Case Studies

A shortage of skilled engineers and a desire continue with single day shift operation over an existing pattern of a four-day working week have all played a part over the past five years in prompting JWA CNC to research the best way to automate its production. It led in early March 2023 to the purchase
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Vision Engineering (www.visioneng.com), a world leader in ergonomic microscopy, digital 3D visualisation and metrology solutions, has bought a third fixed-head lathe, an Italian-built Biglia B620YS, for its production facility in Send, near Woking, Surrey. Supplied by UK and Ireland sales agent Whitehouse Machine Tools (www.wmtcnc.com), the machine was installed to turn a range of aluminium
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30-taper machining centres these days are much more robust than formerly and are not only fast but can also cut tough materials. One company that has discovered the merits of this type of prismatic machining equipment is Staffordshire Precision Engineering (SPE), Newcastle-under-Lyme. The subcontractor recently purchased a Brother R650X2 30-taper 4-axis machining centre with a
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Subcontracting firm Mintdale Engineering, Chesterfield, is run by four members of the Toyne family, managing director Chris, his wife and company secretary Christine and two other directors – their son Jason and his wife Julie. The company specialises in CNC turning of bar, tube and billet as well as CNC milling on five vertical machining
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Robotic component loading and unloading is helping prismatic components subcontractor Hemlock Engineering, Stapleford, to unleash the true productivity potential of its latest Brother 5-axis, 30-taper Speedio M200X3 vertical-spindle machining centre (VMC). The result has been a 500 percent increase in production output compared with manually-loaded machines on-site. The remarkable aspect of this automation success story
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Set up as recently as 2016 by ex-professional cyclist Andrew Cooper, Unite (www.uniteco.bike) has already established itself as an up-and-coming manufacturer of aftermarket cycle products. Having started out with two second-hand, 3-axis machining centres in a factory unit in Newtown, Powys, the company recently doubled the number of machines on the shop floor with the
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Launched in October 2021 by Brother at the EMO exhibition in Milan, the new Speedio W1000Xd1 30-taper, vertical machining centre has a one-metre X-axis, like the S1000X1 model that it supersedes. However there are profound differences between the two Japanese-built machines, according to sole sales and service agent in the UK and Ireland, Whitehouse Machine
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For the ongoing production of a particular component for a defence industry customer, subcontractor PRV Engineering (www.prv-engineering.co.uk), Pontypool, has invested in a Spinner U5-630 trunnion-type, 5-axis, vertical-spindle machining centre (VMC). It was delivered in mid-2021 by Whitehouse Machine Tools (www.wmtcnc.com), Kenilworth, sole sales and service agent for the German-built machines in the British and Irish
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Having installed a Japanese-built Brother production cell at the end of 2019, comprising two 5-axis Speedio M140X2 mill-turn centres served by a Feedio vision-based robotic unit for component handling, Worthing subcontractor Roscomac has ordered a second identical cell. Due to be delivered in April 2021 by Brother’s sole UK agent Whitehouse Machine Tools, the latest
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Established in 1989, Mildenhall subcontractor CTPE (www.ctpe.co.uk) focuses on medium to large volume production of high precision components for the scientific, medical, electronics and defence sectors using 3- to 5-axis vertical machining centres (VMCs) as well as fixed- and sliding-head CNC lathes. To expand its prismatic machining capacity, in July 2020 the company invested in
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