CBE+ celebrates five years of excellence

CBE+, a multi-disciplinary subcontractor specialising in precision engineering, celebrated five years of engineering excellence with a recent open day at its 100,000 ft² manufacturing facility in Chesterfield. The event offered an exclusive opportunity for customers, prospective customers and suppliers to explore CBE+’s capabilities. More than 30 attendees witnessed the advanced manufacturing processes that position CBE+ as a major supply chain provider within the engineering industry. The business was born out of the 2017 acquisition of BG Engineering by Marie Cooper and Chris Brown.

More information www.cbeplus.com

Made Smarter launches peer network

Made Smarter North West has launched a new peer-to-peer network that aims to
accelerate digital adoption among SME manufacturers. The Digital Champions Network
brings together businesses that have engaged with Made Smarter’s adoption programme,
including graduates of its Leading Digital Transformation and Leading Change for Digital
Champions programmes.
The initiative will connect employees actively engaged in digitalisation, from the top floor to
the shop floor, at different stages of technology adoption. In-person and online events will
take place throughout the year that enable participants to share learning and experiences,
thus forging long-lasting connections.
More information www.madesmarter.uk

GE Aerospace signs net-zero charter

GE Aerospace has signed the Defence Aviation Net Zero Charter set out by the UK’s Ministry
of Defence (MOD). Scott Keating, regional GM – sales & business development for European
defence and systems at GE Aerospace, says: “This marks a significant step forward in our
efforts to collaborate and share best practices with our partners. It will help ensure that
defence aviation positively contributes to the UK Government’s net-zero ambitions and the
Royal Air Force’s aspirational goal to achieve net zero by 2040.”  
Shaun Harris, director support and chief engineer at the Royal Air Force, adds: “Defence
aviation must be able to retain its ability to operate globally, to defend the UK and its allies
in a changing climatic environment, while also significantly reducing our own carbon
emissions.” 
More information www.geaerospace.com

New Walter brand for lightweight materials

Walter Tools is raising its profile for the machining of lightweight components with the
arrival of its new FMT competence brand. The machining solutions provider is bringing
together its global presence and the technical expertise of lightweight machining specialist
FMT (Frezite Metal Tooling).
In the overall share of processed materials in the manufacturing industry, the proportion of
lightweight materials such as aluminium alloys continues to grow significantly. Machining
specialist Walter has therefore been consistently expanding this area of its portfolio for a
number of years.
The new Walter FMT competence brand showcases the importance of lightweight
machining for Walter to its global customer base and wider industry. It stands for the added
value that Walter says it offers customers through various services from consulting and
planning to implementation and maintenance, and for a trusting partnership that goes far
beyond tools.
As vice president of Walter Lightweight Business Unit, Pedro Pacheco will be responsible for
the new competence brand. He served as the first managing director of FMT from 2006 to
2017 and took over the role again in 2019.
“My focus will be on bringing together the expertise and working methods of FMT and
Walter’s PCD division in the optimal way,” says Pacheco. “We want to increase our reach in
the market significantly and contribute to Walter’s strategic growth targets. I want to create
the right structures and processes to provide current and potential customers with an
attractive offering that enables them to achieve their own economic goals.”

More information www.walter-tools.com

Ceratizit makes bespoke step drill for Volz

Rochdale-based Volz Engineering is a subcontract machining company that services the
automotive, aerospace and agricultural industries. With six CNC machines running 18 hours
a day, Volz sends out more than 500 parts a week.
Constantly looking for process improvements, a standout example of a tooling
recommendation which had tremendous impact was for a bespoke step drill. Required for a
job needing the drilling of one hole at different diameters at depths, Volz previously used

multiple inserts. However, swapping tools throughout the process reduced the overall
reliability and accuracy of the finished product, making it difficult to achieve the critical
tolerance of 0.02 mm. The machine process, with the necessary changes to tooling, took a
total of 26 minutes. This is where Ceratizit identified an opportunity to optimise the process.
Purposefully created to fulfil Volz’s exact specifications, Ceratizit designed and
manufactured a unique step drill. After installation, the total machine process time reduced
by more than 50% to just over 10 minutes. Moreover, using step drill requires just one
machine process to achieve the different diameters.
“The step drill was a game changer,” states James Alletson, operations manager at Volz
Engineering. “Not only did the time taken to machine each part dramatically decrease, but
with no machine interruptions we could achieve a greater level of precision. Since using the
step drill we haven’t had to replace it yet, despite the 500 parts a week it’s drilling.”
Impressed by the initial results of Ceratizit tooling, Volz began to switch out more tooling.
Indeed, a Ceratizit vending machine arrived on the shop floor around 18 months ago.
More information www.ceratizit.com