Guan Yu Machine Co., Ltd.’s specialization in internal grinding technology made it a pillar of Taiwan’s grinding machinery industry and a solutions provider addressing labor shortages among aging societies.
Grinding machinery is a must-have piece of equipment across industries, from automotive to medical. With such a disparate clientele and their assorted needs, Guan Yu has assembled a team of professionals also from a gamut of machinery production industries, ensuring that it can provide its clients with the best solutions.
Guan Yu’s machinery is precise to around 3μ under optimal conditions. In addition to precision and machine variety, Guan Yu states that one individual can operate, load, and unload machinery.
As opposed to milling machines, which rely on CAD/CAM software, Guan Yu’s Computer Numerical Control (CNC) grinding machines are more intuitive and easily operated via the machine’s user interface, Guan Yu’s CEO Chang Yuan-yi (張源毅) said.
Guan Yu said such a feat could not have been achieved without the expertise of its programmers and client feedback. It added that if paired with Japan—or German-made—controllers, Guan Yu products would surely be more efficient.
Since its founding in 2011, Guan Yu has been able to create a variety of composite grinding machines, answering the different needs of its clients.
Specifically, Guan Yu has taken note of the industry’s habits of using specialized equipment for different processes. While this has undoubtedly increased efficiency, the need for specific talents in specialized machinery meant a change of guard every time a piece of equipment was changed.
Chang said, for example, that they were first made aware of such a situation when a client mentioned that vertical grinding machines with in-built magazines to hold spare tool parts were available in Japan, but the same technology was oddly lacking for horizontal grinding machines.
The company’s product line includes the first inner and external grinding machine, the K-150B, and the KG-500ATC horizontal grinding machine, including tri-axes and quad-axes grinding machines, complete with an inbuilt magazine for storing extra tool heads, the first of its kind in the industry.
The company went on to improve the machine in response to client needs, eventually introducing 3axes and 4axes composite grinding machines that can be equipped with belt-driven or built-in spindles to process internal or external grinding, with additional tools for use in addition to the grinding.
Chang said that internal grinding is the most difficult of all grinding technologies. Standard machinery used for internal grinding utilizes long axes, which can’t make full turns and result in uneven grinding. In addition, there is a lack of tool heads that can be directly measured for efficacy when fitted for the job. The inherent constraints seemed to rule out automated machinery for internal grinding.
Guan Yu developed multiple grinding machines, such as the KG-410SR, the KG-350SR and the newest KG-600SR, starting in 2020 to address these shortcomings. These machines can process up to 400mm in depth and have Y-axes that can be individually adjusted for angles, increasing the stability and precision of the grinding cone. Moreover, the development has ensured that fast, easily assembled, high-precision machinery can use long-axes work pieces.
Guan Yu’s willingness to research and develop products for its clients is one of many reasons why it has won the loyalty of its clients worldwide. The company’s chairman, Lee Wang-sheng ( 李旺生), has maintained that there is no need for cutthroat price wars, as clients will come as long as the company provides quality products and professional service.
Guan Yu hopes to work with clients across the globe and help increase production line yield through automated composite grinding machinery and digitization, resolving clients’ issues of labor shortage, high overhead, and Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals.
