SUBCONTRACTING NEWS

Zeus Engineering focuses on the future

Zeus Engineering, a precision subcontract specialist based in Airdrie, is increasing its machining capacity and capabilities by investing in a new DN Solutions VT 1100M vertical turning lathe (VTL) from Mills CNC. The machine, which incidentally, is the first CNC VTL acquired by the company in its 57-year history, arrived at Zeus Engineering’s 12,000sq ft facility in November 2022.

The machine is producing large, heavy and often awkward-shaped components, such as rings, discs, pump housings, flange couplings, bearing carriers, valves and differentials, from a range of castings, forgings and fabrications, as well as from solid billet and plate. Industries served include rail, off-road vehicle, oil and gas, power generation, food, and renewable energy.

Being part of the AGZ Group, the company can also provide its high-quality design and machining services, where appropriate, to the two other associate companies in the group: Argon Engineering and Gillrick Metalwork.

Says Scott McHutcheson, Zeus Engineering’s operations director:“We’re always looking to improve our in-house machining capacity and capabilities, and regularly review and analyse our performance to ensure we meet, and exceed, our customers’ expectations.”

The acquisition of the VT 1100M lathe means that, over the past 14 years, Zeus Engineering has invested in five new Doosan machines from Mills CNC, including two Puma series lathes.

“We have a good relationship with Mills CNC and like their proactive, value-added business approach, which to all intents and purposes, is very similar to our own,” says McHutcheson. “The Doosan machine tools they sell and support, like the VT 1000M, are reliable and deliver excellent cutting performance.”

The 32” chuck VT1100M is equipped with box guideways, a 55kW/850rpm/6385Nm spindle, a 12-station indexable turret and 11kW/3000rpm driven tooling capabilities.
For further information www.millscnc.co.uk

Metaltech doubles sliding-head lathe capacity

Located in Chard, Somerset, subcontract machining firm Metaltech Precision has increased the number of sliding-head turning centres on its shop floor from 6 to 13, of which 10 are Cincom models from Citizen Machinery UK. It follows the purchase by the company’s owner, Expromet Technologies Group, of another subcontractor nearby, NC Precision, which specialised in this area of production.

The latest sliding-head lathe arrived in September 2022 having originally been ordered by NC Precision. It is a Cincom L32XIILFV capable of turning parts from bar up to 35 mm diameter. Notably, the machine features LFV (low-frequency vibration) functionality, which automatically breaks swarf into chips of manageable size that fall away from the machining area for easy extraction.

Steven Ward, operations manager at Metaltech, says: “We were already familiar with and impressed by LFV, having installed a smaller CincomL20XIILFV four years ago to simplify the production of a particularly difficult component.The ongoing job involves machining a tough, malleable iron that has a high tendency to cause bird’s-nesting when turned, but LFV completely solves the problem by allowing the control of chipping.

“It means that we are able to leave the lathe running unattended for long periods, whereas before an operator needed to be in attendance virtually all the time to constantly clear away the swarf,” he adds. “This labour cost element, which has now been removed, was contrary to the whole concept of bar turning, yet was necessary to maintain consistency of production and minimise scrap.”

The purchase of the second LFV lathe last autumn, with its chip-breaking function, facilitates more options for fulfilling contracts that may come along involving titanium, nickel alloys or other metals that tend to result in stringy swarf.
For further information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk

ITC CUTS TOOLING COSTS AND CYCLE TIMES FOR TML

Celebrating its 30th year of business, Tml Precision Engineering is a tier oneand tier two subcontract manufacturer that invests in the latest technology to service leading OEMs and supply chains in the aerospace, motorsport, medical and renewable energy sectors. To extend its competitive advantage, the Norwich-based company utilises cutting tools from Tamworth-based Industrial Tooling Corporation (ITC).

Working to ISO9001 and AS9100, Tml has invested in multi-pallet five-axis machine tools from Matsuura and DMG Mori, turn-mill centres from Mazak, and turning centres from Mazak and Nakamura-Tome. With high-quality machine tools offering extended periods of unmanned machining, the company was looking to improve its tool life while simultaneously reducing cycle times and, consequentially, its commercial advantage. An initial market review led to ITC based on service capability and technical support.

Local ITC technical engineer Dan Smith called intoTml and initially trialled several ITC 2041 series of solid-carbide end mills for aluminium machining. Applied to a series of battery system components for a Norfolk-based automotive OEM, the initial trial proved fruitful with productivity rates and tool life both improving. The improved results led to the 2041 series and other aluminium specific end mills seeing adoption on the shop floor. This success also gave the manufacturer confidence to trial the Widia range of indexable turning tools. Results were once again impressive.

The Widia Victory series of CNMG and WNMG indexable inserts from ITC for machining steel and stainless steel were applied for rough-turning a family of more than 10 different flow regulator and pipe assembly components. Machined on one of the company’s Mazak Integrex turn-mill centres, the ITC engineer swapped out the previous inserts and retained ‘like-for-like’ cutting data with the four-edged inserts. The ITC Widia Victory turning series yielded a tool life of 16 parts per edge compared with the previous four parts per edge. This significant tool-life saving is proving hugely beneficial for Tml, especially as the pipe assembly parts are high-volume components manufactured throughout the year.

