New aerospace contract for Rhodes Interform

Rhodes Interform, part of Group Rhodes, continues its success in mechanical and hydraulic press manufacture and refurbishment with another major project win in the aerospace industry. The contract, recently completed successfully, is phase one of two for the refit of a 1989 vintage 3000 Ton ‘Chester Hydraulics’ SPF press, at BAE Systems, Samlesbury. The press is a critical piece of equipment that manufactures major parts for the Typhoon (Eurofighter) aircraft.

Rhodes Interform’s technical director Peter Anderton says: “This is a specialist repair to the ‘hotbox’ ensuring the stringent temperature accuracies required during the manufacturing process are maintained. We won the contract based on our vast expertise in the manufacture, design and repair of SPF presses in the aerospace sector. The lockdown was obviously a difficult time for the industry, but over the past few months we’ve won a number of contracts for both new machinery and equipment refurbishment. We’re very optimistic for the continued recovery of the UK aerospace sector.”

Rhodes Interform’s machine refurbishments offer customers a cost-effective solution to improve equipment life and increase productivity. The company provides a complete one-stop refurbishment service, from arranging transport to the company’s maintenance facility in Wakefield, through to retrofitting new components and re-commissioning on site.

Parent company Group Rhodes, based in West Yorkshire, boasts a 200 year metal-forming history and has also been manufacturing presses to form composite materials from as early as the 1930s. The company has won Queen’s Awards for both Innovation and International Trade in recent years, particularly for its work in the aerospace sector.
For further information www.grouprhodes.co.uk

Investment in two Aida servo presses

Small Parts Incorporated, a precision metal stampings provider based in Logansport, Indiana, recently purchased two unitised-frame, two-point, direct drive, model DSF-N2 Aida servo presses. The presses have quickly realised several benefits on jobs moved from the company’s mechanical presses to its new servo presses, including increased strokes per minute (SPM) and up-time per run.

After modifying an existing automotive progressive die to run on Small Parts Inc’s new 110 ton Aida servo press, the company achieved burr reduction and less part distortion, which it attributes to complete programmability throughout the entire stroke of the servo press, decreasing parts failing post-sort. Moving this die from a mechanical to a servo press also shortened the feed length. These combined advantages resulted in a scrap reduction of approximately 30% on this automotive part.

Small Parts is also achieving die-life improvements. The sharp edge profiles on a non-automotive die were breaking or wearing down multiple times while stamping an order on a mechanical press. Switching this die to the DSF-N2 Aida servo press has already reduced die maintenance by 50%, which the company expects will increase to 60-70% when further tooling improvements are complete. As another example, making new cutting inserts to reduce the cutting clearance for an existing automotive die immediately yielded a 55% increase in die life when moved from a mechanical press to the new servo press.

The addition of the two Aida servo presses has also expanded Small Parts’ quote capabilities. Having seen the improvement and what is actually achievable first-hand, the company now has the confidence to quote servo-press jobs that would have been troublesome to stamp on mechanical presses.
For further information www.aida-global.com

Sustainable thinking – innovative action

Many manufacturing companies are aiming to ensure their production processes are environmentally conscious and, ultimately, climate-neutral. With its latest sustainability strategy, the Chiron Group and its UK partner, the Engineering Technology Group (ETG) are both playing a role in these efforts. The Chiron Group will soon be carbon-neutral, aided by a number of initiatives. For instance, the German machine tool manufacturer will expand its existing capacity for machine refurbishments and use additive manufacturing to broaden its range of applications in the automated repair of forging dies. All of this technology is now available from ETG.

Among the objectives of the Chiron Group sustainability strategy is to improve energy efficiency at all levels on a continuous basis. With long-term investments in heat recovery and photovoltaic systems, and the commitment to cover any additional electricity requirements exclusively from renewable sources, the Chiron Group’s manufacturing and assembly processes will be climate-neutral by the end of 2022.
For further information www.engtechgroup.com

Major Mexico expansion for NI

Northern Industrial, a provider of new, reconditioned and obsolete parts and repair services, first opened an office in Mexico City in December 2020, its first location outside the UK prior to launching its German site earlier this year. The company has now launched fully in Mexico under the brand NI Controls and moved into new, fully-equipped premises in Querétaro, where it is looking to boost its workforce further to make Mexico the central hub for the entire Americas. Northern Industrial’s central operation in the UK stocks over 200,000 parts numbers, sourced from over 1350 manufacturers.
For further information www.nicontrols.com/uk

£12m investment helps win quality award

One of the UK’s leading metals service centres is targeting further growth after it secured one of the automotive sector’s most demanding quality accreditations. William King Ltd, which specialises in high-tensile steel, aluminium, light gauge processing, electrical steels and niche metal coatings, received the Jaguar Land Rover JLRQ Award in front of 150 staff at its Atlas Centre facility in West Bromwich.

Andrew McClure, global supplier technical assistance director at JLR, made the presentation in recognition of the company’s outstanding performance over the past year where it has achieved world-class ‘right first time’ and ‘on-time in-full’ delivery scores. It marks the culmination of a £12m investment drive by the firm over the past five years that has seen William King introduce a new press blanking line, slitting facility and stacker, helping it take on new work and create and safeguard more than 50 jobs.

“We’ve been working towards the JLRQ standard for some time, overcoming the additional challenges of Covid-19 to demonstrate consistent quality, cost and on-time delivery,” explains Rachel Graville, who is the fourth generation managing director of family-owned William King.

She adds: “Quality has always been central to the way we operate, so a lot of the building blocks we needed for the award were already there, we just had to focus a little more on standardising processes, implementing a clearer continuous improvement strategy and bolstering training for all staff. Not only have we delivered world-class performance, we have done so against the positive backdrop of a rising order book with JLR, whom we now supply both in the UK and Slovakia.”
For further information www.williamking.co.uk