Swiss lathe cuts cycle times by 80%

Mildenhall-based CTPE, a subcontract supplier to the healthcare, medical and scientific sectors has seen cycle times cut by 80% in some instances as a result of investing in its first sliding-head turning centre – a seven-axis Tornos Swiss DT 26. The company previously relied on fixed-head turning centres.
Compatibility with water-based soluble cutting fluids, 26 mm capacity, 10 kW of power on both the main and sub-spindles, effective swarf management and fast switching from guide bush to non-guide bush mode were among the reasons for selecting the Swiss DT 26 from Tornos. The machine is paired with a TornosRobobar SBF 326 (3.2m capacity) barfeed for unmanned production.
Materials processed by CTPE on the DT 26 include PEEK, acetal, PTFE, PVC, nylon 66 and Rulon, as well as 2024 aluminium. The machine has been set to work producing parts typically in batches of 1000 to 2000-off. However, due to the ease and speed with which the machine can be set up, it is equally economical to run batches as small as 300 to 400-off. On average, parts produced by the company are around 20 mm long and 15 mm in diameter. A typical CTPE cycle time on the Swiss DT 26 is 20 seconds, or up to 50 seconds for more complex components.
“Compared with our fixed-head turning centres, we’ve seen some cycle times reduce from 150 seconds, to just 30, which is an 80% reduction,” says managing director Chris Taylor. “Moreover, we have eliminated second operations, deburring and picking-out. Without doubt, we should have bought one years ago.”
For further information
www.tornos.com

Golden tickets

A selection of British companies are poised to reap the benefits of a European-wide initiative on robotic technology after securing one of 25 ‘golden tickets’. Automata Technologies, Hexagon Metrology, Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) and Russell Finex are the latest UK beneficiaries from the second and final round of the ROBOTT-NET voucher programme.
In all, 64 vouchers have been given out via the programme, entitling each recipient to receive highly-specialised consultancy from a broad field of the brightest robotics experts around Europe, with the aim of bringing their ideas to fruition.
A total of 166 companies spread across 12 European countries applied for a voucher from the European robotic technology transfer network, which is a collaboration between the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in Coventry, Danish Technological Institute (DTI) from Denmark, Fraunhofer IPA in Germany and Tecnalia from Spain. From the set of the 64 winning vouchers, eight companies will be selected for further assistance and funding towards a pilot project.
Jeremy Hadall, chief technologist in robotics and automation at the MTC, says: “With the announcement of the final 25 vouchers in the ROBOTT-NET program, the MTC is now working with a number of UK companies to develop their robot technologies and applications to allow them to grow their competitive position.”
One of the important aims of ROBOTT-NET is to strengthen the technology transfer between the participating research and technology organisations and the European manufacturing industry. To realise this technology transfer, all partners in ROBOTT-NET will run general courses for industry management as a complementary activity to voucher and pilot work systems.
The MTC will be holding a ROBOTT-NET course on 24-25 April.
For further information
www.the-mtc.org

Hyfore targets £10m sales

Workholding specialist Hyfore has unveiled a new brand this week as part of a three-year plan to hit £10m in annual sales. Hyfore, which employs 36 people at its facility in Coventry, is launching a new corporate identity, an extensive marketing campaign and an online shop to supply up to 100,000 products. The plans will also involve the initial recruitment of three people and ensure the company builds on a successful 12 months that has seen it grow by 15%.
“The reason behind the new brand is to reflect our modern approach to manufacturing and create a sleek identity that covers both our traditional activity and the launch of the Hyfore online shop, which we believe could generate up to £1m of sales in its first year,” explains Gary Dickenson, who runs Hyfore with Darren Underhill. “This is an integral part of our growth plans and will help us achieve our vision of hitting £5m turnover in 2017 and then accelerate sales to £10m by 2020.”
For further information www.hyfore.shop

FFG appoints president

Gerald Mies has joined the management team at FFG Europe & Americas, taking over as president for the milling technology and factory automation business unit. He will be responsible for the MAG and HüllerHille product brands, as well as the industrial automation activities within the group. Mies has more than 25 years of experience in the industrial engineering business. His positions to date have included managing director at Fanuc Germany, and managing director at robot specialist Cloos. He takes over from Dr Heiner Lang, who has left the group to take on a new career opportunity.
For further information www.ffg-werke.com

Amada exhibition attracts 180

Over 180 people from companies across the UK and Ireland attended Amada UK’s three-day exhibition at its technical centre in Kidderminster. This end-of-financial-year event brought many old and new companies to view the latest developments in machine and tooling technology. Orders included 10 press brakes, three HG ATC press brakes with automatic tool changers, and six fibre-laser profiling machines with various automation options.
“It was great to see this number of people here, all of whom have a really positive outlook for the future,” says managing director Alan Parrott. “Our new technology opens up huge opportunities for customers to expand their businesses and, with the after-sales support we offer, they are very comfortable in taking that next investment step with Amada.”
For further information www.amada.co.uk