Manufacturing outlook brightens

Manufacturing optimism in the three months to April improved at its quickest pace since April 1973, while investment intentions saw a strong, broad-based rebound, according to the latest CBI quarterly Industrial Trends Survey. The survey of 288 manufacturers found that firms expect to increase capital expenditure on plant and machinery, buildings, product and process innovation, and training and retraining in the next year (relative to the last). In particular, investment intentions for plant and machinery were at their strongest since July 1997.

For further information
www.cbi.org.uk

Custom-configured tube benders

Automation, increasingly networked machines, and changes in the automotive industry: tube-bending machine manufacturer Schwarze-Robitec is strategically repositioning itself in view of changing market requirements. With Heike Ahlers as head of strategic sales and marketing, and Philipp Knobloch as global sales director, Schwarze-Robitec is entering the future with two experienced sales experts and longstanding employees in new roles.

“In view of Industry 4.0, increasing networking and the trend toward automation, our customer markets are changing at breakneck speed – and with them, our sales process is changing,” explains Ahlers. “The sale of complex and customer-oriented machines and systems needs a high level of customer and market knowledge, and requires a holistic understanding of different customer demands.

Adds Knobloch: “We are aligning ourselves with the market even more than before and want to grow more strongly. Individually configured special machines and customer-specific solution concepts are becoming increasingly important. This is an exciting task for me and my dedicated team.”

Both sales experts have been closely associated with Schwarze-Robitec for years. Ahlers joined the business development department in 2013 and was instrumental in setting up the company’s US subsidiary in 2015. Since 2016, she has been head of sales and marketing. Philipp Knobloch, who joined Schwarze-Robitec in 2014 as junior sales manager, most recently spent four years as sales manager responsible for sales at national and international level.

Managing director Bert Zorn is confident about the future: “With our dedicated sales team headed by two experienced experts, we are well prepared for challenges that arise in our customer markets.”

For further information
www.schwarze-robitec.com

Exhaust manufacturer selects Unison

A British-built Unison Breeze all-electric tube bending machine will soon be assisting Milltek Sport Ltd, a manufacturer of performance exhaust systems, in exhaust prototyping and development work at Germany’s world-famous Nürburgring racetrack.

Derbyshire-based Milltek invested in its first Unison Breeze machine, a 76 mm (maximum tube diameter) capability single-stack model, almost 10 years ago. A second Unison Breeze machine, an 80 mm multi-stack tube bender, followed in 2017.

The latest Unison Breeze machine to be purchased by Milltek – an 80 mm single-stack model – will be located at Milltek Sport GmbH, the company’s recently opened €1.5m development and testing centre in Nürburg. It will be used for exhaust system research and development, small production runs for some of the world’s leading high-performance cars, and custom tube manipulation work for several race teams.

As Milltek uses only highly robust T304L stainless steel for its exhaust products, the all-electric Breeze’s ability to successfully complete tight bends in thin-wall tube down to 1D radius, as required for many of today’s high-performance exhaust systems, was a key factor in the purchase decision.

“Investing in this 80 mm Unison Breeze machine will allow us to further expand the capabilities we have on site in Germany, as well as better cater to the growing demand for 80 mm diameter performance exhaust products,” says Milltek Sport’s managing director, Steve Pound. “Whereas, up to now, we’ve sent CAD designs from our German facility to our HQ in Derbyshire for prototyping, we’ll soon be able to design, prototype, trial and then complete batch and small production runs on site at the Nürburgring.”

For further information
www.unisonltd.com

Implementation plan for PSL Datatrack

With increasing numbers of subcontract precision engineers investing in PSL Datatrack production control software to manage and streamline their entire production process, PSL has published its new implementation plan. The plan steers customers through the implementation process swiftly and efficiently, helping them become familiar with the way PSL Datatrack works to maximise ROI in the shortest possible time. The concise 12-page document covers typical system flow for core modules and is designed for use in conjunction with a dedicated user training plan.

For further information
www.psldatatrack.com

ETG provides flexibility for HPC

Upon the formation of HPC Services Ltd in 1997, the company started with a single sliding-head turning centre. Since that point almost 25 years ago, the Ilkeston-based company has invested heavily in sliding-head turning technology for small part turning. However, for almost everything outside the dimensional realms of sliding-head machines, the subcontractor has put its faith in turning centres from Nakamura-Tome. Supplied and supported by the Engineering Technology Group (ETG), the Nakamura-Tome machines at HPC have provided productivity and flexibility for everything from simple to complex turning, as well as the machining of prismatic parts from bar.

“I think we bought our first Nakamura machine around 2003, and we’ve had them ever since,” recalls Paul Cobb, managing director at HPC Services.

Now with five Nakamura-Tome CNC turning centres on the shop floor, the subcontract manufacturer invested more than £600,000 in three machines between August 2018 and June 2019. The Nakamura WT100 and two WT150II machines followed the July 2017 arrival of a smaller Nakamura AS200 MY turning centre with live tooling and a Y-axis facility.

