Styles Precision brings wire EDM in-house

To eliminate the cost and lead times associated with outsourcing its wire eroding requirements, Worcestershire-based Styles Precision has invested in a new Sodick ALC600G from Sodi-Tech EDM. This bold investment is also helping to attract more work from both existing and new customers as the company looks to continue its growth over the next five years.

“We tend to buy high-end machine tools, an ethos that we’ve transferred to our first wire EDM, a Sodick ALC600G, which we bought with the help of a successful grant application via the RDPE Growth Programme,” explains the company’s managing director Tony Styles. “Investing in top-end machines helps us to attract high-value work, often in energy and power-related sectors such as steam turbine, renewables and oil and gas.”

Styles Precision previously subcontracted its wire EDM requirements, maybe not enough to consider buying a machine, but the company knew there would be additional opportunities if it could offer wire EDM in-house. Therefore, the company concluded that investing in the Sodick ALC600G would be a logical and exciting step forward.

“We’ve already been busy wiring many different parts, including special profile gauges,” says Styles. “Recently, we won a tender to manufacture a family of intricate, high-value steam turbine wear parts, which have a particular profile in the bore. We use profile gauges as an initial check of the labyrinth’s profile form during machining operations. In addition, the labyrinths are themselves split into numerous segments: we have around 240 specific segments to wire from machined rings measuring between 300 and 600 mm in diameter.

“We have some fascinating projects on the go at present, so the ALC600G will make a big contribution to the ongoing success of our business, particularly as we will soon be running it lights-out,” he concludes.

For further information
www.sodi-techedm.co.uk

Houghton International secures award double

Houghton International, an innovator in the field of electromechanical asset repair, maintenance and life extension, competed against companies from across the UK to secure two accolades at the Make UK National Awards. The company won SME Manufacturer of the Year and came runner-up in the Developing Future Talent category. Michael Mitten, CEO of Houghton International, says: “Taking home not one, but two national accolades is testament to our positive, innovation-led culture, excellent people, and the way we go about our business with integrity at the heart of all we do.”

For further information www.houghton-international.com

NMi takes over CAB services

The UK National Measurement Office (NMO) will no longer provide Conformity Assessment Body (CAB) services as of 30 April 2022. Former NMO customers will now need to turn to other CABs for any necessary certification services. The announcement follows news that NMi, the Netherlands Measurement Institute, has become the first European notified body operating in the measuring instrument sector to set up in the UK and secure appointment as a UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) approved body. NMi can now serve as a single point of contact for businesses looking to acquire both UKCA and CE product markings.

For further information
www.nmi.nl

West Midlands wants ARIA

Business, academic and political leaders in the West Midlands have teamed up in a bid to bring the Government’s new Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) to Birmingham. The new agency will help to cement the UK’s position as a global scientific superpower, while shaping the country’s efforts to build back better through innovation.

Regional leaders, including the Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street, and Dr Clive Hickman, chief executive of the Manufacturing Technology Centre, alongside academic leaders, are calling for the agency to be headquartered at Old Curzon Street Station in Birmingham. Old Curzon Street Station, now the hub of HS2 in the city, was once home to the historic Lunar Society of Birmingham, which helped shape Britain’s scientific, political and social agenda throughout the 18th century.

For further information
www.the-mtc.org

Second Sodick EDM expands capacity

Erodex has a new Sodick AG60L spark erosion machine from Sodi-Tech EDM at its state-of-the-art machining centre in Halesowen. The machine brings vital extra capacity to the facility, which Erodex operates as an R&D manufacturing centre in support of its customers, around 75% of whom serve the aerospace and IGT (industrial gas turbine) sectors.

While Erodex already had a Sodick AQ35L, the company identified a clear need for a second die-sink EDM machine, as head of strategic capabilities Chris Grice explains: “In line with our growth over the past five years we’ve witnessed a requirement for more technical support among our customer base. At Erodex, we can see there’s real added value in providing customers with outsourced expertise.”

The company can of course simply manufacture electrodes to customer drawings, but thanks to its experience in the aerospace and IGT sectors, Erodex has deep knowledge of what customers are trying to achieve with regard to component geometry. As a result, design and production advice from the company is today a pivotal part of its offer and provides important market differentiation.

Erodex refers to its turnkey cost-per-part programme as ‘Application Assist’, an offer that is now even more efficient thanks to the arrival of the Sodick AG60L, which features linear drive technology and a direct link between the drive and control to ensure fast servo response and optimal spark gaps.

“Even though our customer base uses a variety of EDM machines, when it came to extending our capacity we chose another Sodick because of its reliable motion control,” explains Grice. “We get really good repeatability, which is vital in our line of work, particularly when we have multiple parts loaded in a fixture.”

For further information
www.sodi-techedm.co.uk