Alpine F1 Team’s recent investment in eight Mikron MILL P 500U five-axis machining centres has had a dramatic and positive impact on the productivity and efficiency of its manufacturing operations. The machines – four with integrated automatic pallet changers and four without – are now operational at the F1 Team’s manufacturing facility in Enstone, Oxfordshire. These eight MILL P 500Us replaced six Mikron HPM 450U five-axis machines that were acquired in 2016. Whilst still performing satisfactorily, the HPM 450U’s days were numbered.

Ian Pearce, Alpine F1 Team’s head of supply chain, says: “The Mikron HPM 450Us are good machines but changing situations and circumstances within our own manufacturing operations dictated that they needed to be replaced as a matter of some urgency.”

The arrival of the new machines has enabled Alpine F1 Team to take advantage of fast rapids (61 m/min) and 1 G acceleration/deceleration rates, as well as gantry-type construction and a trunnion rotary tilting table (with tandem support on its tilt axis).

Front uprights are among the parts now undergoing machining on the MILL P 500Us.
Says Bruce Foster, metallics production manager at Alpine F1 Team: “The uprights are primarily 3+2 machined from solid aluminium, with full simultaneous five-axis machining taking place when and where appropriate and beneficial. Cycle times are about 12 hours per upright, while geometric tolerances across the part are 10 µm or better, along with Ra 0.2 µm surface finish.”
In addition to the front uprights, the MILL P 500U machines produce the cars’ hydraulic manifold from (solid) aerospace-grade aluminium to exacting tolerances. Over 85% of the material is removed during the roughing process, leaving a complex part exhibiting a number of delicate and intricate features.

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Injection mould tool specialist, Swindon-based Metalite Engineering, has recently added to its plant list with the arrival of a Quaser five-axis UX500C machining centre and a 10-pallet Erowa Robot Easy 250 pallet loading system. Supplied and integrated by the Engineering Technology Group (ETG), the new investment is adding significant capacity to Metalite with its unmanned machining capability.

The UX500 is primarily for medical sector work, although Metalite is also highly regarded for its ability to serve the aerospace, automotive, Formula One, food packaging and horticultural industries. In total, the machine has 60 tools and a 15,000 Maxia spindle with a face and taper dual-contact system. Additionally, the UX500C has rigid knuckle-type axis rotation to provide full machining access around the component. Metalite needs this flexibility and precision as it is making parts that extend from small medical components with 5 µm tolerances, up to large tool steel die parts. For this reason there is a crane on the automation system to load larger billets.

ETG’s Steve Brown says: “The partnership between Quaser and Erowa goes a lot deeper than what is here in the UK. Both companies have a technical partnership and that is rolled through to us at ETG. So, we are the distributor for Quaser machines, and we have great support from REM Systems that supply the Erowa system. When we enter into a package together, we can tailor the solution to meet the needs of the customer.”

The success of this installation has already seen Metalite order a second system that will be applied to a three-axis vertical machining centre, where the robot loading system will incorporate four pallets.

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www.engtechgroup.com

Cramlington-based Arcot Engineering has upgraded its capabilities by investing in a Yamazaki Mazak CV5-500 five-axis machining centre, which Mazak says is suited to engineering companies making their first move into five-axis work.

Kevin Graham, machine shop manager at Arcot Engineering, says: “We have a long history of working with vertical machining centres, but we’ve had ambitions to move into more complex and lucrative five-axis work for some time. The CV5-500 is priced at a very competitive level for subcontract manufacturers like ourselves, but still has the usual Mazak build quality.”

Arcot has developed a strong reputation manufacturing parts for a variety of industries, with particular strength in oil and gas, torque tension tools and hydraulics.

“Our new five-axis capabilities mean we can perform multiple tasks on one machine, which in turn reduces set-up times,” says Steve Mason, machine shop-floor manager. “We’re now doing three, four or five phases of a job in one set up, while also reducing cycle times by a minimum of 30% thanks to the 12,000 rpm main spindle. This machine is going to make us much more competitive.”
The move into more complex five-axis work was aided by Mazak, which provided a full week of off-site training.

“The CV5-500 is programmed using Mazak’s own SmoothX control,” says Mason. “I’ve never run a Mazak before but I’ve found the programming to be really easy and very user-friendly.”

Alan Mucklow, Mazak UK’s managing director – sales and service, adds: “Five-axis is a more complex type of machining, but Arcot Engineering are showing what’s possible when a company has the ambition to try and the will to make it work.”

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Two Starrag Heckert machining centres are enabling an aluminium foundry in Italy to finish-machine cast components for the automotive industry. The two machines – a five-axis Heckert X40 and a four-axis Heckert H40 – are also helping Lombardy-based Industria Metalli to effectively become a system supplier of components that, because of the reliability and speed of the Heckerts, are now significantly more cost-competitive than those offered by companies without in-house machining.

Industria Metalli specialises in vehicle components, from supports and brackets through to housings, generating 40% of turnover from the automotive sector. Each year it produces over five million cast aluminium parts using 8000 tonnes of secondary aluminium for 160 customers around the world.

Until the installation of the Heckert machines, the company outsourced all of its machining. However, subcontracting was increasingly causing logistical concerns, as well as cost and quality issues. The turning point came with the arrival of a new project manager who had worked as a machining specialist in the automotive industry. He recommended purchasing Heckert machines to assist the establishment of an in-house machining facility.

Following installation, Industria Metalli began its in-house machining by processing simple housings for oil filters. “I’m optimistic that we’ll soon be able to finish more products using the Heckert machining centres and that we’ll also receive orders for new components,” states managing director Fausto Becchetti.

“By establishing a mechanical manufacturing facility, our opportunities to progress to tier one, to become a system supplier, have increased significantly,” he continues. “Our products are now significantly more competitive in comparison to those from many of our competitors which do not have in-house machining. The two Heckert machining centres represent the first milestone in our journey.”

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www.starrag.com

Yamazaki Mazak has helped the McLaren Formula One team by supplying and commissioning a new fully-simultaneous five-axis machining centre in just four weeks. The new machine, an Integrex i-100S multi-tasking machining centre is now fully operational at McLaren’s Technology Centre in Surrey. McLaren Racing’s partnership with Mazak, which now stands at in excess of 20 years, takes the total number of Mazak machines currently in use by the team, to 28.

The i-100S benefits from a compact, ergonomic design complete with a large machining envelope. McLaren Racing’s new machine is capable of machining both round and square workpieces up to 500 mm diameter and 854 mm in length, in just one set-up.

Malcolm Jones, manager – machining and fabrication at McLaren Racing, says: “As part of our longer-term investment strategy in manufacturing technologies, we plan for regular machine upgrades to ensure we operate with the fastest, most efficient technology available.”

He adds: “The team at Mazak was able to source a machine and arrange for it to be shipped, installed and commissioned in just four weeks. Not only does it complement our existing machine portfolio, but it underpins our need for more flexible and capable machines. What’s more, features such as the SmoothX CNC and the second spindle will enable us produce components to a higher degree of accuracy – and faster – than our older generation machines.

“The i-100S is the next step forward in our wider plans to refresh our machine shop and invest in the latest simultaneous five-axis machine-tool technology,” he concludes. “We value our close working relationship with Mazak, who help us to make parts faster and more accurately.”

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www.mazakeu.co.uk