Good service leads to repeat HMC sales

When Autocraft Solutions Group, Europe’s largest independent engine builder and remanufacturer, purchased the land and assets of an existing but redundant machine shop in Wellingborough, in June 2018, the company retained four existing Heller four-axis, twin-pallet horizontal machining centres (HMCs) that were already on site. Within weeks, Autocraft was using them to produce cylinder heads and blocks both for its own engine assembly and for delivery to its customers’ production lines on a just-in-time basis.

Autocraft co-owner Mike Hague-Morgan says: “Once we started using the Hellers, we saw how quickly they responded to our requests for aftersales service, including the supply of replacement spindles within 24 to 48 hours. It gave us such a high level of confidence that we decided to take all the stock out and purchase additional Heller HMCs to produce more parts, increasing our profitability.”

Autocraft produces cylinder heads and blocks in medium to low volumes for a range of three- to six-cylinder inline and V6 to V12 engines for automotive and off-highway applications. The four Heller H2000 machining centres were soon joined by another three. Then two further orders, each for three more, were placed during the pandemic to bring the total to 13.

Hague-Morgan says: “During an incredibly difficult trading period, we were still able to grow the business partly because of the service level provided by Heller. We deliver hundreds of engine blocks per week to major production lines and it costs millions of pounds if they stop, so continuity of supply of heads and blocks is critical. Having machines up and running within a day or two after a spindle failure is worth a huge amount to me.”
For further information www.heller.biz

Five-axis machines provide growth opportunities

Speed, power and precision are qualities coveted by Justin and Maryann Schaller, both in terms of the family-owned Schaller Group and in their other shared passion of hydroplane racing. And the speed, power and precision of Starrag’s STC 800 X five-axis machining centres are playing a key role in both their business and their sport.

The brother and sister duo are executives of the Schaller Group, a third-generation Michigan-based precision metal-forming and assembly company that manufactures parts for the aerospace, military, automotive and medical industries.

The Starrag STC 800 X was chosen not only because it is suited to machining complex aluminium workpieces, but also because its precision capabilities, axis configuration and ability to five-axis mill with the use of a rotary table and a 30,000 rpm, 120 kW tilting spindle will enable Schaller to expand into other industry sectors.

With an A-axis range of -100/+60°, no angle heads are necessary for machining complex parts. The rotary table allows economical machining by using a tombstone set-up or multiple parts and fixtures on the same table. Additionally, with two STCs integrated into a manufacturing system, Schaller has high levels of flexibility in production.

“These are the perfect machines for growth,” says business development specialist Maryann Schaller. “We started in the aerospace industry in the 1980s; it’s a great growth market, but we also know the importance of diversifying.”

Schaller selected Starrag machines because they can be utilised in any industry that requires high precision, complex parts including racing vehicles, satellites or electrical vehicles.

“Starrag’s capabilities allows Schaller to meet those diverse needs,” she says.
For further information www.starrag.com

Automation investment proves its worth again

Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of DN Solutions’ machine tools (formerly Doosan machine tools) in the UK and Ireland, has recently supplied an automated machining cell to a precision aerospace subcontract specialist. The cell was delivered and installed at ASG Arrowsmith’s machine shop facility in Coventry and is being used, at present, to machine a range of pre-production, high accuracy aero-engine parts for the new, ultra-efficient Rolls-Royce Pearl 700 business aviation engine.

Says Jason Aldridge, ASG Arrowsmith’s managing director: “We’re gearing up for full production and, since the cell’s installation, have been focused on designing, optimising and proving-out the machining processes for eight Pearl 700 engine parts ready for PPAP, a standardised aerospace industry process for the design and manufacture of new and revised parts.”

The parts being machined by ASG Arrowsmith are all made from aerospace-grade titanium alloys and other exotic materials. They are machined to exacting tolerances and super-fine surface finishes, and are characterised by their complexity and intricate features – many of which can only be produced economically by using simultaneous five-axis machining technology.

