With the growing number of small diameter pinion gears and sun gears for the planetary
gear reduction mechanism used for automatic transmissions (AT), the improvement of machining
efficiency is an issue. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) achieved highly-productive
machining for the newly developed GE10A hobbing machine by reducing the time needed for
cutting and set-up/tool changing, as well as by reviewing tool specifications. In addition, the
working environment was further improved through countermeasures for oil mist discharge and
machining noise.
