Coaches are all over the field, out of the way but close enough to see exactly what the nearest players are doing and to easily hear and be heard. Brian Esposito, whose title is Game Strategy Assistant (essentially bench coach), sits off to the side near one dugout relaying signs to the infielders. Shildt roams.

Programming the additional axis is somewhat more complex than that for a three-axis machine, but the moving axis provides greater accessibility when turning complex parts and as a result is faster and more efficient. The round inserts combined with light depths of cut and the ability to rotate/swivel the cutting tool relative to the workpiece axis effectively creates more cutting edges and increases tool life. Regarding insert geometry and style, global toolmaker Ceratizit Inc. typically recommends its RCMT and RCGT inserts for trochoidal turning and GX24 inserts for trochoidal grooving using 4-6 mm nose radii and M3 chip breakers.

Few among us would turn down turning results that produce a much higher metal removal rate when cutting difficult-to-machine materials such as stainless steels and nickel and titanium-based alloys. That is the promise of trochoidal turning, a machining strategy in which tool paths and the entry and exit movements are optimized to maximize metal removal rates. The simultaneous use of different axes in combination with round indexable inserts and advanced CAM software are the keys to trochoidal turning’s success.

Some things are cliches because they’re true. And “doing the little fundamentals that count” is another way to state one of Shildt’s core beliefs — that a championship-level team must excel at “winning on the margins.”

There is action and encouragement and instruction going on all at once. It is designed to keep players who have been working on the same things year after year in much the same way paying attention.

Both controls are actuated by G-code, Zunis adds. There is a syntax that tells the number of vibrations, the frequency, the length of cut and how far the tool moves in one rev of the spindle. “Experience will help determine parameters to get in the ballpark,” Zunis continues. “It’s related to how far the tool moves in one revolution of the spindle to the feed rate. You want to break the chip at least once per revolution. That’s a good starting point. Some materials you can go around hundreds—or even thousands—of revs before chips become a major problem. Oscillation cutting capability works well on smaller machines where chips can have a major impact on machine operations.”

Describing what is happening now and portraying why it is happening and how people feel about it can’t help but seem like a slam on the past coaching staff. And certainly, a number of people in the organization (some in the front office, some on the coaching staff, some players) felt that there was not enough preparation or attention to detail last year — neither before the season nor before games.

Said Shildt: “At its best, it morphs into group involvement, mostly driven by players, just sharing thoughts about the game, what we saw, reinforcing good things but also how we want to operate and conduct ourselves.”

“The biggest challenges that shops face are still feeds and speeds, chip breaker and chip control, tool life and productivity improvement,” Garud notes. “Multilayer coating technology has introduced sophisticated ways to combine single coatings into multilayer coatings to target specific machining problems. So instead of a single layer of TiCN, AlTiN, Al2O3 and TiAlN, multilayers of these coatings used in various combinations and thicknesses are able to reduce cracking that leads to tool breakage and flaking. A cobalt enriched substrate also adds to a tough substrate, further preventing chipping while not compromising the hardness and high-speed capabilities of the grade.

Peoria, AZ - February 11: Manager Mike Shildt walks out of the clubhouse during the first day of Padres spring training workouts the at Peoria Sports Complex on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024 in Peoria, AZ. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Peoria, AZ - February 17: Ha-Seong Kim goes through fielding drills during spring training workouts at the Peoria Sports Complex on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024 in Peoria, AZ. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

An exercise that many times in many camps is monotonous has turned into something stimulating. Beautiful even, with a controlled frenzy akin to an ensemble number in a Broadway blockbuster.

“You can eliminate fear about running a complex part because all the travels, axis values and centers of operation are set up the same as the physical machine,” he continues. “By combining cycle support and the digital twin, you get almost a fully closed loop process from development and testing of the part to running the part. The only thing that’s missing in this scenario is inspection.”

Most days this spring training, the Padres are not on the field as a group for as long as they were in past camps. Yet it could be argued they are getting more done.

Development of CNC control technology for multitasking machines brought turning and milling together on one platform for Siemens, according to Daniel Vitullo, business development territory manager for Siemens Industry Inc., Elk Grove Village, Illinois. “We developed turning and milling on a single platform, which makes transition from one technology to the other seamless,” he says. “Whether a turn-mill or a mill-turn, depends on which is primary functionality.”

