Italian machine tool orders increase

In Q3 2024, Italy’s index of machine tool orders – compiled by the Economic Studies Department and Business Culture Centre of UCIMU – returned to positive territory by recording a 7.9% increase compared with the same period in 2023. Orders collected overseas reported a 10.7% upturn, while domestics orders saw a 4.3% rise. Riccardo Rosa, president of UCIMU, states: “The return of the order index to a positive sign after six consecutive quarters of decline is welcome news, because it interrupts a trend that has accompanied the sector for too long.”

More information www.ucimu.it

New Industrial Strategy Skills Commission

Make UK has launched the Industrial Strategy Skills Commission to help solve the country’s growing skills deficit in manufacturing and engineering. The organisation has brought together some of the most qualified experts in education, training and industry to diagnose the widescale problems in the skills system and create an effective talent pathway into manufacturing. It is this skilled workforce pipeline that will prove critical to the success of the Government’s new Industrial Strategy, called Invest 2035, which aims to drive growth and digital transformation in manufacturing over the next few years.

More information www.makeuk.org

Stainless steel machining webinar

On 4 December, a Seco Tools webinar will explore the challenges of dynamic turning in stainless steel. This webinar is for all machining professionals wishing to deepen their understanding of difficult materials and chip control techniques.

The programme will span: metallurgy and machining challenges for stainless steel materials; the advantages of dynamic turning; and a Q&A session that will see Seco experts respond to questions in real time. Seco is advising machining professionals not to miss this opportunity to deepen their knowledge and improve their machining processes. The webinar will take place between 15:00 and 15:45 CET. Register at the link below.More information www.bit.ly/4fvILRL

B-axis tool spindle instead of a turret

Increasing component diversity and diminishing batch sizes tend to extend periods of unproductive set-up. The CLX TC turning centre series from DMG Mori addresses this issue by replacing the tool turret in the company’s CLX lathes with a ±120° swivelling B-axis tool spindle that offers positioning resolution of 0.001°. The new CLX 550 TC model is now available, joining the smaller capacity CLX 450 TC introduced in 2023.

A tool magazine offering space for up to 60 cutters (30 tools is standard) serves a CompactMaster 12,000 rpm turn-mill spindle with 90 Nm of torque. Tools can be loaded and unloaded in parallel with production to minimise machine downtime.

The main and counter-spindle motors are rated at 4000 rpm/720 Nm, maintaining flexibility when programming the machine to produce complex components on six sides in one hit. Users can deploy chucks up to 400 mm in diameter, while bar capacity is 102 mm.

Maximum workpiece size is 550 mm diameter by 1600 mm in length. The use of steady rests, which are available up to a workpiece diameter of 360 mm, is recommended for machining long components. A Y axis with 270 mm of travel allows eccentric machining.

DMG Mori’s Celos X user interface in conjunction with the Siemens Sinumerik One control and ErgoLine operating panel enable the use of multiple software offerings. They include OP Workbench to enhance the efficiency and productivity of machine operators, as well as dozens of app-based technology cycles.

In addition, 3D Shopfloor Programming, a joint development by DMG Mori and Siemens, uses the 3D model of a component from the design department to create an NC program mostly automatically based on underlying data. Automated feature recognition speeds programming time by up to 80%.

More information www.dmgmori.com

Quest for flexibility brings Nakamura investment

Quest Precision Engineering has been on a trajectory of continuous growth thanks to the acquisition of seven high-end Nakamura-Tome turning centres from the Engineering Technology Group (ETG). The Scottish manufacturer initially acquired two Nakamura-Tome turning centres through the pandemic and has kept adding to the plant list ever since.

The Dundee-based company has four Nakamura-Tome WT150II turning centres, two NTY3-150 turn-mill centres and has just purchased a Nakamura MX-100 from ETG’s Scottish distribution partner RAM Engineering & Tooling.

“We’ve been working with Quest Precision for over 20 years and done a lot of applications together, focusing on productivity and flexibility,” says Ross Milne, company director at RAM Engineering & Tooling. “This is epitomised by the Nakamura MX-100 turn-mill centre with swivelling B axis, opposing spindles and lower turret. We’ve also got a gantry loader and bar feed on the machine. It’s a proper step-change.”

Gordon Deuchars, managing director at Quest Precision, says: “Nakamura one led to Nakamura two in just three months, and then around 18 months later we won a big order. This brought Nakamura three and four online. More recently, we’ve been manufacturing the complex ‘Mark 3’ autonomous valve for the oil and gas industry from Inconel 718. We needed a robust machine to take us to the next level, namely the NTY3-150. We’ve now progressed to the Mark 4 valve, which is why we recently installed the MX-100 multi-axis machine.”

He adds: “Our relationship with ETG has been first class. From the moment we enquired about the first machine they’ve been there for us on every turnkey project. The Nakamura range offers the flexibility, efficiency and reliability that we need as a busy manufacturer in the subcontract field.”

More information www.engtechgroup.com