Cannock-based Kenson Industrial Plastics has invested in a Tornos DT26 turning centre to help it machine spacers, rollers, washers, threaded gears, insulating pads and machine guarding from materials such as nylon, polyethylene, PVC, PTFE, PEEK and other plastics.

The four-employee company won a contract to manufacture gear motor components in batches of 10,000 per month, and this instigated the search for a new turning centre.
Managing director Kevin Hutcheson says: “The parts being machined are only 12 mm diameter. We looked at all the sliding-head suppliers, as well as a few other options, but the Tornos DT26 fitted our business perfectly. Other vendors recommended running neat oil, which is standard for sliding-head machines. However, Tornos said we could run the DT26 with either soluble or neat oil. As we machine plastic parts, we want to avoid staining from oil, or cleaning oil from plastic parts. Tornos had instantly tipped the scales in their favour.”
The machine instantly reduced the cycle time of the gear components (which are made of Ertalyte TX) from 50 to 25 seconds per part, taking more than seven days off the previous monthly production schedule. Additionally, the facility to work with and without the guide bush has reduced material consumption.
Historically, Kenson has only operated on a single eight-hour shift basis. However, the Tornos DT26 has been supplied with a
3 m barfeed and the Tornos Active Chip Breaker (ACB) system for lights-out machining. Referring to this, Hutcheson says: “We’ve only ever run day-shift machining, but now we have the Tornos and its ACB system, we can look at unmanned running.”
For further information www.tornos.com

A Warwickshire precision manufacturing specialist is celebrating 40 years in business by completing a £700,000 investment drive.

Technoset, which employs 25 people at its facility in Rugby, has installed four new lathes and a laser-scanning device to support the machining and measurement of complex components for customers involved in the aerospace (civil and defence), medical and fibre-optics markets.
Supported by the Manufacturing Growth Programme (MGP), the company has also successfully worked towards and secured AS9100 Rev D, a quality accreditation that is fast becoming a prerequisite for winning and maintaining high-profile contracts in the aerospace sector. The award will ensure it can deliver more than £1.4m of orders to produce engine, actuation, interior lighting and landing-gear parts.
Kevan Kane, managing director of Technoset, explains: “Critical to our future growth was securing the AS9100 Rev D quality award, which is a very demanding and stringent process. As an SME, this process can be a very time-consuming exercise, so we turned to the MGP, which provided us with a continuous improvement plan and then part-funded a specialist consultant to work with us on refining our operations and developing new strategies.
“The support was invaluable and ensured senior managers could focus on what we do best; producing complex components for our global customer base,” he continues. “MGP is an easy-to-access resource that I would recommend to other SME manufacturers.”
Michelle Connor, manufacturing growth manager at MGP, adds her support: “This is a great example of how targeted business support can help a manufacturer unlock new opportunities and safeguard contracts.”
For further information www.manufacturingrowthprogramme.co.uk