Specialist Gear Manufacturer Acknowledged with Significant Achievement Award

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Victorian based and world renowned gear manufacturer Ronson Gears Pty Ltd has been recently acknowledged as the winner of the 2013 Endeavour Awards 'Significant Achievement Award'.
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Founded by Ronald New in 1954, with a passion for precision engineering, the company started in a small workshop with a lathe and a gear hobbing machine. Over the intervening period the company has established an international reputation for innovation and precision engineering excellence. Moving to new premises in Highett Victoria in 1967, the company has continued to expand and invest in world leading precision machinery and technology.

The production of precision gears at Ronson relates to experience built year on year and its products offering now crosses over a range of industries including agriculture, aerospace, automotive, defence, energy, medical, mining and rail.

Innovative engineering and custom made solutions include spur and helical gears, precision profile ground gearing, gear racks, straight tooth mitre gears and bevel gears, internal gears, internal and external splines, custom-built gearboxes, worms and worm gears, sprockets, serrations, ratchets and timing pulleys. The company also specialises in broaching, tooth rounding, tooth chamfering, gear inspection and analysis, specialised gearboxes, hob and cutter sharpening services and CNC wire cutting.

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Ronson's finished products end up in applications such as pumps, exciter gearboxes, rail traction motors, sugar cane harvesters, underground and above ground mining vehicles, industrial gearboxes, aftermarket 4WD differential gear boxes, lifting mechanisms on waste trucks, deep core drilling gearboxes, rock drilling applications, cranes, hoists, defence applications, gearboxes for sliding doors in commercial buildings and all form part of the offerings from this highly specialised manufacturer.

"Gearing is an exact science and at Ronson we manufacture to exacting international standards such as ISO, AGMA and DIN," said Gavin New, Sales & Marketing at Ronson Gears. "The engineering work that goes into making a gear is extreme and of critical importance so at every stage of production the process is verified to ensure a total focus on quality and service," he said.

On the quality issue Okuma has been an important partner over a long period of time with the first Okuma CNC machine commissioned more than 30 years ago and still in service today. A strong relationship has been established with Okuma management and service personnel over these years built on trust and integrity. Today the extensive range of state-of-the-art machinery includes seven Okuma CNC Lathes, CNC Milling and Fanuc Wire Cutting machines all CNC controlled. The most recent Okuma machine commissioned is an ACE Centre Model MB-56VA CNC Milling machine now playing a critical role in ensuring not only the highest precision standards but fast, economic benefits to maintain an international competitive edge for both the company and its customers.

 

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Materials machined by Ronson Gears include case hardened steels (8620, 18CrNiMo7-6, EN36A), high tensile steels (4140, 4340), carbon steels (1045), nylon, aluminium and stainless steels. Diameters range from 5mm to 425mm in the Okuma lathes and they are often used to hard turn bores to tolerances of 10 microns. The Okuma Ace Centre is often used to perform high speed milling of stainless steel at a hardness of 40Rc and is also used to achieve positional tolerances on planet carriers of approximately 10 microns.

"The highly accurate Okuma lathes and machining centres play an essential part in the company's ability to deliver finished precision gearing to the customer's satisfaction," said Gavin New.

On Ronson Gears most recent achievement, Okuma Australia Pty Ltd, Managing Director, Phil Hayes commented "Ronson Gears is indeed a long-time customer of Okuma and is a classic example of Australian business skill, careful research and development into their specific and demanding field which is gear technology and production. It takes plenty of research to stay ahead these days and I admire the approach Ronson management have always taken towards knowledge acquisition and achieving high quality and leading edge productivity. The Endeavour Awards 'Significant Achievement Award' is a worthy one for a great local company," he said.
 
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This most recent award recognises Ronson Gears significant achievements in increasing productivity, innovation, sustainability and competitiveness on the international market. Embracing TXM Lean Solutions, Visual and 5S systems has resulted in improved lead times on short and long production runs that have been applauded by Ronson Gear's customers at home and abroad.

With the support of Enterprise Connect Business Review, new growth markets were identified and planning systems improved, resulting in an impressive spike in export sales for the company of more than 270% over the last twelve months.

To maintain an international competitive edge Ronson Gears has embraced World's Best Practice throughout its plant and believes that Okuma plays an important role in the supply and service of leading edge technology.