EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Customer service key to XYZ success

Aftersales service is an absolute priority at XYZ Machine Tools. Managing director Nigel Atherton says: “We have around 25,000 machines in use in the UK and our primary objective is to keep them all cutting metal and earning money for our customers.”The company has 17 service engineers located around the country with the 150 most commonly required spare parts in their vans. At XYZ’s Devon headquarters there are a further eight people dedicated to service.

XYZ keeps around 90% of spare parts on the shelf ready for next-day delivery. The company resolves more than half of service calls over the phone, rising to 90% for programming and software queries. XYZ schedules any required visits so that the nearest service engineer can arrive the next day to coincide with the delivery of any spares not stocked in the van.Live tracking of the vans’ locations ensures XYZ normally resolves warranty breakdowns within 48 hours or less and non-warranty breakdowns within 72 hours maximum.
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

LAS set to enter space sector

Doncaster-based Laser Additive Solutions (LAS), a rapidly expanding subcontract provider of laser processing and additive manufacturing services, is targeting customers in the UK’s burgeoning space sector following its investment in aTruPrint 3000 additive production system from Trumpf. If things go to plan, the machine could be the first of many metal 3D printers at this progressive manufacturing business.

“Upon our enquiry, Trumpf alerted us to the availability of a quick-delivery TruPrint 3000 machine,” says managing director Peter Brown. “Although pre-owned, the machine had very low running hours, almost untouched. A powder-bed system had been in my thoughts for a number of years; this was clearly the opportune moment to make the leap.The space sector is constantly seeking manufacturing solutions for lightweight structures that are not easy to build with other technologies.”
For further information www.trumpf.com

Hurco Demo Deals Day

Three CNC lathes and 10 machining centres, two of which feature automation, are currently under power at Hurco Europe’s High Wycombe showroom. Unless sold earlier, all will be available for purchase exactly as seen at specially discounted ex-demo prices at a Demo Deals Day on 28 September. In addition to a Hurco ProCobot Profeeder twin-cart system fitted to a VM20i three-axis machining centre and an Erowa Robot Compact 80 pallet automation system integrated with a VMX30Ui five-axis model, accessories fitted to some of the machines on sale include Renishaw probing and Filtermist extraction units.
For further information www.bit.ly/3L3iUDl

Students complete sustainability challenge

Six students gave up time in their summer holidays to take part in an engineering sustainability challenge that has inspired them to pursue future employment opportunities. The aspiring engineers, all from Cumbria and either at college or having just sat GCSEs, spent eight days on a project looking at ways of reducing carbon emissions at Sellafield Ltd’s Engineering Centre of Excellence at Cleator Moor.The Summer Sprint project was the first of its kind and was set-up by Lorna Devine, Sellafield’s engineering development solutions lead, in collaboration with Lakes College and the Centre for Leadership Performance.
For further information www.bit.ly/3L3Tgyz

International award for Renishaw co-founder

Sir David McMurtry, co-founder and executive chairman of Renishaw, is the recipient of the I-Form Advanced Manufacturing Excellence Award 2023. The award, presented at the 72nd CIRP General Assembly hosted at University College Dublin, Ireland, recognises McMurtry’s outstanding contribution to innovation and research in advanced manufacturing over many decades. This year marks 50 years since McMurtry and John Deer founded Renishaw, which is a specialist in a range of engineering fields, including dimensional metrology and metal additive manufacturing (AM).
For further information www.renishaw.com