Sixth Dugard installation supports Growth at Dicker

Nestled in the South Downs of East Sussex, Dicker Precision Components has been quietly building a reputation for excellence in precision machining since its founding in 1973. What began as a small CNC workshop in Hailsham has evolved into a thriving machine shop with the support of machine tools from Dugard.

The company’s location near Eastbourne proves advantageous for its core market focus, as Director Mark Love explains: “Some 90% of our business is related to the pump industry and 90% of this involves machining stainless steel. The Eastbourne area is renowned for pump manufacture in the UK.”

This geographical advantage has helped Dicker Precision carve out a specialised niche serving everything from the aerospace and automotive sectors to the defence, medical and offshore sectors. To machine stainless, the company says it invests in Dugard machines for their rigidity, stability and power.

The latest acquisition, a Dugard 760XP VMC, represents both a strategic capacity increase and a technological upgrade designed to meet growing demand while improving productivity. The ‘XP’ designation refers to the direct drive spindle technology that adds power for the continuous stainless steel work that dominates Dicker Precision’s order book.

Says Brandon Love, deputy operations manager: “The direct drive spindle gives us something a bit stronger, addressing the demanding nature of machining stainless steel components for the pump industry, where precision and durability are paramount.”

A significant factor in the machine selection was the Siemens Sinumerik 828D control system, which maintains consistency across Dicker Precision’s machine shop.

“We run our other machines with Siemens, so it just makes sense for consistency and quick turnaround,” he adds. “It’s just so much faster to just keep all the CNC control panels the same.”

More information www.dugard.com

20 years of Starrag/Liebherr-Aerospace partnership

Smooth, precise and with perfect timing: modern landing gear works just like an eagle about to land. For the first time, Starrag presented a fully assembled nose landing gear of the Airbus A350 at last month’s EMO 2025 exhibition in Hanover, Germany, representing a symbol of a close partnership with Liebherr-Aerospace that has lasted over 20 years.

It all began in 2004 in Lindenberg, Bavaria, with a single Droop+Rein FOGS machine. Today, the partnership has developed into one of the most productive in the field of landing gear production. To celebrate, Starrag exhibited a fully assembled nose landing gear for the Airbus A350 – manufactured by Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg and machined on a Droop+Rein machining centre.

The partnership represents the shared journey of two global specialists – one at the system level, the other in mechanical engineering. It is a collaboration of equals based on technical understanding, long-term thinking and a global perspective.

“The trust that Liebherr-Aerospace has placed in us for two decades is both an obligation and an incentive for us,” emphasises Heiko Quack, director of sales for large projects. “Together, we’ve developed processes that are considered a global benchmark – especially when it comes to safety-critical components.”

For over 20 years, the two companies have been working closely together to produce one of the most demanding components in the aviation industry efficiently, reliably and with maximum vertical integration – landing gear. Starrag supplies the machining technology; Liebherr the system solution.

Liebherr-Aerospace operates one of the most modern landing gear production sites in Europe at its Lindenberg site, where four Droop+Rein FOGS machining centres work in combination. This capability is supplemented by robot-supported tool systems, laser measurement and integrated automation.

More information www.starrag.com

Motorsport Inspires RPH’s Hurco Machine Investment

RPH Manufacturing, a tier-one supplier based in Wimborne, has consistently prioritised precision, efficiency, cleanliness and innovation throughout its long history. At the helm is owner and managing director Richard Haim, whose passion for engineering, which began 57 years ago, led him to start his own company in 1981. Upon asking him why he has a preference for vertical machining centres from Hurco, he says: “I like the brand because I know a lot of the Formula 1 Teams are customers of theirs. I have been a lifelong motorsport enthusiast and I thought there could be no better endorsement to purchase a Hurco machine tool.”

Four Hurco VM-series machines, equipped with Max 5 twin-screen controls running proprietary WinMax conversational programming software, today form the backbone of RPH’s workshop. They enable the company to deliver more than 45,000 parts per year to a wide range of industries. Just-in-time and Kanban systems offer customers reliable, often daily supply of parts keep their businesses running and minimise their stockholding.

Haim is always open to innovations and new working methods that can make his business perform more efficiently. A good example is the way in which he has embraced Hurco’s Solid Model Import software. Already a user of Hurco DXF software, he was easily able to realise the additional benefits of applying dimensions directly from a STEP file into a conversational program. 

After 44 years in business, Haim is as committed as ever to running his VM-series machines and has set his sights firmly on reaching RPH’s 50-year trading milestone, which will be in 2031. His unwavering commitment to Hurco underscores the value the machines have brought to his business and his confidence in the supplier’s ability to support his continued success in the future.

More information www.hurco.com

Subcontract Market Continues to Grow

The UK subcontract manufacturing market carried on growing in the third quarter of 2025. It was up 10% on the previous quarter, which had already seen dramatic growth from April onwards. The CMI is produced by sourcing specialist Qimtek and reflects the total purchasing budget for outsourced manufacturing of companies looking to place business in any given month (representing a sample of over 4,000 companies).

The baseline for the index is 100, which represents the average size of the subcontract manufacturing market between 2014 and 2018.The CMI for the third quarter of 2025 was 113, compared with 103 for the second three months of the year.One a month-by-month basis, July was impressively strong – by far the strongest month of the year so far and a third higher than June.

More information www.qimtek.co.uk

EMO Outperforms Hurco’s Expectations

Machine tool builder Hurco says it was pleasantly surprised by the number of existing customers and new contacts ready to negotiate machine purchases on the company’s stand at the EMO 2025 in Hanover last month. In total, 14 machine tools valued at more than €2m were booked at the show, early signs that the outlook for machine tool sales in European markets will improve over the coming months following a period in the doldrums.

Star of the show for Hurco was a new offering from its in-house robotics division, the Profeeder Easy Desk 30, which was on view for the first time in Europe. Employing a higher-specification UR30 ProCobot that offers a 30 kg load capacity, compared with 12.5 kg available with the cobot models currently sold by Hurco, it was integrated with a Hurco VMX42Di three-axis vertical machining centre. 

More information www.hurco.com