Targeting the growing market for high-mix/low-volume production of small and slender precision parts, Mazak has introduced its Syncrex series of Swiss style machines also manufactured in the Florence facility. The Syncrex machines feature improved design for machining of smaller parts from 12'- (3.66 m-) long bar stock in diameters of 1.5" (38.1 mm) or less. The series features one-piece-polymer, casting-machine base that is said to be 10% more rigid than cast iron with thermal control that reduces part variation by 25%. In addition, Mazak Dynamic Chip Control reduces long, stringy chips that can foul tooling and mar surface finishes, according to the company.

Increased feed rates put greater stress on machine tool components. Feed rate is directly proportional to metal removal rate and higher metal removal rates place larger demands on the machine tool spindle. However, round positive style inserts generally are softer cutting, so in most cases trochoidal turning is suitable for lower power machines.

The reality is that when a new manager comes in, the path is always cleared for new ways of doing things. And those things are almost always universally lauded by players.

Peoria, AZ - February 16: Xander Bogaerts shakes hands with Manny Machado during Padres spring training workouts at the Peoria Sports Complex on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024 in Peoria, AZ. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

The work they are doing is focused and intentional. It is done crisply. It is designed to be highly effective by being to the point.

Vitullo says, “It’s physically the SINUMERIK ONE control which is driving the machine, and the digital twin is driving that simulation with the same control. The digital twin and the physical machine use the same parameters and settings, this also includes travel limits and drive settings. For us, the digital twin is a true real-world simulation. This means when using the SINUMERIK ONE digital twin you have full-cycle support. If you call up the cycle for drilling or high-speed milling, the machine operator doesn’t have to guess about the outcome. What happens in simulation is what will happen at the machine. It’s not your machine’s control. What most others do, they look at how our cycle works and they emulate it off the code from the post we run the same cycle in both simulation and at the machine,” Vitullo explains.

For multitasking processing capability, Papke cites the QT-Ez’s milling and Y-axis off-centerline capability. “For still more productivity, QT-Ez machine seamlessly integrates with a range of automation solutions. These include simple bar feeders and parts catchers as well as full cooperative robot installations such as Mazak’s Automation Systems Cobot Cell,” Papke says.

The benefits of highly engineered form tooling for turning include shorter cycle times, fewer tools, reduced number of setups and significantly improved tool life, according to Johnny Freeze, business development director at GWS.

GWS offers a number of profiling products, each featuring quick change replaceable heads and adjustable movements. They include:

Finding cutting solutions for precision turning applications—whether for conventional CNC, multitasking machining of complex workpieces or high-volume, Swiss-style production—means considering all relevant parameters of the application, says Sarang Garud, product manager, turning, drilling, boring, Walter USA LLC, Waukesha, Wisc. “I don’t take the shotgun approach. I prefer the rifle when it comes to formulating a cutting solution strategy with our latest technologies,” Garud says.

Trochoidal turning is essentially separated into two strategies: “simple” done on conventional turning machines, and “simultaneous” performed on machines with B-axis movement. These turning strategies are similar to trochoidal milling, which combines a spiraling cutting path with straight-ahead motion. Turning similarly features lower depths of cut, higher feeds and faster cutting speeds than conventional turning.

At its longest, the entire defensive drills session is 20 minutes. In past years, these drills were conducted in a far more predictable manner and almost always lasted longer.

“One mechanism is achieved by introducing elasticity with a layered coating that includes TiCN that helps resist crack formation. Additional grain-oriented Al2O3 coating layers further improve crater wear resistance, allowing the grades to run much faster cutting speeds. The benefits to the shop are high process reliability, excellent surface finish and dimensional stability over the production run of steels or cast irons,” Garud says.

“We’ve just got to play better,” he said. “You know, focus on the little things — on playing baseball the right way and doing the little fundamentals that count that make you execute in the big moments.”

ThriftPoint—approaching from the end, this single flute inserted tool will profile the part with the support of a bushing. Think face, radius/angle, similar to a needle valve.

