Polishing machine manufacturer wins awards

Coalville-based polishing machine manufacturer Zeeko is one of only five companies this year to win two King’s Awards for Enterprise, one for international trade and the other for innovation.

Zeeko develops and produces seven-axis CNC optics polishing machines for complex, ultra-high-precision freeform applications. The 2024 award for international trade is a result of a sharp upturn in these activities, plus additional sales in the past three years of both new machine platforms and tools for mainstream industrial use.

Exports account for about 98% of production. Order intake is currently between £10m and £12m per year, compared with well below £2m during the pandemic. The King’s Award for Enterprise in the category of international trade was based on this performance.

The 2024 award for innovation stems from the chance discovery of a new process that was easy to overlook, but which turned out to be extremely effective for the polishing and finishing of metal, ceramic and carbide items such as turbine blades, orthopaedic implants, precision moulds and ball valve components. Called Shape Adaptive Grinding (SAG), the technique utilises a low-cost, robotic machining platform together with associated tools and software. It is also deployable on any CNC machine, such as a milling centre or multi-tasking lathe. Housed in a separate factory in Coalville, Zeeko Industrial is a new division that builds and markets these robotic polishing cells worldwide.

Richard Freeman, MD of Zeeko, says: “We are delighted to receive two King’s Awards this year. Our highly skilled and innovative team deserves this recognition. A high-technology manufacturing business rarely leads its competition by more than 18 months, so we are continually researching and innovating, both to grow and to protect our lead.”
More information www.zeeko.co.uk

Telsonic generator boost ultrasonic cleaning

As a company with a heritage of ongoing product development and innovation, Telsonic has recently launched its new DCG cleaning generator, which the company says delivers powerful ultrasonic energy for industrial cleaning applications.

The new DCG is a high-power cleaning generator that is compact in design and suited to use in harsh operating environments. Telsonic designed the generator’s inputs and outputs especially for system integration, offering all possible external control options. A further important feature of the DCG generator is high compatibility with its ECO predecessor. The new DCG does, however, benefit from new functions, such as analogue inputs and outputs. These I/O are compatible with popular industry standards, which allow the cleaning process to provide important feedback.

A number of generator variants are available with options for 25 or 40 kHz frequency, and maximum power levels between 800 and 2400 W, together with a supporting range of tube resonators from 340 to 1180 mm depending upon the variant selected.

Application areas for the DCG ultrasonic generator include cleaning production level or finished components, and as part of maintenance procedures. The range of industries that can tap into the advantages of the technology includes automotive, aerospace, medical, electroplating, precision engineering, power stations, metal and aviation, to name but a few.

Telsonic UK offers a comprehensive range of ultrasonic modules and systems for a variety of plastic and metal welding, cutting, sealing, cut and seal, sieving and cleaning applications.

More information www.telsonic.com

Coatings firm achieves 25% turnover increase

Burscough-based IRS Surfacing Technologies has achieved 25% year-on-year growth in turnover from 2021 to 2023. Despite a challenging period for the manufacturing sector, current projections for 2024 are estimated to outstrip those of 2023 for IRS.

For the six months leading up to the end of November 2023, the specialist coatings business accelerated growth by achieving a 44% increase in turnover compared with the same period last year. This lays the foundations for a strong financial future, forecast at £1.4m for 2024.

Specialising in ceramic, stainless steel, thermal and bronze coatings, as well as overlay technology, the family-run business reports that demand for its services continued to grow during the pandemic. The business was able to make a £30,000 investment in improving its welfare facilities for staff, as well as installing a new office in February 2022 to bolster its customer-facing relations and attract more business. 

Since 2021, IRS has increased its monthly revenue through organic growth and is currently on-boarding an average of four new customers a month. The coatings company also recently launched a new website, which forms part of a wider marketing plan to expand its regional platform to a larger customer base.

IRS was founded in 1989 by John Berry, the late father of the current owner, Rob Berry, who says: “At IRS, we pride ourselves on quality, and I truly believe that’s why the business continues to do so well. It’s not just quality in our products, but in everything from our staff to service, through to after service. As a business owner, seeing an uptick in financial performance is always good news, and it’s a trajectory we want to retain.”

More information www.irsltd.co.uk

Take the edge off with ultrasonic deburring

Following the success of the UltraTEC A25, A100 and B10 ultrasonic deburring systems, Vollmer UK is launching the new A25S. UltraTEC is part of the Vollmer Group and has won a string of awards for its patented ultrasonic deburring technology that only uses water.

Formed in 2019, UltraTEC offers proprietary technology that utilises an oscillating ultrasonic horn to generate soundwaves and cavitation for cleaning and deburring external and internal edges reliably. The environmentally friendly solution uses water to provide sharp-edged burr-free parts that are often impossible to process via alternative methods.

Suitable for small to medium-sized components, the UltraTEC ultrasonic A25S creates a formation and dissolution/implosion of bubbles in the water that releases intense energy. This energy arrives courtesy of ultra-high oscillation at 20 kHz with an oscillation width of ±80-120 µm, which far exceeds the amplitude of ultrasonic cleaning, cutting and welding technologies.

The new A25S takes the innovation of UltraTEC’s previous models and offers more rigidity, vibration dampening and thermal stability with a welded steel machine base filled with mineral concrete. This base creates a more robust platform, ensuring enhanced machine kinematics, component quality and repeatability.

Improved stiffness and a heavier base are the foundation blocks for a welded steel machine frame that replaces the aluminium version on previous models. The new steel frame also improves operator access and ergonomics, while creating a streamlined and futuristic machine appearance. This structure also incorporates a new PE500 confetti structure insulation that supersedes the previous machine insulation to yield better noise insulation and extend machine life with its water-resistant characteristics.

More information www.vollmer-group.com

Simsol joins Xcelerator

A UK specialist in digital twin technology, Simsol, has joined Siemens Xcelerator – an open digital business platform designed to speed up the digital transformation of industry in the UK and overseas. Simsol provides digital twin solutions based on Siemens Plant Simulation and Process Simulate software to simulate factory automation, enabling the integration of robotics, control, motion and safety for automated and human operators to drive productive, safe and efficient operations. Manufacturers will now be able to access Simsol services from the global Siemens Xcelerator marketplace.

More information www.xcelerator.siemens.com