DN Solutions’ DVF 5000 machining centre provides ASG Arrowsmith with full five-axis simultaneous machining capabilities and, as such, enables the company to machine complex, high-precision parts to completion in a single set up. To improve productivity and process efficiencies the machine is integrated with a compact eight-station automatic workpiece pallet changer: each pallet is 350 x 350 mm in size and has a 250 kg maximum load.

ASG Arrowsmith regularly invests in advanced machine tools and automation systems from Mills CNC.

“We are advocates of the advanced technologies they supply and the applications and technical support they provide,” says Aldridge.
For further information www.millscnc.co.uk

High-speed machining cell installed at Nexter

In August, the Fives Machining teams at the company’s Capdenac workshop completed the assembly and commissioning of an additional Forest-Liné V-Star machine. The project, which included the configuration of a shuttle extension, completed the three-unit cell for Fives customer, Nexter, a specialist manufacturer serving the defence industry.

As soon as the customer confirmed acceptance, the machine was disassembled and shipped to Nexter’s plant in Roanne, France, where reassembly by Fives technicians is currently in progress. The Forest-Liné V-Star machines are intended to trim and drill the thick aluminium plates required to manufacture the sides of the armoured vehicles in the SCORPION programme (Griffon, Jaguar, Serval). With the three machines in operation, the cell will enable Nexter to produce parts for 450 vehicles per year, meeting the army’s need to renew its vehicles and machines.

In August 2021, during the inauguration of this new FMS (flexible manufacturing system) equipped with the first two Forest-Liné V-Star machines, Sylvain Rousseau, Nexter’s director of operations, underlined the unprecedented capacities achieved on an industrial and technological level thanks to the know-how provided by Fives Machining.

Forest-Liné V-Star machines offer a high dynamic accuracy, supporting the manufacture of parts with a rapid production throughput. This capacity to process extremely long and wide components, as well as the combination of milling, trimming and drilling, is adapted to the processing of many complex parts, including aircraft structures, wing panels and boat hulls. For all vanguard applications, this high-velocity solution can efficiently process different materials, composites, resins, alloys and hard metals from rough- to the finish-milling.

The installation is part of the NextFab modernisation project at Nexter’s Roanne plant, which aims to triple the annual vehicle production capacity by 2025.
For further information www.fivesgroup.com

New level of success in metalworking

Today, as industrialists are increasingly willing to leave the memory of Covid-19 behind, it is undeniable that the pandemic has forever changed many aspects of commercial life. More communication and business took place online as face-to-face meetings were not possible during Covid-related restrictions. This also affected exhibitions such as Metalex, the ASEAN region’s leading machine tool and metalworking exhibition.

“The last full-scale Metalex event was held in 2020, with Covid-19 preventing us from organising the show in 2021,” says Sirirat Sungvichai, exhibition management director of RX Tradex (formerly Reed Tradex). “However, when the government allowed large-scale events again, we created a special edition of the event called ‘Metalex March’ in March 2022, which was a huge success. It showed that everyone in the metalworking community wanted to meet their colleagues and experience new machinery and technologies with their own eyes.

“One factor that helps businesses grow and become successful is networking, whether it’s a network of customers, suppliers or business partners,” she continues. “Therefore, when the pandemic started to improve, we started aiming for Metalex (to be held on 16-19 November 2022 at BITEC, Bangkok) to make a grand comeback. We want to make this event a meeting place for everyone in the metalworking industry to come expand their networks in the ASEAN region.”

Sungvichai goes on to say that it will be an event where everyone gets to improve production efficiency together, add value to their products, and generate business opportunities that will foster growth. Over 85,000 participants from all over the region will get to experience over 2500 brands of metalworking technologies, and meet with representatives at international pavilions from Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and the Republic of China (Taiwan). What is even more exciting is that some technologies will appear for the first time in the ASEAN region at Metalex.

In addition to the machinery and technology exhibition, Metalex will host concurrent seminars on a variety of up-and-coming topics such as AI, smart materials and many more. Interested participants can pre-register online.
For further information www.metalex.co.th