Mazak’s Inabe plant goes into operation

Yamazaki Mazak has announced the completion of the first construction phase and start of assembly operations at its new Inabe plant in Mie prefecture, Japan.

The new plant has been opened to meet the increasing demand for large five-axis machine tools, specifically in the aerospace, construction and energy industries. Inabe is the sixth Mazak production facility in Japan.
Construction of the Inabe facility began in 2016, with the first phase completed in February 2018. The production of large machine tools has already been transferred to Inabe from the Minokamo plant in Gifu prefecture. In addition, by starting operations at Inabe, overall production capacity in Japan has been increased by 20%. The plant represents an investment of ¥16bn (first construction phase) and presently spans a floor space of 33,000 sq m.
For further information www.mazakeu.co.uk

Deep-hole drilling and superfinishing

Specialising in gun-drilling, deep-hole boring, CNC turning, honing, CNC grinding and super-finishing, Perfect Bore Manufacturing will be present at Subcon 2018 on stand D23.

A £1m investment in a CNC/prismatic drilling division, allows Perfect Bore to drill multiple holes in various shaped blocks and offset holes in round billets. Also on stand D23 will be Fintek, which offers a range of deburring, edge radiusing, fine grinding, smoothing, polishing and performance superfinishing subcontract services. Fintek has the capability to achieve a surface finish of Ra 0.01 µm, helping component manufacturers to meet their customer expectations for wear parts that reduce friction, generate less heat and are more durable.
For further information www.subconshow.co.uk

Subcon 2018 opens this week

The organiser of Subcon (5-7 June, Birmingham NEC) has revealed that it is preparing for a bumper year with over 400 exhibitors confirmed and some 4,500 visitors expected, which would be a new record.

This year, visitors will enjoy two shows – Subcon and a brand new sister event, The Engineer Expo.
“There is going to be so much to talk about this year: from our research into the ignorance around Industry 4.0 and the importance of increasing the number of women in manufacturing and engineering leadership roles, to the presentations across our stages and discussions among the stands of more than 400 exhibitors,” says Subcon event director Gordon Kirk. “This year’s event is set to be our best yet and will give visitors and suppliers an opportunity to interact with every facet of the UK manufacturing and engineering community, maintain their competitive edge, and shape how the industry is seen from the outside.”
For further information www.subconshow.co.uk

College invests in future with Colchester

Colchester Machine Tool Solutions (formerly 600 UK) has installed a range of manual lathes, mills, drills and saws into Coleg Cambria in Wales to meet the training needs of high-profile construction and aerospace employers in the region.

Nick Lyon, assistant principal at Coleg Cambria, says: “We’ve had a great relationship with 600 UK over many years and the equipment has always been high quality and, most importantly, my learners enjoy using the machines.”
The order comprised of 14 Harrison M300 lathes, six Clausing 3VS milling machines, three Clausing pillar drills and a Clausing bandsaw. One of the students at Coleg Cambria gave a general overview, saying: “I came to Coleg Cambria with no machining experience, but the machines are very easy to use. The dials and gauges are well marked and intuitive, and it makes the education process easier to understand how things work. You can easily switch from imperial to metric and this simplifies the learning process even further.”
For further information www.colchester.co.uk

GCH wins business with large-capacity lathe

Fortune favours the brave, so they say, and there is no doubt that GCH Precision Engineering is reaping the rewards of investing in a Hyundai-Wia heavy-duty, large-capacity CNC turning machine.

After realising that OEMs across a number of industries were struggling to locally source (within Scotland) large-capacity machining for complex parts requiring milling as well as turning operations, Graham Hawthorne, CEO of the East Kilbride (Glasgow) based company, knew that GCH could secure this work if he installed the Hyundai-Wia L500LMA slant-bed lathe with C axis and driven tools.
The result is that GCH is now cost-effectively processing a wide variety of work that falls within the turning length and diameter capacities of 2109 and 690 mm, respectively, on the machine supplied by TW Ward CNC Machinery.
Included in the order book are workpieces being machined from most materials – from EN3A steel to EN36 high-tensile steel, aluminium, super duplex, Inconel and plastics for clients in the aerospace, oil and gas, food and drink, and pharmaceutical sectors, for instance, as well as parts for robotic machinery and components for the onshore drilling industry.
“Knowing that such work was increasingly being outsourced either overseas or south of the border, I knew that we had the in-house skills to handle such projects – all I needed was the machining capacity,” says Hawthorne. “At the same time, we needed to replace some ageing machines – a radial arm drill, a manual lathe and an older, smaller capacity CNC lathe – and while the Hyundai-Wia has effectively replaced all these, it has, importantly, also extended our capacity to satisfy this larger work.”
For further information www.wardcnc.com