Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of Doosan machine tools in the UK and Ireland, has appointed Martyn Jones as business manager for the Birmingham and West Midlands region. Jones is a seasoned CNC machine-tool sales professional who has acquired over 20 years’ experience in the sector at companies that include Gardner Aerospace, Arrowsmith Engineering and, more recently, as an applications engineer at a machine-tool distributor and area sales manager for a well-known machine-tool manufacturer.

“Mills CNC has an unrivalled reputation in the market for the quality and technical excellence of the Doosan machine tools it sells, and for its well-resourced and industry-leading after-sales and support services,” says Jones. “I’m delighted to have joined such a customer-focused and progressive company, and believe I have the experience, business approach and skill set to make a positive and telling contribution to Mills’ continued growth and success.”

For further information www.millscnc.co.uk

Esprit is unveiling its on-demand CAM training platform, Esprit Learning Center, to the general public. The new portal is an online training platform with on-demand, self-paced training courses created specifically for Esprit CAM programmers. Among the first learning paths available are: ‘New User Milling’, ‘New User Turning’ and ‘New User Mill-Turn’. Each learning path includes five to seven training courses that guide users through several different machine models and part models.

The main purpose for creating discrete online learning paths is to replicate what a student can learn from an on-site training class. Users can learn at their own pace by taking the course anywhere, and at any time. Each learning path also comes with one Esprit student licence for each learner, so users can take the courses at home or in their free time, without interrupting their daily programming or production work.

For further information
www.espritcam.com/learningcenter

Based in Tunbridge Wells, Muffett Gears makes regular investments in cutting-edge quality-control equipment. The company’s most recent addition is a case in point: a Crysta-Apex S9106 CNC CMM from Mitutoyo UK.

Director Mark Jagelman says: “The production of precision gears and associated components requires exceptional precision and the application of exacting quality standards through all stages of production and assembly. We recently decided to replace our existing CMM for a range of reasons. For instance, the machine needed an upgrade that was due to cost £50,000. In addition, we thought that our old CMM’s running costs, including training, services and calibration, were becoming exorbitant.

“After investigating various CMM brands and models, a successful demonstration of a Crysta-Apex S9106 CNC CMM at Mitutoyo UK’s showroom convinced us that this high-specification machine was ideal for our needs,” he adds. “In addition to providing the necessary levels of precision it also had the speed of operation that could keep pace with the high volumes of work passing through our busy quality-control department.”

The Crysta-Apex S9106 has a measuring volume of 900 x 1000 x 600 mm. As well as measuring large, one-off parts, the CMM’s generous capacity also makes it possible to inspect multiple smaller components in automated, CNC, mass-measurement routines.

“Our new Mitutoyo CMM’s ability to accurately and rapidly inspect a large batch of components has further improved our quality-control department’s efficiency levels,” says Jagelman. “Notably, our inspection staff are now able to load the CMM’s bed with multiple components, quickly recall the relevant part program and instigate a fully automated inspection procedure. On completion, we can generate a detailed inspection report relating to each component.”

For further information
www.mitutoyo.co.uk