Manufacturing processes can be completely flexible with the automated changing of mandrels and chucks. Clamping device changeover includes zero-point clamping systems for both turning and milling. In addition, Hainbuch’s intelligent IQ clamping devices, both as a chuck for O.D. clamping and as a mandrel for I.D. clamping, facilitate upstream and downstream measuring processes. Workpieces are continuously measured for diameter, temperature, workpiece contact and clamping force. Measurement data are relayed to the machine controller for analysis via contactless data and energy transmission, closing the production loop.

Just before the play, Cronenworth clarifies the sign with Esposito. A ball is launched from a machine into right field. Fernando Tatis Jr. catches it. Second baseman Xander Bogaerts yells that the throw should be cut off. Cronenworth catches the ball and throws to third trying to get the runner who is returning to the bag.

Chip control, especially for difficult-to-machine and so-called “gummy” materials, is always a prime target for ways to break bird-nesting chips into easy-to-handle, tiny, steel-mimicking chips. Unique, high-frequency cutting capability on CNC controls is leading the way. New tooling concepts for high-volume turning operations and automation are always welcomed into shops looking to increase productivity or enter into new markets.

“That’s what they’ve done this year really well is make it less about the amount of time that we’re spending on the field and the reps that we’re doing and making sure that every (rep) is quality,” pitcher Joe Musgrove said.

Standard round turning inserts increase toolpath flexibility and permit smooth entry and exit from the workpiece. The insert is always in the cut, eliminating the time lost returning to a set point after every pass. Trochoidal turning performs longitudinal and face turning as well as radial and axial grooving. Because of the possibility of using high feed rates to get good chip breaking, the approach is also beneficial when turning soft but tough ductile materials that normally produce long chips that endanger operators and wrap around the tool.

Thrift Edge—approaching from the side, this inserted tool will profile the part. Think multiple grooves, cornerbreaks/radii, similar to a piston (four grooves at once).

That is singing A.J. Preller’s song. For all his flashy acquisitions and philosophy of stocking a team with a core of a difference-making talent, the Padres’ President of Baseball Operations believes constant teaching is the means by which a team can bring about its best version.

Shildt and a largely turned-over coaching staff have not reinvented how to teach baseball. They are simply a group with a background in player development running a truncated spring training for a team trying to move on from a season in which it monumentally underachieved in agonizingly small increments.

Walter’s turning tools cover ISO turning, grooving and parting off, as well as thread turning. Precision turning tools, boring bars and parting blades are available with standard ISO square shanks, as well as with all interfaces that are standard in turning applications.

Shildt’s background is as a teacher of the game. He came up in the Cardinals system as a minor league instructor and coach and manager and then a major league coach before managing the big-league club for 3½ seasons.

For Hainbuch America Corp., Germantown, Wis., the acquisition of Vischer & Bolli Automation (VBA) expanded the automation technology available for turning and milling robot cells. VBA robot cells for turning and milling small parts up to 10 kg, VBA Robilo cells for 80-kg workpieces and even modular cells as large as 500 kg are available.

A significant piece of the machining puzzle is provided by the Digital Twin that resides within the SINUMERIK ONE CNC. “We’re not talking about conventional two-axis lathes. These machines represent million dollar and more investments in advanced machining technology,” Vitullo points out. “Our digital twin is native to the control. It simulates the operation of the multitasking machine. If I flip a tool around, the digital twin will recognize it and simulate the operation of the machine.”

“For example, I have this complex part, and what I’m doing is opening up cycles and filling in the blanks adding turning to a mill,” he continues. “Tool orientation is managed by the cycles and the cycles manage the tools so I don’t have to. All I have to do is run the part. Visualization will show what’s going on.”

When it comes to turning machine solutions, it’s hard to argue with Mazak Corp., Florence, Ky. The company supplies sophisticated Integrex five-axis, multitasking machines to produce complex workpieces for aerospace, as well as its most recently introduced QT-Ez 12MY multitasking systems.

“Turning is very specific,” Garud notes. “Everything matters and there are many parameters to consider. It all comes down to feeds and speeds and how our newest technologies fit the application’s specific requirements.

