SIMMONS completes start-up of world’s most automated railway wheel set production line

 

Muscle Shoals, Alabama and Albany, New York- September 17, 2009

Simmons Machine Tool Corporation of Albany, New York has completed start-up of the world’s most automated wheel set production line for National Alabama Corporation’s ‘state of the art’ railcar production facility in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The wheelset production line consists of an axle finishing line that processes axles from a semi-finished condition to finish size. A wheel machining cell utilizes Simmons machines and automated handling equipment to process wheel bores to match axle wheelseat diameters produced on the axle line. Simmons equipment also is used to mount the wheels on to the axles and is completely automated.  

Simmons claims that one of the key advantages to its technology is extremely low misfit rates resulting from complete control of the axle, wheel and wheelset mounting process. Additional benefits consist of improved safety due to near elimination of direct interface with the equipment by workers.  

Together with its sister company Niles-Simmons and strategic partners Guedel Automation and SEMA Machine Tools, Simmons provides all of the key equipment required for the wheelset production line. AAR certification of the equipment has been obtained.

Simmons Machine Tool Corporation (www.smtgroup.com) manufactures machines dedicated to railway wheelset maintenance or production applications. The company is part of the NSH Group which is comprised of Hegenscheidt-MFD in Erkelenz, Germany, Niles-Simmons Industrieanlagen GmbH in Chemnitz, Germany, and NSH-CTI in Nanchang, China. The NSH Group has more than 1,100 employees worldwide and group sales exceeding US$ 380 Million.

For more information please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .