Gear Headquarters, a specialty gear facility known for quick-turn breakdown and repair services, has installed a Hera 750 CNC gear hobbing machine from Helios Gear Products. The upgrade modernizes the company's legacy gear cutting operations, enabling the team to produce custom gears faster and more reliably while bringing higher-volume OEM production in-house.
Historically a quick-turn job shop, Gear Headquarters often outsourced higher-volume OEM work. With the Hera 750's rigidity, speed, and dialog programming, the team now runs those OEM production parts in-house with faster cycles and consistent quality, improving lead times, process control, and margins. This same capability also accelerates custom and emergency replacement jobs.
From Job Shop to OEM Production, Fast
"We are a specialty gear facility; we see everything come through the door," said Jonny Wright of Gear Headquarters. "This Hera is the biggest advancement I have ever seen our company make, and I love bringing customers in to see it. It is huge for us because we can process jobs faster and at a higher quality than we ever could before, keeping those customers happier than ever."
Early results underscore the expansion from one-off, emergency replacement work to repeatable OEM production. Jason Spitzer of Helios Gear Products shared, "There was a part that used to be a 14-hour cycle with multiple cuts and a hob change. We got that down to about 45 minutes, and Jonny stood in front of the machine grinning like a kid on Christmas. I will never forget it."
On the shop floor, Brad Stueve, the newest machinist at Gear Headquarters, added: "We had jobs that took three days on the older machines. Now they take about six hours. The finishes look almost ground-like, and the repeatability is insane."
Quality, Repeatability, and Measurable Productivity
The Hera 750's rigidity and control offer speed without sacrificing quality:
- A recurring three-blank stack ran in 44 minutes during acceptance, down from about 8 hours.
- A 14-hour job with multiple cuts and a hob change is now completed in about 45 minutes.
- Parts that needed three to four passes on manual machines now achieve a better finish in one pass, with much faster set-up.
"We can run a part, shut it off, then come back months later, and it can repeat the same exact job: same offsets, nothing changed," said Stueve.
A Collaborative Journey: from Kansas City to Korea
The relationship between Helios and Gear Headquarters included a hands-on pre-acceptance of the Hera 750 in South Korea.
"In the quote it said we could go to the facility in Korea for a run-off, and I wanted to get out there to see it and get my hands on it," Wright recalled. "We made nine blanks across three gear styles, and the factory built fixtures for them. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life. Seeing how they set up, and how they were not afraid to take a huge pass, opened my eyes to what we could do."
Those fixtures were shipped home with the machine, helping Gear Headquarters jump-start early OEM programs, shipping their first parts in only a few days.
Fast Ramp-up, Even for New Talent
"One of the things I am most proud of is how quickly Brad took to the machine," Wright said. "He had no gear manufacturing experience, and within a few days of training with Helios' Edgar, he was running solo and pushing new projects with very little assistance."
Stueve added, "Edgar's been awesome: email or phone, he is very responsive and was with me every step of the way, keeping everything clean and precise."
Tool Life Gains and Downstream Savings
Beyond cycle time, the shop is realizing tooling and labor efficiencies. "In Korea we ran nine gears and did not have to shift once. The rigidity and the right speeds and feeds let us chop through like nothing," Wright said. He pointed to a tough 4340 quench-tempered application (164-tooth, 22" O.D., 3" face) that forced rough/finish hob changes on a manual machine for the past seven years: "On the Hera we cut two gears before needing to change tools."
Less shifting and fewer regrinds, combined with the machine's automated deburring features, reduce burr formation and touch-time, helping lower consumable tool and secondary operation costs while improving flow for tight OEM schedules.
Built for the Next Generation and the Next OEM Program
With seasoned manual operators in short supply, Helios emphasized usability of the Hera platform.
"The Hera's dialog programming lets a new generation stand in front of the machine, learn it in a few days, and then scale their productivity," said Spitzer.
Wright also noted set-up differences: "No more change gears or gear trains. You just tell the machine what you want and it sets itself, even throwing an error if it does not like something you input. Which is nice, because the manual machines do not care. When you hit go, they are going no matter what. It has saved us more than once."
Looking Ahead
The Hera 750 sits front and center in the shop, and the team has left room for another. "If Jonny had his way, he would have at least one more," Spitzer said. "They have seen what a modern, rigid CNC can do for productivity and OEM throughput. The Hera platform is available in multiple sizes, and a smaller companion to the 750 is a natural next step."
For more information contact:
Gear Headquarters
3012 S 24th St.
Kansas City, KS 66106
913-831-1700
www.gearheadquarters.com
Helios Gear Products, LLC
635 Schneider Dr.
South Elgin, IL 60177
847-931-4121
sales@heliosgearproducts.com
www.heliosgearproducts.com