Chip breakage of exotic materials, stainless steels and those with high nickel content is always a challenge in turning operations, according to David Zunis, director of service and applications engineering, Absolute Machine Tools, Lorain, Ohio. “When turning these materials, chips tend to ball up and nest up, leading to insert and tool breakage, causing all kinds of problems, including broken tool arms for cutoff detection. The best condition you can have is breaking those chips into tiny little chips so that they fall away much like chips for carbon steel,” Zunis says.

ThriftTurn—approaching from the end, this two-flute inserted tool will profile the part with the ability to adjust each insert independently. Think face, radius/angle and a thread blank, similar to a welding tip.

Software provider Open Mind Technologies AG engineered hyperMILL software to expedite trochoidal turning on conventional CNC turning machines, enabling easy programming of trochoidal turning on standard three-axis turning machines. Using a multitasking machine with B-axis capability enables a shop to take full advantage of the benefits of trochoidal turning strategies.

Peoria, AZ - February 16: Xander Bogaerts and Ha-Seong Kim work on fielding drills during Padres spring training workouts at the Peoria Sports Complex on Friday, Feb. 16, 2024 in Peoria, AZ. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Walter’s latest innovation is the Tiger-tec Gold CVD grade, which can be used for applications from low-carbon steels to high-alloy steels. Steel and cast-iron solutions are closely related.

Walking along the grass just beyond the infield, field coordinator Ryan Barba yells out: “Runner on first, left-handed hitter.”

To learn the ins and outs of the shop’s turning application, Garud advocates an extensive checklist of questions about a shop’s process capabilities and operations. What kind of machine? How old? How robust? What kind of cut finishing/medium/roughing? Interrupted or not? Coolant? Material (steel, cast iron, stainless)? Difficult to machine? Chip control, chip breaker?

Y-axis turning can also be used in static mode with a locked spindle for flexible two-axis turning with fast insert indexing. The method is suitable for all materials and requires a multitask machine, turning centers or vertical lathe with options to allow interpolation of the milling spindle axis during turning.

“The difference between the two is that FANUC uses software to achieve its high-frequency cutting action, while Mitsubishi uses hardware to achieve the same results,” Zunis says. “The technique is achieved by oscillating the cutting axis at a frequency in the kilohertz range. It isn’t something that you can easily program using traditional programming practices. The action is to feed a little bit in any axis that is cutting, dwell or reverse a little, then feed a little more, then dwell and reverse, etc. A traditional program would be extremely long and labor intensive to prepare.”

How the Padres intend to improve on their 82-80 (and playoff-less) 2023 was elucidated by Manny Machado earlier this month.

Just about the opposite of achieving the best version of itself was the 2023 Padres, whose gross underachievement was aggravatingly encapsulated in a 9-23 record in one-run games. That was the third-worst winning percentage (.281) in one-run games in the past 15 MLB seasons. Victories in their final two one-run games kept them from having the worst such record since 1934.

Several people who worked with Shildt in the Cardinals organization predicted during the offseason that Padres spring training would have a different look this year. And so it has.

“It’s a game of margins,” Jake Cronenworth said. “How do you win in those margins? It’s doing the little things right, executing at a high level in spots you need to. You might win a game on a runner on second base and the guy cuts the ball off and gets the trail runner. Little things like that.”

With the expanded expertise in automation, Hainbuch is able to support its customers throughout the entire manufacturing process. The modular design of the cells lends itself to choosing the extent of functionality. Options include pallet-, workpiece- and toolholder-handling systems, as well as a master computer for entire cells.

For CNC turning, whether Swiss-style or multiple spindle machines, GWS Tool Group, Nashville, Tenn., has developed a custom profiling inserted tooling system that replaces standard, single-point indexable tools with form tools. Cycles on CNC machines are reduced by replacing single-point tooling with toolholders that hold form or profile tooling that make a plunge move rather than making several passes with IC indexable inserts.

