A Black Country precision engineering specialist is reaping the benefits of a major investment programme after landing new contracts in the automotive, aerospace and Formula One sectors, as well as parts for automation equipment. A&M EDM, which employs 58 people across its two sites in Smethwick, is heading towards £5m turnover for the first time in its 15-year history after setting its sights on supplying high-value, high-performance components, including the development of engines for unmanned vehicles.
Support from the Manufacturing Growth Programme (MGP) has also helped the company to identify improvements in its marketing activity, strategy and the implementation of a new environmental system that is set to lead to ISO:14001 accreditation shortly.

“We’ve come a long way since I started the business a few doors down, with just two people and a few machines,” explains managing director Mark Wingfield. “Over the past 15 years we have grown into the UK’s largest commercial EDM wire and spark erosion specialist, an achievement that we have built on by adding CNC machining and toolmaking design and manufacturing services.
“We invited MGP to come in and look at our business and how we could increase turnover and manufacturing efficiency,” he adds. “The discussions were great and resulted in the creation of an action plan that focused on our approach to customer relationships, strategy and digital marketing.”
Helen Fortune, manufacturing growth manager at MGP, says: “A&M EDM is keen to seek external assistance to help it get even better and unlock growth. We have identified a number of areas it could improve on and the management team and workforce have embraced them, developing and rolling out a robust environmental management system in just a few months.”
For further information
www.manufacturingrowthprogramme.co.uk

Makino Inc has merged with EDM consumables supplier Global EDM Supplies. The merger is expected to expand the company’s SST Consumables business, providing customers with broader geographic reach, greater product diversity and increased accessibility to experienced technical services and support.

“We are pleased to continue our growth in the consumables business through the merger of Global EDM Supplies,” says Don Lane, CEO of Makino Inc. “We look forward to better serving our customers through the addition of Global’s skilled and experienced personnel, geographic presence and product portfolio.”
Headquartered in Mason, Ohio, Global EDM Supplies is a supplier of EDM technologies and turnkey application solutions. The company’s EDM consumables catalogue includes more than 3000 different EDM parts and supplies from major manufacturers, including wire, filters, wear parts, resin, fluid and lubricants, and electrodes. Since its founding in 1995, Global EDM Supplies has built a reputation for its technical support and customer service across eight US locations.
“We are excited about the prospects for expanding Global’s reach afforded by our merger with Makino,” says Tom Kucharski, president of Global EDM. “Our technical and personal service will be further enhanced by the resources of Makino and SST.”
With its network of engineers, Global and SST are committed to offering fast local support with complete machine repair and maintenance programs. SST and Global support and services are to continue to operate uninterrupted across all regions and locations.
For further information
www.makino.com

Many will recall college and university machine shops of old – equipped at best with a turret mill and centre lathe. However, today they are much more advanced and feature the latest manufacturing technologies. The University of Wolverhampton (Telford Innovation Campus) is one of the leading protagonists with 3D metal printing machines supported by EDM technology from Warwick Machine Tools.

“Once a printed metal part has been generated, it has to be removed from the base plate used in the machine,” explains principal technician for innovative product development Iain Lyall. “To efficiently achieve this, we have recently invested in an Excetek CNC wire EDM machine that meets our needs.”
The new Excetek V650 has axis travels of 650 mm in X, 400 mm in Y and 350 mm in Z, accommodating workpieces up to 1000 x 700 x 345 mm and weighing up to 800 kg. With U- and V-axis travels of 160 mm, and ±33° maximum taper capability, the V650G also has a positioning system of 0.0001 mm resolution. Featuring an NC controller and automatic wire re-threading at the point of break, the new machine supports unmanned overnight operations.
As a result, an older wire cut EDM has been replaced that never really delivered, as Lyall explains: “We struggled with the old machine; the unused powder from the additive process would drop down inside and cause havoc with the wire cut path. We spent a lot of time finding this machine and it took a while to get the right settings. Now, we run all the EOS 3D printers and the Excetek machine overnight as they are set-up quickly and easily during the day.”
For further information
www.warwickmachinetools.com

Erodex UK Ltd, a supplier of EDM graphite and tooling to the aerospace market, has experienced record levels of growth following a £3.5m investment and expansion into North America. Turnover increased 20% during the last financial year following previous record years for the firm. The growth has been a direct result of the investment, specifically targeted at work within the aerospace and industrial turbine sectors.

“We have experienced significant growth on the tooling side of the business, which in fact is the fastest growing part of the Erodex group,” says director Steve Rolinson. “The decision to invest in our own toolrooms and dedicated tooling inspection facilities has given us real market differentiation.”
As well as picking up a number of new clients in China and Israel, the company has benefitted from its decision to establish a new £2m facility in Virginia, USA, as well as investing £1.5m in a new UK toolroom and machine shop.
Regarding the expansion into the US, co-director John Rolinson says: “Rolls-Royce announced the opening of a new turbine blade facility in Virginia and we were asked to support that as a result of our long-term working relationship.”
To facilitate the growth, Erodex has expanded its workforce by 10% to above 100, taking on three experienced aerospace toolmakers, a tooling manager, two project managers, designers and more CNC operators. A group quality manager and group quality engineer were also recruited as part of a move towards AS9100 Rev D, ISO14001 and NADCAP certifications.
For further information
www.erodex.com

Rotadata, a Derby-based specialist in the provision of instrumentation for turbomachinery, has installed a new Sodick AD55L and a refurbished AQ35L EDM machine. Supplied by Sodi-Tech EDM, the two machines are set to help the company reduce lead-times and gain access to greater turnover without increasing head count.

“A typical machining project might see us take a civil turbine engine and produce all of the component holes and instrumentation required to run test, validation and development programmes,” explains Rotadata’s managing director Simon Taylor. “If we can help achieve just a 1% improvement in efficiency through our installations, it can potentially equate to customer savings worth millions of pounds.
“Clearly, we need to take a measured and precise approach to machining operations,” he continues. “However, we are under tremendous lead-time pressure; almost without exception jobs are needed yesterday, hence our investment in additional EDM capacity. The linear motor technology on the Sodick machines is unrivalled for our applications, and their reliability has never been an issue. Furthermore, Sodi-Tech EDM are a supportive and professional partner.”
The die sink EDMs at Rotadata are typically used to create trenches and holes in preparation for thermocouples, pressure tubes and UCTS, or other instrumentation equipment able to deliver complete validation of predicted customer models. The company can generate blind and through-holes as small as 0.10 mm, and slots as narrow as 0.15 mm.
“I would say our new Sodick AD55L is around 40-45% quicker than some of our existing die sink machines,” concludes Taylor.
For further information
www.sodi-techedm.co.uk