Investment doubles business at tool maker

A Scottish precision engineering company and tool maker to the plastics industry has doubled turnover since 2014 when it embarked on a programme of production equipment renewal. A majority of the investment went on four machine tools from Hurco, including three machining centres.

The engineering firm works around the clock servicing numerous industries, including automotive, defence, medical, pharmaceutical, plumbing, food and drink, and electronics, designing and manufacturing different tools from single impression prototype moulds to multi-impression production tools (pictured).

Half of the business comes from manufacturing decorative injection moulds that produce plastic caps and closures for premium bottles of whiskey, gin and other spirits. The designs of the bottle closures – comprising artwork and lettering – mostly require complex, intricate milling with ball-nose cutters, sometimes as small as 50 µm in diameter, held in heat-shrink back ends. Due to the small size of the cutters and the hardness of the tool steels processed – P20, Orvar Supreme, 113 grade and D2 – designs are generally machined into graphite EDM electrodes for subsequent die-sinking into the mould.
A spokesperson for the company says: “Much of the very fine milling is done on our Hurco VM10HSi machining centre.

Installed in 2018, it’s fitted with a Kitagawa rotary table 4th axis, 30,000 rpm spindle and an enclosure mounted on the table with air extraction to remove graphite dust from the working atmosphere. It is also a fantastic machine for high-speed milling directly into hardened materials, which we are doing more and more.”

The two other Hurco machining centre on site are VMX42i and VMX30i models, acquired in 2014 and 2016 respectively.

For further information
www.hurco.co.uk

UR sells 50,000th cobot

Collaborative robot (cobot) pioneer Universal Robots (UR) has sold its 50,000th UR cobot to German manufacturer VEMA GmbH. VEMA’s new arrival will join a fleet of three other UR cobots already deployed in pick and place tasks in end-of-line applications at the company. Christian Veser, managing director at VEMA, says: “With UR cobots we have enhanced our productivity remarkably and achieved better quality. Moreover, our employees have been released from ergonomically challenging work to focus on more value-added tasks.”

For further information
www.universal-robots.com

In-Comm Training plans expansion

In-Comm Training has outlined plans for investment in the launch of a new press and tooling line, alongside a number of collaborations, to help industry bounce back in 2021. Operating three academies across the Black Country and Shropshire, In-Comm is looking to support companies with upskilling requirements, access to new digital skills and over 60 trailblazer apprenticeships. The offer includes, for the first time, access to a Level 6 Apprenticeship in toolmaking with the CBM, and the formation of strategic partnerships with the University of Wolverhampton’s Institute of Technology and Gestamp.

For further information www.in-comm.co.uk

Rapid response from XYZ

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic the focus was on ventilators, but as things developed testing became the priority of Government. Step forward Atherstone-based Shield Marquee Manufacturing. While its usual customer base, the hospitality industry, continues to face strict restrictions, Shield Marquees became part of the marquee hire industry’s National Emergency Testing Stations Network (NETS). Working with the Government, NETS has been central in supplying the network of test centres for COVID-19 with temporary structures. The demand for a quick response, however, placed significant pressure on Shield Marquee’s manufacturing capability.

“With every structure containing multiple machined components, such as leg and ridge knuckles, we found that our existing machine capacity was limited, and the volumes we were asked to produce were leading to backlogs,” says director Matthew Faizey.

While speed was crucial, Faizey was cautious and carried out due diligence online of a select group of machine-tool suppliers, with XYZ Machine Tools coming out on top.

“If I’m going to spend a significant amount of money, I want to do my research and check on a supplier’s viability, history, reputation and ability to support my business,” he says. “XYZ Machine Tools impressed in all respects. In particular, was the knowledge that we could get support in terms of service and programming very quickly, as we can’t afford for the machine to be down for any length of time.”

With that reassurance and time ticking away, Faizey contacted XYZ Machine Tools at 09:30 on a Friday morning. XYZ’s area sales manager jumped in his car and by lunchtime the order was placed and paid for. The following Tuesday the machine, an XYZ 1000 LR vertical machining centre, was delivered, commissioned and ready for production.

For further information
www.xyzmachinetools.com

Hardinge re-shores production

Hardinge plans to shift the manufacturing of its machining centre and turning centre solutions from the Hardinge Taiwan plant to its facility in Elmira, New York, USA. This strategic manufacturing transition condenses product development, supply chain and assembly operations for the company’s American and European turning and milling business to a single US-based location. Hardinge will now supply customers with a stronger line of milling and turning products assembled in the USA.

The company will be repatriating the manufacturing of its Bridgeport XR series of vertical machining centres and the Hardinge Talent series of turning products. Hardinge is modernising its Elmira facility, investing significant resources in new assembly capabilities, as well as state-of-the-art heat-treatment equipment. Following the transition, the Taiwan location will continue to operate as one of Hardinge’s regional sales and fulfilment facilities, as well as a global engineering centre supporting the needs of international customers.

For further information www.hardinge.com