SUBCONTRACTING NEWS

Financial announcement by Doncaster

Doncasters Group is pleased to announce the successful closing and funding of a new $500m senior debt facility that will be used to refinance its existing loan facilities (the ‘transaction).The $500m six-year loan and $50m committed delayed draw term loan will enable the group to repay its existing senior finance facility, repay a proportion of its PIK facility, and continue to make further strategic investments within its superalloy and precision casting businesses to facilitate its growth.

PGIM Fixed Income structured and anchored the financing. The Doncasters Group will maintain its current ABL facility that provides up to $110m of availability, further supporting both organic and inorganic growth opportunities in its core superalloy and precision casting markets.

For further information www.doncasters.com

Q1 growth for subcontract market

Qimtek’s latest Contract Manufacturing Index shows that the UK subcontract market continued to grow in the first quarter. The index was up 4.5% in the first three months of 2024, building on the strong upswing at the end of 2023.Projects and budgets that had been on hold continue to be unlocked as manufacturers place orders and suppliers are busy quoting for work. February was the strongest month since March 2023.

The baseline for the index is 100, which represents the average size of the subcontract manufacturing market between 2014 and 2018.The CMI for Q1 2024 was 82, compared with 78.5 for the previous quarter.Machining accounted for 48% of the market, up 35% on the previous quarter, while fabrication represented 49%, down 5% on the previous quarter.

For further information www.qimtek.co.uk

Subcontractor takes up five-axis machining

Based in County Cork, Maas Precision Engineering performs its CNC milling on seven Hurco vertical machining centres. The first arrived more than 20 years ago and is still running today. Mass Precision caters for all quantities, with the company manufacturing anything from one-offs and small batches up to 20,000 or more.

Managing director Tadhg Hurley says: “We owe our business success to Hurco and are confident in the machines. I know we can turn parts around quickly, making prototypes in one day or a maximum of two days. Every person here can program every machine. Whether it be a 20-year-old machine or a new five-axis model, we usually program directly at the machines and can process orders quickly because we know they’re going to be right.”

The machines play their part, but Maas Precision sets out to make the right investment at the right time. In 2018 the company purchased its first five-axis VMC, a Hurco VMX42SRTi with swivelling B axis and rotary C axis set in the table. The main benefit was the ability to complete more operations in a single set-up.

The transition to five-axis machining was clearly a success as a second five-axis model is now in place: a Hurco VMX30Ui of more compact design with a swivelling trunnion carrying a rotary table. Mass Precision can easily transfer programs between the Hurco machines, new and old, to balance capacity utilisation. The company must respond quickly to changing customer demands, so being able to swap production runs between machines helps to build confidence in attaining challenging targets.

For further information www.hurco.co.uk

Bryken trebles automated milling capacity

A long-time user of two automated machining centres that exchange parts fixtured on pallets, in 2022 subcontractor Bryken installed a Hermle C12 machining cell with an integrated RS05 robot for loading billets directly into the working area and unloading finished components. It was supplied by Kingsbury, the sole sales and service agent in the UK for the German machine manufacturer.

The installation was followed one year later by a second cell, this time with drawer rather than tray storage. A similar, even more advanced system with gripper exchange and vice jaw change system arrived in early 2024, allowing multiple different parts to run without operator intervention overnight and at weekends.

Bryken purchased the first Hermle cell after an oil and gas OEM placed an order for 600 new types of manifold, bringing the total number of different parts produced for this customer alone to nearly 1400. Almost all manifolds are made of 316 stainless steel.

The company’s director Phillip Taylor explains: “We don’t have any allegiances to machine tool suppliers, always choosing the most appropriate, high-quality kit for the intended purpose. We opted for an automated cell from Hermle as it was the only solution that was a true billet-handling, five-axis machining cell with a fully integrated robot. The other systems offered either had bolt-on component handling or were pallet-exchange configurations.”

At Bryken’s Knowsley factory, the Hermle cells work 24/7 and delivers an OEE above 90%. Taylor says that the machines hardly ever stop. The first two cells produce around 2000 parts per month. One machines about two-thirds of these components spread across 15 different part numbers, while the second has a more diverse workload involving smaller batch sizes.For further information www.kingsburyuk.com

£10m heavy engineering plant

Subcontract manufacturer, WEC Group, is constructing a state-of-the-art 60,000 sq ft heavy
machining and fabrication facility in Blackburn. The development marks a significant
milestone in the group’s ongoing expansion strategy and is set to become one of the largest
subcontract machining plants in Europe, serving sectors such as nuclear, defence, offshore
and general engineering.


The facility will feature six large CNC machining centres capable of handling components up
to 20 m in length and 5 m in diameter. This will significantly expand WEC Group’s existing
capabilities, which include a trio of large Correa and an Asquith Butler travelling column
milling machines. The new plant is expected to create 60 new jobs, including 10 additional
machining apprentices.
For further information www.wec-group.com