Eriks completes £21m infrastructure investment

Industrial products supplier Eriks has completed a £21m infrastructure investment, headlined by a state-of-the-art fulfilment centre to improve its product range along with the speed and accuracy of supply. ERIKS’ new Fulfilment Centre of Expertise (FCE) in Oldbury is now fully operational with its 11,000 sq m warehouse space backed by one of the most advanced warehouse management systems anywhere in Europe. It has 21 vertical lifts, more than 400 m of high-speed conveyors, sophisticated scanning and weighing systems for every order, and Industry 4.0 configured IT infrastructure with real-time monitoring.
For further information www.eriks.co.uk

Helping aerospace motor manufacturer take-off

As a company that specialises in providing electro-mechanical solutions to the aerospace and defence sectors, Rochdale-based NEMA Ltd is at the cutting edge of technology. To work at this end of the industry, the company invests in machine tools from the Engineering Technology Group (ETG). NEMA acquired its first ETG turning centres back in 2018 and this has been followed by 3D printing technology, a Mitsubishi EDM and most recently a Quaser MV184 CNC machining centre with a Nikken 4th axis rotary system.

The company’s managing director Andy Wilding says: “We’ve worked with ETG for several years and they always have the solution we require. The staff are friendly, supportive and always available, and we have a great relationship – but most importantly, the technology is fantastic.”

Alluding to why the 40-employee business required a new machining centre, Wilding continues: “We have a machining centre that is now approaching 20 years old and, while it still performs brilliantly, we want to reduce our reliance on an older machine that is susceptible to increased maintenance and downtime than a newer machine – especially as we win more new work. Additionally, a lot of our milling work revolves around the design, development and manufacture of electric motors for the next generation of ‘electrified’ aircraft. As the motor units evolve to generate more power, they subsequently increase in size, and our 400 x 800 mm bed on the existing machining centre was too small for many of the new parts coming through our door.

“The four-axis Quaser MV184 is not only faster, the build quality has created a more stable platform and this is giving us improved tool life, surface finishes and process reliability,” adds Wilding.
For further information www.engtechgroup.com

Aerospace supplier appoints new engineering director

Aerospace supplier Erodex UK has appointed Damian Ward as its new engineering director. Ward has more than 20 years’ experience providing tooling and engineering solutions within the aerospace industry and joins from Matrix Tooling Solutions, where he was business development manager. Prior to this, he held the role of aerospace business manager at Seco Tools.

Within his role as engineering director, Ward will be responsible for engineering operations at the company’s West Midlands based graphite machining facility, driving efficiency gains and reducing cost by implementing engineering best practice via the latest tooling, work-holding and software solutions.

“Erodex are the leading supplier of graphites, EDM consumables and state-of-the-art graphite machining to the UK aerospace industry, with a very capable and experienced engineering team,” says Ward. “I see further developing the engineering operations as a really exciting opportunity. We have a fantastic team, have benefited from continued investment in the latest five-axis CNC machine tools, and have a clear direction for investment moving forward.”

Ward’s introduction follows the previous appointment of James Kirk in 2019 as group operations director, with the two now working closely to drive the company’s continuous improvement programme.

Erodex director Steve Rolinson says: “These are exciting times for Erodex. Our goal is to expand and increase our presence within emerging overseas markets such as Latin America. By increasing engineering efficiencies, we can be more competitive in these markets while reinforcing our leading position within the UK aerospace sector. We’re delighted to welcome Damian to the company and look forward to seeing the benefit that his wealth of tooling and engineering expertise will bring.”
For further information www.erodex.com

NMIS attracts global tech firms

The National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS), one of the UK’s fastest growing manufacturing R&D organisations, is welcoming its first group of official members from around the global manufacturing, engineering and technology sectors. The NMIS Group, based at the heart of the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland (AMIDS) in Renfrewshire has attracted investment, commitment and support from US tech trailblazer Infor, oil and gas giant Baker Hughes, and seven other major manufacturing related firms: FANUC, ATS Global, Sandvik, Skyreal, Hybrid Manufacturing Technologies, Beckhoff and Nikken.

The companies are the first to sign-up to the NMIS membership programme, which will see them work together to innovate, access world-leading expertise and technical capability, and form a supportive network to ultimately tackle the global manufacturing challenges of tomorrow.
For further information www.nmis.scot

JSG tools up with another Sodick EDM

A tool-making specialist has increased its portfolio of Sodick machines with the addition of a new AL40G die-sink model from Sodi-Tech EDM. Hampshire-based JSG Engineering is enjoying long-term success using a range of Sodick EDM wire, die-sink and hole-drill machines that provide high-quality work for the company’s customers and help generate repeat business.

“Business is strong at present, particularly on pharmaceutical side,” states director Gary Carpenter. “One customer in particular has been requesting several mould tools as we’ve progressed through the Covid-19 pandemic.”

This demand recently led the company to review its die-sinking capacity. JSG Engineering had some older die-sink machines on site (not Sodick) that were reaching the end of their useful service life.

During a telephone conversation with Sodi-Tech EDM, JSG Engineering learnt that a demonstration model of the Sodick AL40G die-sink model would be on display at the MACH 2022 exhibition in April, so Carpenter expressed his interest. It was not long before the machine was undergoing installation at the company’s Emsworth facility near Portsmouth.

“Some of the tools we produce are up to three times faster to produce on our AL40G than our previous die-sink resource,” he says. “The quality is also far better and we can achieve a mirror finish if required. Where before we would have to polish a cavity after sparking, now there’s no need for 90% of our jobs, so it’s saved an awful lot of time.”

Energy efficiency is another benefit, particularly in the current inflationary environment for electricity, where manufacturers are having to find ways of offsetting the cost burden.

Says Carpenter: “The fact that the latest Sodick technology is energy-efficient and so fast with its linear technology means that we definitely save on our bills.”
For further information www.sodi-techedm.co.uk