At that time, Cobb said: “As a subcontractor, you don’t know what is going to come through the door on any day, so these machines are perfect. We mostly use them for making mill/turned parts, on medium-sized production runs from a few hundred components to a few thousand, which is a real sweet spot for us.”

As part of the Hemlock Group of companies, HPC has more than 17 turning centres and 25 employees producing components for the industrial equipment sector. This includes fire-suppression equipment, printing machinery, scientific devices, packaging machinery, camera equipment and braking systems for the rail industry. The company typifies the subcontracting sector with its diverse workload, the variety of industries it supports and the expansive diversity of materials it machines and the services provided. With this thought in mind, the company has added yet another Nakamura-Tome turning centre, a WT150IIF model, which arrived shortly before Christmas.

Confirming why the Nakamura-Tome turning centres are so popular, Cobb says: “A few years ago Nakamura upgraded their older machines with new controls and much more rigid and powerful driven tooling. The machines were really good before, but now they have changed the game – and we simply had to invest in the new technology when it came out.

“As a business, we’ve built up our Nakamura models over the past couple of years, and the latest machine is testament to both the success we’ve had with the Nakamura machines and our investment programme,” he adds.

Before the investment drive in new Nakamura machines, HPC Services previously had the older models of the Nakamura brand.
“The residual value of these machines is unbelievable,” states Cobb. “We recently sold a Nakamura machine 13 years after we first purchased it, and we sold it for 50% of the purchase price. The loss you make each year really isn’t that much. It caused a problem when we sold the machine because we had written it down very low year-on-year so, when it came to selling the machine, we actually made a profit.”

Discussing the difference between the twin-spindle, twin-turret Nakamura-Tome WT100 and Nakamura-Tome WT150IIF, which both have Y-axis capability, Cobb says: “The WT100 is a smaller machine, making the kinematics and movement a little bit quicker.

However, it isn’t quite as versatile as the WT150II machines or the new WT150IIF, which has more power on the tooling stations. The other obvious difference is the bar diameter: we can get 46 mm diameter bar on the WT100 machine, whereas the WT150II machines can accommodate bar up to 65 mm.”

Continues Cobb: “The Nakamura machines have a lot of versatility and the ability to throw many driven tooling stations at the components. So, if you want to make fully milled parts with complete automation, you can. For example, it can be quite difficult to automate a machining centre, but if you can mill a prismatic component out of round bar, you are better off making the parts on a Nakamura machine. We do quite a lot of that type of milling work on the Nakamuras.

“Additionally, you don’t want to be putting your turned components on to milling machines after they have been turned, as it can knock all of your geometric relationships out. So, if you can make components in a single operation on a turning centre with all the complex milling and drilling, the quality of the finished part is far superior. Furthermore, the cost per component comes down as there is less handling of the parts.”

This is exemplified by the set-up of the latest Nakamura machines, which are all equipped with barfeed systems and a part accumulating Rota-Rack system from Hydrafeed. This configuration permits unmanned machining for upwards of 18 hours.

“The machines are also suitable for simple component runs,” says Cobb. “Our Nakamuras are very capable machines that do not take long to set up with the new control system, making them suitable for simple components. To make these machines justifiable on simple parts, we tend to do a minimum batch of 50 to 100 – that is our entry point for balancing productivity rates against set up times.”

Alluding to the flexibility of the Nakamura-Tome, Cobb states: “We have a really good team of people. This includes two or three highly skilled operators and a couple of apprentices, and they are all perfectly capable of setting these Nakamura-Tome machines. This gives our business the ability to switch components every day if we want.”

HPC Services has been delighted with the enhancements to the new models in the Nakamura-Tome range in terms of stability, rigidity and performance, but nowhere is this better emphasised than in the new Smart X CNC control panel. Working on a Windows platform, the FANUC-based control system introduces a multitude of innovations via a user-friendly and intuitive touchscreen interface. Some of the new technologies include a 3D Smart Pro AI system that automatically analyses CAD models to determine geometries, cutting tools and paths, as well as machining sequences. From this, a CNC program can easily be created to slash programming times and set-ups.

The Smart X system also introduces the NT Thermo Navigator, which uses AI-based machine learning to compensate for thermal growth, thus improving machine set-up and run times, along with precision. In addition, the CNC unit incorporates a simulation and overload function, the NT Work Navigator and an Industry 4.0 interface for complete connectivity.

Discussing the new format of the CNC on the Nakamura-Tome machines, Cobb says: “The old control systems were much more complicated. This new format has simplified the whole programming process, because a lot of it is feature orientated. So, if you are pocket machining or anything like that, there are many cycles built into the system and a lot of mathematical help to support you in working out dimensions and corners. As a result, you don’t have to use a CAM system. For everyday prismatic parts, the CNC control on the Nakamura is perfect.”

For further information
www.engtechgroup.com