PEORIA, Ariz.PEORIA, Ariz. — The team that is trying to get a little bit better in small ways is spending less time working on more.Most days this spring training, the Padres are not on the field as a group for as long as they were in past camps. Yet it could be argued they are getting more done.The work they are doing is focused and intentional. It is done crisply. It is designed to be highly effective by being to the point.“Preparation with intent,” in the words of new hitting coach Victor Rodriguez.Whether it is infield drills, batting practice, fine tuning on the bases, there is no standing around in 2024.“I will not waste players’ time,” new Padres manager Mike Shildt said.Describing what is happening now and portraying why it is happening and how people feel about it can’t help but seem like a slam on the past coaching staff. And certainly, a number of people in the organization (some in the front office, some on the coaching staff, some players) felt that there was not enough preparation or attention to detail last year — neither before the season nor before games.The reality is that when a new manager comes in, the path is always cleared for new ways of doing things. And those things are almost always universally lauded by players. All that can be said at this point is that it is the players who have to buy in or not. And so far they have.“It’s a game of margins,” Jake Cronenworth said. “How do you win in those margins? It’s doing the little things right, executing at a high level in spots you need to. You might win a game on a runner on second base and the guy cuts the ball off and gets the trail runner. Little things like that.”That is singing A.J. Preller’s song. For all his flashy acquisitions and philosophy of stocking a team with a core of a difference-making talent, the Padres’ President of Baseball Operations believes constant teaching is the means by which a team can bring about its best version.He has clashed repeatedly with managers and coaches on this principle.Just about the opposite of achieving the best version of itself was the 2023 Padres, whose gross underachievement was aggravatingly encapsulated in a 9-23 record in one-run games. That was the third-worst winning percentage (.281) in one-run games in the past 15 MLB seasons. Victories in their final two one-run games kept them from having the worst such record since 1934.Shildt and a largely turned-over coaching staff have not reinvented how to teach baseball. They are simply a group with a background in player development running a truncated spring training for a team trying to move on from a season in which it monumentally underachieved in agonizingly small increments.How the Padres intend to improve on their 82-80 (and playoff-less) 2023 was elucidated by Manny Machado earlier this month.“We’ve just got to play better,” he said. “You know, focus on the little things — on playing baseball the right way and doing the little fundamentals that count that make you execute in the big moments.”Some things are cliches because they’re true. And “doing the little fundamentals that count” is another way to state one of Shildt’s core beliefs — that a championship-level team must excel at “winning on the margins.”One of the places that aim plays out here this spring is on Field 2 every morning.The Padres’ defensive drills — 10:05, 10:15 or 10:25 a.m., depending on that day’s schedule — are appointment viewing.Really, they are that fun to watch.An exercise that many times in many camps is monotonous has turned into something stimulating. Beautiful even, with a controlled frenzy akin to an ensemble number in a Broadway blockbuster.There is action and encouragement and instruction going on all at once. It is designed to keep players who have been working on the same things year after year in much the same way paying attention.There is more than energy. There is urgency.Every team works on the same plays. The difference is in the details.Here is how the Padres do it:Coaches are all over the field, out of the way but close enough to see exactly what the nearest players are doing and to easily hear and be heard. Brian Esposito, whose title is Game Strategy Assistant (essentially bench coach), sits off to the side near one dugout relaying signs to the infielders. Shildt roams.Walking along the grass just beyond the infield, field coordinator Ryan Barba yells out: “Runner on first, left-handed hitter.”Coaching assistant Scott Stroud hits a grounder toward the mound, where pitcher Matt Waldron fields it and begins a double play.Barba yells, “Runners at first and third, right-handed hitter, one out, fast runners everywhere.”Infielders creep forward. Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim fields a chopped grounder and throws home to get the runner. (There is an actual baserunner.)Barba yells, “Runner on third, one out. Right-handed hitter.”Just before the play, Cronenworth clarifies the sign with Esposito. A ball is launched from a machine into right field. Fernando Tatis Jr. catches it. Second baseman Xander Bogaerts yells that the throw should be cut off. Cronenworth catches the ball and throws to third trying to get the runner who is returning to the bag.Barba yells, “Runner on second. Right-handed hitter.”Minor-league pitcher Robby Snelling is on the mound, and Bogaerts sprints to second behind the runner. Snelling steps off the mound. Infield coach Tim Leiper tells Cronenworth to talk to Snelling. The veteran reminds Snelling to look at second, then pick up the catcher. They try again, Snelling executes a perfect pickoff.“Hell yeah!” Leiper yells. There are claps all around the field.Barba is already yelling the circumstance for the next play. And on it goes for eight to 10 minutes.Even with all the consulting and coaching and cajoling, this all happens at a rapid clip, with stunning efficiency.“It’s very intentional, and it seems like it’s game speed,” Bogaerts said. “For me, it helps because, like, if you’re doing fricking cuts and relays every play, you kind of know what you’re doing. But now we got a double play, now we got a relay, now we got a cutoff, now it’s this and then this. So it’s not like I’m cheating.”At its longest, the entire defensive drills session is 20 minutes. In past years, these drills were conducted in a far more predictable manner and almost always lasted longer. “That’s what they’ve done this year really well is make it less about the amount of time that we’re spending on the field and the reps that we’re doing and making sure that every (rep) is quality,” pitcher Joe Musgrove said.A supplement to the on-field work is “Ball Talk,” a meeting held a few mornings a week in the clubhouse where players and coaches go over game situations and see where the conversation leads.Said Shildt: “At its best, it morphs into group involvement, mostly driven by players, just sharing thoughts about the game, what we saw, reinforcing good things but also how we want to operate and conduct ourselves.”The gatherings are modeled after the “yellow pad sessions” Shildt would have with his bosses as a manager in the minors with the Cardinals, where they would go over his in-game decisions. It is also similar to the exercise one of his mentors, Cardinals player development guru George Kissell, would conduct.“He’d come up to you out of the blue and be like, ‘All right, it’s the seventh inning, you got runners on first and third, you got a slow infield …’ He gives you these scenarios and he’d say, ‘What do you do?’ And you’d say you do this or that, and he goes, ‘That’s pretty good. But did you think about this?’ And he’d always test you,” Shildt recalled.Shildt’s background is as a teacher of the game. He came up in the Cardinals system as a minor league instructor and coach and manager and then a major league coach before managing the big-league club for 3½ seasons.His Cardinals teams made the playoffs in each of his three full seasons. They never ranked higher than 19th in runs scored in that time. But they ranked in to the top six in outs above average on defense each year and were ranked in the top four in baserunning two of the three seasons.Several people who worked with Shildt in the Cardinals organization predicted during the offseason that Padres spring training would have a different look this year. And so it has.“You’re only good at what you work on,” Shildt said, repeating one of Kissell’s mantras. “I won’t misrepresent that (things that lead to winning on the margins weren’t) worked on in the past. All I can represent is what we’re doing moving forward. And there’s a real intentionality of what that looks like.”

