Royston-based DGF Engineering Ltd has recently bought its first CNC machining centre from Dugard. The subcontract manufacturer works with customers to undertake everything from design and consultation through to prototypes, small batches and production-run machining.

With the three-axis machining centre marketplace being extremely competitive, Liam Fernard, son of company founder, explains why the business opted for the Dugard 1000 machine with its Mitsubishi M80 CNC and capacity of 1050 by 640 by 660 mm: “Firstly, we wanted to move away from our current supplier, as we weren’t particularly happy with the service. With regards to the Dugard machine, it’s robust, durable and ticked all the boxes. We do quite a lot of large workpieces, so the 1 m bed is perfect. In addition, the training from Dugard was excellent and really comprehensive.”

The Dugard 1000 will machine parts for sectors such as scientific and laboratory equipment, gas analysis and chemical detection, and telecommunications and optical fibre, as well bespoke components for the automotive and agriculture industries.

Like any subcontract business that frequently undertakes repeat work, DGF Engineering was asked if transitioning parts from one machine to the new Dugard 1000 with the Mitsubishi M80 CNC would be an issue.

“There have been no problems whatsoever,” says Fernard. “There might be compatibility changes that we may need to make with existing programs, but they are very small tweaks. The programs will be as they are on any other machine. I was initially dubious about the touchscreen control, especially in the engineering environment with dirty fingers, but it works really well and makes things a lot easier.”

For further information
www.dugard.com