Jergens expands

Spencer Wills has joined Jergens as commercial business director for Europe. The move comes as the company looks to further expand its customer base and support in the UK and mainland Europe. One of the main initiatives is to develop and grow the distribution network for the company’s work-holding solutions, with a focus on high-level competencies and experience within target market sectors. The second to increase support for major OEMs and end users within the aerospace, defence, motorsport, marine, oil and gas, and general engineering industries.
For further www.jergensinc.com

Nine-edge cutters lift circular milling productivity

Groove, cut-off and gear milling are just three processes that the circular interpolation milling system from Horn now performs even more productively following the introduction of a range of tools with nine cutting edges. The system can be used from an inside diameter of 8 mm for the precise boring of grooves down to 0.25 mm wide, or for milling splines. Standard tools and special variants are available.

Smaller diameter circular interpolation mills from Horn were previously available with exchangeable heads having a maximum of six teeth. Three extra cutting edges offer higher material removal rates, raising productivity by shortening cycles and, at the same time, extending tool life. In addition, the cutters run more quietly and with less vibration compared with tools having fewer teeth. Consequently, the dimensional accuracy and surface finish of components see improvements.

Horn stocks the nine-edged milling systems M911, M913 and M928 in widths from 1.5 to 3 mm. Maximum milling depths are 3.5, 4.5 and 6.5 mm respectively. The cutter heads are available with different coatings to suit the material in cut. Due to its mass, the solid-carbide tool shank ensures vibration damping during milling. Horn designed all variants of the shank for internal coolant supply.
For further information www.phorn.co.uk

Partnership is perfect medicine for Permedica

Business has been growing so quickly for Italian medical implant manufacturer Permedica that it can barely keep up with demand. However, a new strategy for its CNC department, in partnership with Seco Tools, has started to make a notable increase to its productivity.

“One of our machines could not operate at night due to the programming and the kinds of tools we were using,” explains Permedica sales manager Federico Perego. “The material was overheating, which was stopping the machine and meant that it couldn’t be programmed to operate automatically during the night.”

He continues: “Seco were always very direct in relation to the issue and in proposing a better solution. They didn’t make a promise they couldn’t keep, and they didn’t just try to sell us tools. Instead, they helped us to solve what was an important issue.”

One of the Seco Tools Italy team working with Permedica, manufacturing transformation manager Matteo Foglietta, says: “We were able to address swarf issues that were a big problem for the night shift. So Permedica has gained not only more productivity in terms of a shorter cycle time, but also an increase in machine capacity during the unmanned nightshift. This is also thanks to the global competence from our innovation hub that we can bring to the customer side through local and technical expertise here in Italy.”

Perego estimates that this initial success has helped to increase Permedica’s productivity by more than 40%. Now further initiatives, including the installation of tool vending machines to help with warehouse management, are underway.

“So far, we’re very satisfied,” says Perego. “There are still headaches to solve, but I hope we can continue with this great start and achieve important things together because there is a lot of complexity in our business, and we need many resources to support this. Permedica is reacting to the help being provided by Seco by placing more orders for tools, so it’s a win-win relationship.”
For further information www.secotools.com

Small machine shops see growth

From robotic machining, digital machine shop planning, IoT and process optimisations, engineers at Scotland’s world-leading R&D manufacturing hub have helped growing businesses harness their competitive edge after completing a major European project.The University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) – part of the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) Group – was the UK partner in a four-year initiative designed to transform the machining sector by encouraging the uptake of innovative digital technologies.Overall, it helped more than 500 SMEs in the region’s machining sector.
For further information www.machining4.eu

Stockholder invests in Ficep Valiant CNC line

Northwest-based steel stockholder CSM Steelstock has invested in a Ficep Valiant CNC line to extend its capabilities and further meet customer requirements.Supplying into the automotive, gas, oil and petrochemical industries, CSM Steelstock predicts that the Valiant CNC line from Ficep UK will add £4.5m to annual turnover at the Accrington business.

Says CSM Steelstock’s managing director Grant Moore: “Our investment in the Ficep Valiant CNC line will be a game changer for our business. We’ll be able to offer our existing customers more capabilities and help us further develop lasting partnerships. It will be running 80 hours a week and we already have a strong forward order book using the new line. We’vegrown year on year for the past 13 years and recently invested in new premises which, when redeveloped, will house our 21 employees and machinery in the 32,000 sq ft facility.”

The Ficep Valiant is a high-performance automated three-spindle drilling system for processing structural steel profiles. Offering six tool-change positions on each of the machine’s three spindles, the Valiant’s total tool capacity is 18. Its spindles are all direct drive with speeds up to 5000 rpm, while utilising HSK 80 tool holders enables heavy milling functionality.Notably, the 300mm auxiliary axis, which is available on all three spindles, allows for a wider range of control for each spindle. Its sub-axis spindle positioning enables simultaneous drilling on all three surfaces. The optional underside scribing device, also with sub-axis positioning, permits up to four-side simultaneous scribing operations.

Says Chris Berriman, Ficep UK sales director: “The Valiant is an ideal choice for CSM Steelstock as it will allow them to process to the high quality that its customers expect.”
For further information www.ficep.co.uk