Okuma celebrates 125-year anniversary

Okuma has reason to celebrate: the company is marking its 125th birthday and has countless successes and memorable highlights to look back on. But looking ahead to the future is even more exciting, where even more sustainable and efficient solutions are top of the agenda. Okuma machines are available in the UK from NCMT.

“Okuma has always been a step ahead of trends and developments,” states Norbert Teeuwen, managing director of Okuma Europe GmbH. “The OSP open-architecture CNC is a good example of our innovative drive, as well as the internal and external automation solutions that enable us to respond to individual customer requirements with extreme precision.”

New solutions and further developments that increase customer efficiency will continue to be the main focus at Okuma moving forward.

“For decades now, we’ve been consistently working towards establishing our machines and processes on a sustainable basis, for example by optimising energy consumption or process flows for our customers,” says Teeuwen.

This commitment will become even more important in the future with national and international climate goals. Here, Okuma’s ‘Green Smart Machines’ will continue to support efficient manufacturing with reduced energy consumption.

“We focus on comprehensive solutions,” states Teeuwen.“Our customers can rely on us for a well-thought-out ‘all-in-one’ concept. Quality, precision, sustainability and efficiency are clear customer requirements that we fully meet. Our product development and services focus on individually developed solutions that precisely meet the respective demands.”

Okuma is also working towards CO2 neutrality within its own organisation. Energy savings or renewable energy from the company’s solar panel systems are already being implemented and expanded further.
For further information www.ncmt.co.uk

MTA expands support for manufacturers

The Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA) has expanded its support to the engineering-based manufacturing sector with the formation of a new cluster of trade associations and events. This progressive move sees the Engineering Industries Association (EIA) and Additive Manufacturing UK (AMUK) join the MTA portfolio to create a unique alliance dedicated to promoting excellence in the field of engineering-based manufacturing.

Combining with MACH (Birmingham NEC, 15-19 April 2024), the UK’s national event for inspiring, innovating and connecting manufacturing, and the new Engineering Supply Chain Show, the cluster represents a united front dedicated to furthering the interests of engineering-based manufacturing in the UK, in turn boosting business opportunities.
For further information www.mta.org.uk

Citizen Machinery UK extends international reach

Citizen Machinery UK has long-been responsible for the Japanese watch group’s CNC bar-fed lathe sales in Britain and Ireland, while also being a distribution hub for machine sales in France, Spain, Portugal, the Nordic Countries, the Middle East and Africa. Additionally, the company works with subsidiaries in Italy and Germany. Underlining its international standing, the UK subsidiary has spread its wings much further to join forces with a dealer in Australia, Headland Technology, based in Victoria. Also operating also from centres in Sydney, Perth and Brisbane, Headland serves the Australian and New Zealand markets.
For further information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk

Machining centres set to disrupt the market

Two new machining centres areset to shake up the market and provide component manufacturers with high cutting performance, flexibility and value.MACH Machine Tools, part of the Vigilance Group, is introducing two production-led vertical machining centres:
the MACH MDV 800 and MACH MDV 1100. Both machines feature the flexible and easy-to-use DynaPath WinDelta CNC control system, and are available at competitive prices.

Says Dave Andrew, Vigilance Group’s managing director:“Our new MDV machining centres are powerful, precise, fast and reliable.They have a rigid design and build, deliver best-in-class cutting performance and their price point will give other manufacturers’ equivalent-type machines a real run for their money.”

MACH MDV machines house BT40 air-cooled, high-torque spindles as standard (11-15kW, 8000rpm), but can be ordered and supplied with direct-drive 12,000rpm spindles replete with spindle chiller and through-spindlecoolant capabilities that extend their application potential.Other standard features include: Hiwin linear roller guides, 24-position swing arm ATCs and generous-sized worktables (1000 x 500mm with 500kg maximum load on the MDV 800, and 1200x 600mm with 800kg maximum load on the MDV 1100).

The machines are fast with 36m/min rapid rates on all axes and, to ensure process reliability, are fully enclosed with armoured telescoped covers.High precision comes courtesy of C3-class PMI precision ball screws and laser interferometer dynamic lead-screw compensation that enables 6 µm positional and 3µm repeatable accuracies across the work envelope.

As with all MACH machine tools, both MDV models are equipped, as standard, with a range of technology features that include auto-lubrication, flood coolant and wash-down systems.
Among the optional extras available are tool and workpiece probe systems, 4th-axis system configuration, and swarf augurs and conveyors.

“We’re confident that our new MDV machines will shake-up the market and prove that you needn’t ‘break the bank’ to acquire a new high-productivity, high-precision machining centre.”
For further information www.machmt.com

Brandauer scoops two CBM awards

One of the West Midlands’ best-kept manufacturing secrets has capped a record-breaking year by securing two major industrial awards.Brandauer, which produces millions of high-tolerance metal pressings/stampings every week for customers in 10 sectors and across 26 different countries, was named the Confederation of British Metalforming’s ‘Company of the Year’ in front of 200 people at Birmingham’s Grand Hotel.

Judges praised the Birmingham-based company for its resilience and ability to bounce back from the pandemic, developing a unique lamination process for electrification and increasing its tooling business from £500,000 to £2m per year.This result has seen Brandauer take turnover past £9m for the first time in its 161-year history, including new orders for a Slovenian automotive supplier of HVAC systems, a new $3m supercar and reconnaissance drones.
For further information www.brandauer.co.uk