Growth drives investment in quality

The positive news continues to come out of Hertfordshire-based Plastic Turned Parts, with the company making further investment in its processes to ensure smooth workflow as demand increases for its expertise as one of the UK’s foremost exponents of machining plastic workpieces.

As sales continue to increase for Plastic Turned Parts, the need to drive efficiency becomes ever more important. While recent investment in machine tool technology has boosted machining capacity, focus then turned to quality and improving throughput in the inspection department. The result was the decision to purchase a Keyence IM 7020 image dimension measuring system, which will help to improve workflow through the quality control department with its ability to accurately measure width, radius and height dimensions on a range of components quickly, and with minimal manual intervention. The system also automatically records and stores all measurement data as soon as the part is measured. Traceability and efficiency is maintained as inspection reports can be created with a simple push of a button on the system’s interface.
This optical comparator system allows up to 99 dimensions to be measured on up to 99 parts, all within a matter of seconds, and to sub-micron accuracy.
“The system is incredibly easy to use; it’s almost plug and play,” says Jonathan Newis, managing director at Plastic Turned Parts. “We can program it for volume components that are likely to repeat or, it is just as straightforward and versatile when measuring individual parts.”
For further information www.plasticturnedparts.co.uk

Wenzel reaches 9000 milestone

Wenzel is celebrating following the installation of its landmark 9000th measuring machine, a feat that follows another important milestone in the German metrology specialist’s history – its 50th year in the business.

Installing the Wenzel LH 1512 3D CMM coincides with a record-breaking output of almost €92m in 2018, based on strong sales success across its four regions: DACH, EMEA, Asia and America. The CMM purchase also comes full circle, with the very first measuring machine sold in Austria and now its 9000th going to another firm in the country, Voestalpine Krems GmbH.
Heralding the landmark installation and prosperity across the region, Dr Heike Wenzel, managing partner of Wenzel Group, says: “In 1981, the very first measuring machine built by Wenzel was sold by agent GGW Gruber in Austria. Now, the 9,000th machine manufactured in our German factory – with the serial number 189000 – has also gone to Austria. That cannot be a coincidence.”
Installed at the Krems site in Austria, the decision to purchase the Wenzel LH 1512 3D CMM by Voestalpine means the firm can streamline its operations across the automotive, construction and energy sectors with high levels of performance and accuracy. Like all Wenzel machinery, the CMM has been engineered from granite to eliminate heat sensitivity and increase precision within its environment. The low cost of ownership and the competitive price-performance ratio of the CMM were further motivating factors behind the purchase of the 18-tonne machine by the Austrian technology specialist.
Wenzel’s LH 3D CMM is the latest in bridge-style technology. The machine’s long-term mechanical accuracy and ergonomic design, along with sensor choices to suit a range of applications, means it is suited to situations which require high throughput.
For further information www.wenzel-group.com

Citizen opens £3m Midlands centre

Citizen Machinery has opened a centre of excellence on a 1.1 acre site at Hurst Business Park in Brierley Hill, West Midlands.

A showroom, international conference area, customer training school, applications engineering department and administrative offices are housed within. The company will hold an open house at the facility for customers on 14-16 May.
Additional personnel – boosting the current headcount of 54 – are being recruited to work in the new centre, including staff for software development, applications engineering and machine servicing. These employees will be in addition to four people already working at a pre-existing building nearby, the former home of Miyano UK before the merger, which will remain a satellite facility as forward orders are so high that space will be needed to prepare installations.
For further information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk

Well prepared and well resourced

Mills CNC has recently supplied three Doosan machines to Mellish Engineering Services, a private, family-owned manufacturer of performance-critical, high-integrity and fully-traceable fasteners and hot-forged bolts used extensively, but not exclusively, in the oil and gas sector. The machines, a Mynx 6500/50 large-capacity vertical machining centre, a Puma 2600SY Mk II multi-tasking lathe and a DNM 4000 vertical machining centre were installed at the company’s 26,000 square foot facility in Aldridge towards the end of 2018.

Both standard and non-standard fastener components are being produced by the machines, including bolts, pins, clamps, studs, nuts and washers. These parts are all made from hard and difficult-to-machine materials, such as Duplex and Super Duplex stainless steels, carbon steel, titanium, Inconel and Monel, and are machined to tight dimensional tolerances and high-quality surface finishes. They are machined in small batches right through to larger volumes to suit individual customer requirements.
Mellish-manufactured fastener systems and solutions are in high demand. This demand has been fuelled, in no small part, by the company achieving API (American Petroleum Institute) certification back in 2017.
Explains Mark Rattenberry, Mellish’s managing director: “The global oil and gas industry has always been volatile, and oil price fluctuations are nothing new. However, the spectacular and rapid fall in oil prices, from a peak of $115 per barrel in June 2014 to under $35 at the end of February 2016, had a serious knock-on effect on our business, resulting in reduced sales revenues and an unwelcome squeeze on company profitability.”
As it would later transpire, 2014 proved to be a ‘watershed’ year for Mellish because, instead of battening down the hatches, cutting overheads and riding out the downturn, the company made the strategic decision to plan ahead and invest in its future.
“We took a long-term view and looked at ways to increase our share in a relatively flat, and sometimes declining market,” says Rattenberry. “A key decision we made was to gain API certification which, we believed, would not only differentiate us from our competitors but also, in the highly-regulated oil and gas sector where environmental and health and safety (EHS) concerns are paramount, position us as an approved quality supplier.”
In 2017 Mellish achieved its ambitions, gaining API Q1, API 20E and API 20F certification. Mellish is one of only a handful of companies across Europe to have achieved these standards and, as a consequence, is able to use the official API monogram on its machined products.
“API accreditation is the gold standard,” says Rattenberry. “It is an internationally recognised and accepted kite mark that has had a positive impact on sales”