Applications for profiling with form tools include aerospace components, automotive workpieces such as bearings and shafts, hydraulic components, medical components and industrial products.

Minor-league pitcher Robby Snelling is on the mound, and Bogaerts sprints to second behind the runner. Snelling steps off the mound. Infield coach Tim Leiper tells Cronenworth to talk to Snelling. The veteran reminds Snelling to look at second, then pick up the catcher. They try again, Snelling executes a perfect pickoff.

Coaching assistant Scott Stroud hits a grounder toward the mound, where pitcher Matt Waldron fields it and begins a double play.

Infielders creep forward. Shortstop Ha-Seong Kim fields a chopped grounder and throws home to get the runner. (There is an actual baserunner.)

Absolute Machine Tools’ solution is offering three of its CNC turning machine lines with CNC control options that feature oscillation cutting. All three Absolute brands—Nexturn Swiss machines, LICO CNC screw machines and Quick Tech hybrid-production turning machines—feature either the Mitsubishi CNC or the FANUC CNC with their oscillation cutting technology capability called Vibration Cutting Control (VCC) and Servo Learning Oscillation (SLO), respectively.

GWS’s form tools include all geometries and angles of the workpiece. Carbide form tools allow more intricate profiles with tighter tolerances and improved cutting geometries, resulting in two to three times faster cycle times, Freeze says. Form tools that replace multiple IC indexable inserts reduce the chance of error and improve tool life, with form tools lasting for 1,500 to 5,000 parts compared with only several hundred for IC indexable inserts. Form tool life is two to three times that of single point tooling, according to Freeze.

CNC turning, on all of its machine platforms—Swiss, conventional and multitasking—is getting smarter, faster and more versatile through cleverly designed tools and software combinations. Which companies and solutions are vying for leadership all depends on what knotty problem is being addressed.

