Case Studies

Subcontractor’s highly productive VMCs will give any competitor a run for their money, from Budapest to Beijing. A seminal moment has arrived in British manufacturing, it appears. Using the latest ultra-highspeed machine tools, UK subcontractors can rival their competitors in low-wage countries and still make a profit. Paul Cobb, managing director of Nottingham contract machinists, Hemlock Engineering, describes how
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Turnover doubles in six years despite headcount increasing by only 14% Automated machining cells are the route to high production output in a small footprint with minimum operator attendance and in hot pursuit of this goal is Alford, Lincolnshire-based Drury Precision Engineering. The firm carries out a small amount of subcontract machining, its main business
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Lincolnshire motorcycle accessory manufacturer, Drury Precision Engineering, is world-famous for its high quality Evotech Performance (www.evotech-performance.com) range of motorcycle accessories such as replacement tail tidies, crash protection products, engine guards and guards for radiators and oil coolers. Intended mainly for road bikes but, in some instances also fitted to their racing counterparts, the products are
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A familiar refrain among contract machinists is that they do not know what type of job will come in next, so machine tools on the shop floor need to be as flexible as possible to tackle a wide range of component types and sizes. One machining centre that offers a particularly high level of versatility
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Leicester subcontract machinists, Nisan Engineering, was recently awarded a new contract to machine stainless steel splitter valves used in the food industry. Complex internal profiles dictated the need for full simultaneous 5-axis machining, so managing director Mukesh Prajapati set about acquiring suitable capacity for the work. After researching the market, he decided that a Spinner
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By employing a novel method for protecting the table’s X and Y axis guideways from swarf and coolant ingress, using a single wiper system and without recourse to telescopic covers, the German machine tool manufacturer, Spinner, has managed to endow its new VC1150 vertical machining centre with a working volume of 1,150 x 620 x
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With a specification that includes 1g or higher linear acceleration to 60 m/min rapid traverse and 20 m/min cutting feed, 1.2 seconds toolto-tool change and seven seconds pallet change, the new Akari HS-450j 4-axis horizontal machining centre from Whitehouse Machine Tools is one of the most productive on the market for producing components within a
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Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is enjoying an unprecedented upturn in sales since Tata Motors took over the group in 2008, making the automotive manufacturer a major driver for growth in manufacturing across the West Midlands and beyond. Managing that success brings challenges along the supply chain due to difficulty in anticipating global demand for the
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5-axis machining cell is ideal for high mix, low-to medium batch production. A new, 5-axis machining cell has dramatically increased the efficiency and flexibility with which prismatic components are manufactured around the clock at the Crediton works of subcontractor, Adaero Precision Components. The turnkey cell, costing one-third less than similar equipment shortlisted, was supplied in
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Significant cost savings and single-digit micron tolerances achieved. Since June 2013, sleeves and spools for servo control valves have been hard turned by Eaton Fluid Power, Havant, in a robotically loaded CNC lathe built by the German firm, Spinner, and supplied through UK agent, Whitehouse Machine Tools. The high precision production cell has slashed cycle
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