Since 2017, Mellish has experienced a marked increase in the number of companies making contact, enquiring about the company’s solutions and, ultimately, placing orders. To meet the growing demand for its fastener systems and solutions, Mellish, as part of its company-wide continuous improvement programme, makes regular investment in its people, plant, equipment, processes and systems.
“We are always looking at ways to increase productivity and improve performance, and regularly audit and review our manufacturing processes to see how and where they can be improved,” explains Rattenberry. “Our future depends on us maintaining quality standards, meeting customer lead times and controlling costs. To help, we invest in the latest machine tool technologies.”
The recent acquisition of the three Doosan machines is a case in point and is evidence of Mellish’s continuous improvement programme in action.
The Mynx 6500/50 is a rigid, large-capacity, box guideway vertical machining centre with a large working envelope (1270 x 670 x 625 mm), a large work table (1400 x 670 mm) and a high torque BT50 spindle (15 kW/6000 rpm).
Doosan’s Mynx 6500/50 was purchased following the completion of a successful cutting trial undertaken at Mills CNC’s Technology Campus facility. The trial was intended to demonstrate the Mynx 6500/50’s cutting capabilities and its ability to reduce part cycle times when machining titanium tie-rod components.
“Our Mynx 6500/50 is a rigidly-built and constructed machine that is ideal for heavy-duty machining operations, and for machining the hard materials we use to manufacture our fasteners,” says Rattenberry. “In the machining trial and the subsequent machining process developed by Mills, the part cycle times for machining each titanium component was reduced by 15 minutes. This improvement in productivity, combined with the machine’s large working envelope, which we knew we could exploit to machine multiple parts in a single set-up, were the principal reasons why we purchased the machine.”
Since being installed, Mellish has its focused efforts on refining and optimising the machining process, and has invested in a state-of-the-art manual twin-pallet change system that is positioned in front of the machine, enabling virtually continuous production with minimal operator intervention.

The 10” chuck/76 mm bar diameter Puma 2600SY Mk II is a multi-tasking lathe with a Y axis, sub-spindle and driven tools. Doosan’s Puma 2600SY MK II, with its integrated mill-drill capabilities, enables Mellish to machine small turned parts, like studs and nuts, to completion, in a single set-up. The machine was supplied with a bar feeder to ensure continuous production.
Says Rattenberry: “The Puma 2600SY Mk II is a high-productivity lathe that has helped us reduce part cycle times, improve part accuracies (as components no longer need to be transferred between machines), and help avoid production bottlenecks.”
The DNM 4000 is a fast (48 m/min rapids) vertical machining centre equipped with a direct-drive spindle (18.5 kW/12,000 rpm) and a 20-position ATC. This machine was supplied with a fourth-axis unit to increase its flexibility and productivity potential. The DNM 4000 is being used to machine a family of small fastener parts.
“Despite its compact footprint, the DNM 4000 certainly packs a punch and we have been impressed with its cutting capabilities and performance,” states Rattenberry. “To improve the productivity of the machine we have designed special purpose fixturing that enables multiple parts to be machined in a single set-up.”
Productivity and operational efficiency are critical to Mellish’s future growth and prosperity.
The investment in Doosan machine tools from Mills CNC, combined with the company’s determination to “sweat its assets” and continuously look at ways to optimise its machining processes, means that Mellish is able to meet the surge in demand for its fastener products and solutions.
Concludes Rattenberry: “Our decision to go for API accreditation has been vindicated and business is booming. We are focused on maintaining our market-leader status in the oil and gas industry, and investments such as those made in Doosan machine tools from Mills CNC will enable us to do this.”
For further information www.millscnc.co.uk

AluCast opts for Faro arm

Martin Haynes, quality and technical director at Wednesbury-based AluCast, an aluminium foundry, recently began a search for an accurate yet speedy metrology solution that would keep pace with increased production volumes.

Recently tasked with casting a range of urgently required prototype parts for an important customer, AluCast completed all of the relevant casting processes in record time. Having been told that the parts were now ready except for the required dimensional inspection process, which would take another day, the customer suggested it would visit AluCast’s facility and perform on-site inspection with its own Faro ScanArm.
Impressed by the speed of set-up and the Faro ScanArm’s ability to quickly scan each of the components and gather all of the required data, Haynes was convinced that it was the answer to AluCast’s dimensional inspection needs.
“As well as being impressed by the dimensional accuracy achieved and the clear presentation of the captured data, we were astonished at the equipment’s speed of operation,” he says. “In fact, we estimated that the inspection results our customer achieved in just one hour, would have taken us over eight hours with our existing equipment. In addition to the performance of the ScanArm, we received excellent reports from our customer related to the levels of support and service they receive from Faro UK.
Following a demonstration, AluCast duly invested in a Faro ScanArm HD.
“Our ScanArm HD has delivered on all of the promises made by the staff at Faro UK in terms of simplicity, accuracy and speed of use,” says Haynes. “As well as the inspection processes for which we purchased the Faro ScanArm, each day we are finding new uses for it.”
For further information www.faro.com