replaced. Michael and Eldon did some research on the best CNC grinders for their shop. 2 builders made the short list.​

“In the end, we chose the ANCA MX-7 grinder from Smith Machinery”, Michael says. “He elaborates, “In particular the flexible software and outstanding simulation was something we found extremely valuable, and we also liked the factthat ANCA provides a complete solution; designing and manufacturing almost all their technology in-house (e.g. CNC, motors, & drives, polymer casting, spindles, software).” Jerry Perkins, Regional Sales Manager for ANCA, says, “The MX-7 Linear is a powerful, versatile CNC tool grinder. It is built to meet the demands of high output, high precision manufacturing. The powerful 38 kW (51 HP) permanent magnet spindle provides high torque at lower RPM, which is ideal for carbide grinding and a wide range of other applications.” Still, he and the ANCA team were resistant to bid |

on and recommend their machines based upon Ultradent’s unique requirements. Jerry elaborates, “As an example, one part they grind has a diameter of .008” and a length of 3”. On a CNC grinder with a part of this length, the part can deflect even from rotation! Over subsequent discussions, evaluation and testing, we determined the ANCA MX7 would meet their requirements.” Michael adds, “We are stubborn and we knew it could be done!”​
​Ultradent took possession of the ANCA MX-7 in November of 2018, and Eldon retired just under 8 months later. During this period, Michael knew he had little time to equip the shop with employees who could learn the ANCA MX-7 quickly. “Key employee Lewis Jeffs is an experienced and talented machinist”, Michael says, “so he is one of the Ultradent team members we selected to learn the ANCA.” He adds, “Lewis didn’t know grinding until we put him into this position.”
The 2nd team member selected to learn the ANCA MX-7 was Scott Jessop, who was a new hire and had no prior machining (let alone grinding) experience before joining Ultradent. Michael says, “We are extremely specialized in what we make and we have a strong team with longevity with our company. For additions to the team, we sometimes select someone with the right attitude and aptitude, and then we train the individual with our methodology. Scott is one of these hires, as he’s been on the ANCA for less than a year now.”

Smith Machinery’s Clark Smith and Klaus Lassig with Michael Krumpelmann ANCA CIM 3D (Simulation Software) | ​Both Scott and Lewis received ANCA provided training, at both at ANCA’s location and onsite. The team agrees that ANCA’s John Francis, who came onsite to provide training, was outstanding. How is the machine shop performing since the ANCA arrived? Michael says, “Our Productivity is through-the- roof, and we haven’t any services issues at all. We’re very pleased with the support we received from ANCA both pre-sales and postsales.” Scott Jessop is the sole grinder that works the afternoon shift after Lewis leaves work. Michael says, “Scott is learning everyday but he is highly competent on CNC grinding plus programming with our ANCA.” Lewis was an experienced machinist when he started on the ANCA, but he had no grinding experience. Today, Lewis is a highly skilled CNC grinder. Life in the Ultradent machine shop has changed dramatically since the ANCA MX-7 came into the shop. ​“Core pins that were taking 12 hours pre-ANCA are now taking 30 minutes to an hour and they are done more accurately”, Lewis says. Today, Ultradent can not only produce many more core pins, but, as Michael says, “Engineers come to us and say “if you can make them this small, can we try a design that goes even smaller and longer?”

Michael says, “We were outsourcing some production parts prior to the ANCA, and with our ANCA MX-7, we are able to make these at our shop.” He adds, “We are grinding smaller, more delicate parts so much more efficiently with the ANCA MX-7.”
He sums it up: “Our ANCA is a tool and cutter grinder, but it is also a 5 axis machine. It can be programmed to do anything.”

Long term Smith Machinery Sales Engineer Klaus Lassig supports Ultradent. Klaus says, “It has been rewarding working with the team at Ultradent seeing how they push the boundaries of a machines’ capabilities, and do it so successfully.” Lewis says, “Our ANCA is so easy to set-up and program we have used the machine for parts that are typically done on a turning center, and the precision far exceeds that of a lathe. With its rigidity, flexibility and accuracy, we’re also using our ANCA for not just grinding, but also to do Jig grinding operations.” Smith Machinery is celebrating 6 decades as a distributor of advanced manufacturing technologies serving manufacturers and job shops of Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. In their Salt Lake City showroom they stock a variety of these technologies and can provide custom demonstrations, test cuts, process development, training and turnkey projects. | Lewis Jeffs and Scott Jessop with ANCA Regional Manager Jerry Perkins

Clark Smith, owner of the company, says, “Our expertise at Smith Machinery, is in unattended operation and advanced multi-tasking as well as 5-axis machining, EDM, and Swiss-turning. In addition, we stock a full line of quality products for sawing, grinding, milling and manual/CNC combination lathes. We are proud to have represented the ANCA line of grinders for the past 12 years.” To learn more about how Smith Machinery can help you with your precision machining and grinding needs, contact them at 801-263-6403 or visit their website at smithmachinetools.com
To learn more about Ultradent Products, visit their website at ultradent.com
Article courtesy of A2Z magazine

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