Talking up the company is job 1 for Heller's new CEO.

As Bob Pelachyk ushers visitors across the 95,000-sq-ft production floor, he spies one of the 40 or so contract workers assigned to help build a $60 million manufacturing system--a turnkey configuration that will someday transform 1,200-lb cast iron blocks into big, big diesel engines. Being lunchtime, the worker hunkers behind his oversized toolbox, ready to transform his homemade dessert into a midday memory. Break time or no break time, though, Pelachyk stops to initiate some friendly banter with him, then explains to his visitors that he and this man share history as comrades in the machine tool business.

For Pelachyk, talking about his 43 years as a machine tool guy comes easy in front of almost anyone. Pelachyk can be downright garrulous a lot of the time--but it's a talkativeness grounded in knowledge and common sense, especially about the building of machine tools. As the new president and CEO of Heller Machine Tools North America, he is eager to spread the word about his Troy, MI, operation, a part of the German-based supplier of horizontal machining centers and flexible machining systems.

"As far as I'm concerned," Pelachyk insists, "Heller is the best-kept secret in the U.S."

Don't worry, though. Heller's American operation won't endure any measure of obscurity for long. Pelachyk is on the bully pulpit.

Engineering marvel

Last year, the 113-year-old German company decided to do more of its building of machines and systems in Michigan, recognizing that the United States remains the second-largest machine tool market after China. Toward that end, Heller put a new senior management team in place, with Pelachyk at the top, William J. Phelps as vice president of Troy operations, and Keith Vandenkieboom as vice president of global procurement.

In August 2006, the Heller team invited industry executives and other notables in the automotive business to see the construction of the machining line for a family of cast iron diesel engine blocks.

As the company notes, "the fully automated, gantry-loaded system [is designed to] completely machine the 1200-lb cast iron blocks ready for assembly in eight levels of machining operations. A combination of heavy-duty horizontal machining centers, a CNC headchanging machining center, and Heller's Flexible System Transferlines (FSTs) makes up the system."

As the largest program undertaken by Heller at its Troy facility, "the project began as a simultaneous engineering project for the customer. The project demonstrated how Heller would process the large part complete, within customer specifications, cycle time, and part cost goals," Heller says. "A result of an extensive simultaneous engineering project by Heller, the diesel block system includes Heller equipment and automation and assembly equipment from Liebherr, Harry Major, and Alfing. Each operation of the system [is to be] run-off at Heller's Troy facility before delivery to the customer."

The company boasts that "one of the major goals for the system is to provide maximum flexibility for the end user as the phases are installed and production ramps up without interfering with production. Product changes to the new engine block will be much easier to manage during the installation and production phases of the project because machining and assembly operations are processed in parallel."

The first phase of the system consists of 25 heavy-duty horizontal machining centers and two Heller FST systems and ancillary equipment capable of producing up to 40,000 engine blocks annually. Once Phase 1 is in production, it will be capable of running with little or no interruption as additional phases of equipment are installed. The second phase of the diesel block project will include installation of 16 additional machining centers and two gantry automation (load/unload/transfer) operations. The second phase of the installation will bring the system to a production capacity of 84,000 blocks a year, Heller reports. The third phase of the project installation will include an additional seven machining centers and will bring the system to a production capacity of 100,000 units per year.

For users, Heller says, "the benefits include cost advantages with initial investments and rebuilds, short lead times, reduced space requirements, and high system availability." Heller adds:

"The heavy-duty Heller MCD and MCH horizontal machining centers used in the system are robust machines capable of high-accuracy machining and holding repeatable tolerances on every aspect of the blocks. All machines in the system are capable of wet or dry machining, and the coolant and chip-handling system is above the floor and sealed to the machines. This, along with mist and dust extraction equipment, will produce an extremely clean work environment for the end user. The system also includes in-process automatic gaging with feedback capability to maintain statistical process control during production. This will minimize production interruptions and reduce the need for manual gaging during production. The modular design of the Heller machines allows the system to be configured to maximize accessibility and permit ease of operation. The system has been designed to permit direct pass-through operation that simplifies the end-user's plant layout and also permits direct processing of the blocks to the final assembly operations."

Pelachyk admits that he has been wildly impressed with the technology. "I've been in the business 43 years," Pelachyk tells Tooling & Production, "and I never thought [Heller] had the ability to do what it does until I got acquainted with it." Now "bitten" by the Heller tech bug, he is anything but shy about sharing his enthusiasm for his new company--even within the walls of the Troy operation.

Customers' champion

As a machine tool guy who has risen from the production floor to the CEO's office, Pelachyk emphasizes customer service 24/7. "I'm a firm believer that if you have someone with a problem, you send someone to fix it right away," says Pelachyk, who, as general manager at Cross Huller North America, accepted Ford Motor Company's Recognition of Achievement Award for Customer-Focused Technology. Today, Pelachyk, who also was a senior executive at Lamb Technicon, declares: "We're taking all the technology we have with Heller in Germany--which is just a fantastic company--and we're going to apply that in the U.S. I'm adamant about being on time with a job. Actually, I want to be early. And I'm definitely service-oriented."

A champion of strong training, the Heller CEO has hired a full-time trainer at the Troy operation in order to create a world-class training program. For instance, he notes, "with CNC you've got one spindle working its head off. So you have to get customers to understand that the biggest problem you're going to have is the replacement of spindles. We're putting together a customer-service package that allows a spindle-exchange program."

Inside the company, which currently includes 90 employees and 45 contractors, the boss works from a team philosophy.

"He'll have an opinion, but he'll want to hear yours first," says Vincent Trampus, vice president of sales. "He's not a micro-manager, and he has a lot of valuable experience."

"My management team runs the company," Pelachyk explains. "I'll put something on the table, with a couple of suggestions. And then I'll often leave the room. Ninety-nine percent of the time I'll want to go along with what they want to do.

"And if they don't have a plan when I get back," he quickly adds, "I'll have one."

As of right now, while the three-phase manufacturing system takes shape on the production floor, he is busy with his plan to get as much exposure for Heller as possible.

"I have a passion for the business," he says, "and it's very rewarding to work with a company that's succeeding." Heller Machine Tools, www.rsleads. com/701tp-150