Cutting tools that can improve quality, reduce cycle time and handle the most complicated shapes and pockets are difficult—if not impossible—to find, unless you are looking at the latest iteration of all-directional, Y-axis turning with a single tool from Sandvik Coromant US, Mebane, N.C. The Y-axis turning method continues to add to the company’s earlier capabilities, such as its all-directional Prime Turning, non-linear turning and interpolation turning.

The gatherings are modeled after the “yellow pad sessions” Shildt would have with his bosses as a manager in the minors with the Cardinals, where they would go over his in-game decisions. It is also similar to the exercise one of his mentors, Cardinals player development guru George Kissell, would conduct.

To Vitullo’s way of thinking, the seamless connection is a major enhancement for machine-tool builders when it comes to adding processes like skivving, hobbing, grinding and other processes for customers. Adding functionality is a matter of opening up cycles and filling in the blanks. Simulation on the SINUMERIK ONE control helps operators know what’s going to happen when they run a complex part, Vitullo notes.

PEORIA, AZ - February 22: San Diego Padres' Mike Shildt looks on against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game in Peoria, AZ on February 22, 2024. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

“He’d come up to you out of the blue and be like, ‘All right, it’s the seventh inning, you got runners on first and third, you got a slow infield …’ He gives you these scenarios and he’d say, ‘What do you do?’ And you’d say you do this or that, and he goes, ‘That’s pretty good. But did you think about this?’ And he’d always test you,” Shildt recalled.

Two new tools have been developed to support Y-axis turning. The new CoroTurn Prime variant is suitable for shafts, flanges and components with undercuts. The CoroPlex YT twin-tool, featuring CoroTurn TR profiling inserts and CoroTurn 107 round inserts with rail interface, can be used for components with pockets and cavities.

PEORIA, AZ - February 22: San Diego Padres' Mike Shildt looks on against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game in Peoria, AZ on February 22, 2024. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Another important benefit of form tooling is that with all geometries and profiles of the part in the form tool, inspection can be done without checking every feature. “First and last piece inspection (per insert change) are enough to guarantee that all the parts in between were up to spec,” Freeze says.

“You’re only good at what you work on,” Shildt said, repeating one of Kissell’s mantras. “I won’t misrepresent that (things that lead to winning on the margins weren’t) worked on in the past. All I can represent is what we’re doing moving forward. And there’s a real intentionality of what that looks like.”

A combination of more capable modern machine tools and sophisticated CNC programming are driving the search for improved part quality. All-directional turning enables finishing complex shapes in a single cut without blend points. Wiper inserts can be kept perpendicular to the surface to also produce a wiper effect on tapered surfaces, the company says. In Y-axis turning, the main cutting forces are directed into the machine spindle, offering high process stability. Maintaining a constant entering angle during machining means chips can be optimally controlled.

Aimed squarely at the job shop market, the QT-Ez is “putting Mazak quality and reliability within reach for virtually any shop with productive, space-saving efficiency at an affordable price,” according to Greg Papke, vice president, sales and marketing for Mazak’s Advantec Product Group. The QT-Ez fills a niche right below Mazak’s ubiquitous Quick Turn machines.

As the name implies, the new method makes use of the Y-axis and all three axes used simultaneously when machining. The tool rotates around its own center. The insert is placed for machining in the Y-Z plane and the milling spindle axis interpolates during turning. This allows intricate shapes to be machined with a single tool.

“It’s very intentional, and it seems like it’s game speed,” Bogaerts said. “For me, it helps because, like, if you’re doing fricking cuts and relays every play, you kind of know what you’re doing. But now we got a double play, now we got a relay, now we got a cutoff, now it’s this and then this. So it’s not like I’m cheating.”

Applications for trochoidal turning include high-volume production operations such as manufacturing traditional automotive components, including axles and shafts.

A supplement to the on-field work is “Ball Talk,” a meeting held a few mornings a week in the clubhouse where players and coaches go over game situations and see where the conversation leads.

His Cardinals teams made the playoffs in each of his three full seasons. They never ranked higher than 19th in runs scored in that time. But they ranked in to the top six in outs above average on defense each year and were ranked in the top four in baserunning two of the three seasons.