BMW Hams Hall hits 20-year milestone

BMW Group’s Hams Hall engine manufacturing plant, located in Warwickshire, has reached a major milestone. Officially opening and starting production in 2001, the plant is marking 20 successful years of manufacturing three and four-cylinder petrol engines. A committed workforce of more than 1000 people support day-to-day operations at the site, around a third of whom are also celebrating their own 20-year or more contribution to the plant.

As well as engine assembly, a high-tech machining hall is a core part of the Hams Hall site, producing key engine components such as crankshafts, cylinder blocks and cylinder heads. Large investment over the past decade has meant the plant is also able to produce these parts for other BMW Group engine plants, with annual production exceeding more than 1 million components.

For further information www.bmwgroup.com

Private equity fund buys Formaplex

UK private equity fund Elaghmore has acquired Formaplex, an integrated manufacturer and supplier of lightweight component solutions to the global automotive, motorsport, aerospace, medical and defence markets. Established nearly 20 years ago, and with revenues in excess of £60m, Formaplex operates from four manufacturing sites based along the south coast of England. The company employs over 500 employees and, following the acquisition, CEO Mike Bryant will continue to head-up the operation.

Andy Ducker, co-founder at Elaghmore, says: “We believe that Formaplex has significant potential for continued growth in all of the sectors it serves. More and more businesses are looking to replace traditional component materials with lightweight solutions that increase efficiency and reduce environmental impact. We look forward to being part of this growth by providing Mike and the team with financial and operational support.”

For further information
www.formaplex.com

Providing precision to A&M EDM

A recent rise in the volume of parts produced by Smethwick-based A&M EDM – one of the country’s largest specialist EDM companies – began to place a strain on the firm’s CMM provision. However, after evaluating solutions from three global metrology companies, the company has resolved its capacity issue by purchasing a Mitutoyo Crysta-Apex V CMM with an XYZ capacity of 900 x 1000 x 800 mm.

A&M quality inspector Steve Foster says: “The Crysta-Apex V was launched only a short time ago, therefore it was the most up to date and advanced CNC CMM of the machines that we considered, and the most suitable for our needs. As A&M’s machining facility continues to develop, the fact that this new CMM can integrate with advanced factory arrangements and interact with other systems makes it future proof.”

In addition to being suitable for today’s demanding inspection tasks, Mitutoyo’s new-generation CMMs are designed for the smart factory of the future and the connected production environment.

It helped A&M’s decision to invest that one of its major aerospace customers has multiple Mitutoyo CMMs. The company’s staff reported that its CMMs were efficient and reliable, and that it had received excellent service from Mitutoyo.

“The Crysta-Apex V’s intuitive operating system and the training we received from Mitutoyo UK has enabled our staff to quickly get up to speed,” says Foster. “In fact, the speed and accuracy specification of our new CMM has removed the potential for delays in our inspection department and is now helping to ensure the quality of our output.”

For further information
www.mitutoyo.co.uk

25% more wire EDM speed

The introduction of a VL600Q from Sodi-Tech EDM at the Wolverhampton facility of Pemberton Engineering is driving 25% more productivity in the manufacture of automotive press tools, jigs and fixtures.

Founded in 1984, Pemberton Engineering has been specialising in toolmaking ever since.

Initially focusing on small press tools for the lock industry, which was still flourishing in the Black Country during that time, the company soon shifted its emphasis to the automotive sector. From large tools for truck and tractor components, Pemberton Engineering has evolved into an established supplier of high-precision press tools, including complex progression tooling, to tier-one and tier-two automotive manufacturers.

“Apart from a short six-week closure for the initial UK lockdown due to COVID-19, we’ve been really busy,” states managing director Darren Pemberton. “In fact, buoyant is the word I’d use to describe business right now, which is exactly why we needed more wire EDM capacity.
“Although we were already running two wire EDMs, we knew that another would deliver a major boost to operations and allow us to provide customers with even better service and support,” he adds. “Having looked around at the leading wire EDM models in the capacity range we required, the Sodick VL600Q was the obvious choice. Particularly attractive was the 25% increase in speed it would offer over our existing machines.”

The VL600Q houses Sodick’s latest LN2W series power supply unit, which is capable of high-speed, high-precision and high-efficiency machining. Linear motors also feature, providing high-speed axis motion and quick response times.

“Beyond our single shift pattern, the VL600Q is already running lights-out overnight and at weekends,” says Pemberton. “We’re really impressed with the Sodick machine’s performance, which has been faultless to date. It has totally eliminated bottlenecks within our workflow.”

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

Suction effect keeps parts chip-free

Ceratizit has introduced its PCD MaxiMill SEC12 face-milling cutter to target the machining of crankcases, cylinder heads and other automotive-related components made from aluminium and non-ferrous metals, the interiors of which must remain chip-free. Key to the success of the MaxiMill SEC12 is the design of the insert seat and cutting-insert topology, supported by the coolant pressure, which together create a suction effect that at high speed clears virtually 100% of chips from the workpiece.

Anyone working in engine manufacture will be familiar with this problem: during the conventional face milling of crankcases and cylinder heads, chips fall into the water chambers and get stuck there to such an extent that complete removal by automated washing processes is difficult. Instead, the chips must be removed manually, which involves additional time and costs. And if chips remain, there may be a need to scrap an expensive component.

The new PCD MaxiMill SEC12 (Suction Effect Cutter with 12 mm insert size) eliminates this problem, saving time and cost. Thanks to cutting inserts with a ground-in chip-removal notch and their novel positioning in the body of the milling cutter, the tool develops a suction effect that clears chips away from the part. In addition, the working angle from the flat surface is approximately 30°, which means that hardly a single chip can enter the interior of the component. Coolant flow at the optimum pressure further enhances chip evacuation.

Ceratizit’s MaxiMill SEC12 offers numerous other advantages. One of the most important is its modular design (made entirely of standard components), which enables individual versions to be created for any requirement. The milling cutter consists of a milling adapter in HSK-A63, -A80 or -A100 design, which holds the base body of the face mill.

For further information
www.ceratizit.com