One of the parts in the assembly was particularly challenging, as Smith recalls: “Acomponent manufactured from stainless steel bar has a seam weld that results in intermittent cutting, which is why tool life was an issue. However, the performance of the Widia Victory turning series massively improved tool life, while another benefit was reduced insert changeovers and subsequent cost reductions. To further reduce costs in the turn-mill department, we introduced the latest Widia WCE4 series of solid-carbide end mills. Using 3, 4, 6 and 8mm diameter end mills with variable helix flutes, tool life improved and the variable helix enhanced surface finishes and reduced vibration during machining.”

Following the earlier successes established for aluminium milling and the subsequent introduction of small diameter end mills to the turn-mill machines, ITC had an opportunity to look at other milling projects.

An aluminium component machined regularly by Tml in batches up to 100-off required 30mm of metal removal on the face. Previously, the company was using a four-flute solid-carbide end mill from a rival supplier, which was resulting in poor tool life and surface finishes, primarily due to vibration and poor chip evacuation. Furthermore, with poor surface finishes and excessive noise and vibration, Tml had to use one end mill for rough machining and a second tool for finishing. The ITC engineer rapidly eradicated this requirement with the introduction of a 16mm diameter ITC 4104 series aluminium roughing tool with chipbreaker. To maximise the rigidity of the set-up, Smith introduced a Big Kaiser HMC chuck to complement the end mill.

The combination of the 4104 chip-breaker end mill and the Big Kaiser HMC chuck enabled Tml to take a full flute 30mm depth of cut and run at 10,000rpm with a 1.8mm step over and a feed rate of 7200mm/min. On a batch of 80 parts, the ITC 4104 series proved to be a more cost-effective tool that subsequently reduced the cycle time by upwards of 20% while improving the surface finish substantially – to the point that a secondary finishing tool was not required. The single tool machined the entire batch of 80 parts and saved more time with no additional tool changeover or cost implications.

In combination, the benefits of the respective tools have been significant after just six months of working with ITC. However, the most impressive result to date was the latest part subjected to ITC optimisation.

A large EN8 component for the entertainment industry requires 77% material removal, taking the part from 9kg down to just 2kg. On the rough facing of the component, Tml was previously applying a face mill, which was yielding a roughing cycle time of 1.5 hours. The ITC engineer swapped out the face mill for an ITC 16mm diameter 6054-16 series six-flute end mill with a chipbreaker. With a 50mm flute length, the 6054-16 series cut at a full 50mm flute depth with a 0.8mm step-over and a cutting speed of 4777rpm. Cutting with such aggressive material removal rates on a Matsuura MAM72, the stability of the end mill saw further enhancement with the deployment of a Big Kaiser HMC chuck that offers complete face and taper contact. The combination of the chuck and 6054-16 series end mill cut the roughing cycle from 1.5 hours to just 15 minutes. With a quantity of 60 parts, the cycle time reduction is equal to more than three days of machining.

Most engineers would be happy to deliver such a substantial saving for a customer, but not the engineers at ITC. On the same part, Smith identified an opportunity to remove a 90° indexable end mill for interpolating bores. Replacing the indexable tool with ITC’s solid-carbide 4081 series of four-flute end mills with AlTiN coating, another 45 minutes were shaved from the cycle time, taking the complete cycle time from 3 hours to just over 60 minutes.

Concluding on the working relationship with Tml, Smith says: “We’ve worked with Tml for a little over six months, but the results have been exceptional. This is a credit to the receptiveness of Tml to adopt new techniques that improve their cycle times and reduce tooling costs and consumption.”
For further information www.itc-ltd.co.uk

Subcontractor on a roll with Nakamura machines

As a subcontractor with a distinct niche in thread rolling, Dobson & Beaumont has been in business for more than 100 years. As well as machining nuts, the company cold-forms bolts and special fittings to work harden the thread, thus improving overall thread strength by more than 25% when compared to typical thread-cutting operations. Before rolling, the Blackburn-based company machines some of the most daunting materials known to the industry, which is why the company purchased a Nakamura-Tome AS200LMSY, followed by a Nakamura SC100X2, from the Engineering Technology Group (ETG).

Installed and running at the end of 2022, the SC100X2 is already reducing cycle times by upward of 30%. This is credit to several factors. Firstly, the new SC100X2 offers superimposed machining.

“Superimposed machining is a game-changer for our business, as we can now hit parts with two tools simultaneously by overlapping operations between main and sub-spindles,” explains Richard Guest, managing director of Dobson & Beaumont.“This has reduced cycle times noticeably already. On high-value motorsport studs, we have cut the cycle time from 3 minutes to 1minute 30 seconds.”

The sub-spindle can move not only toward the main spindle for component pick-up, but also in synchronicity with the lower turret for machining operations that can take place while the upper turret is machining on the main spindle.

“We machine hard materials such as MP35N and AERMET 100, which has a tensile strength of 1900 Pa,” says Guest.“Before the arrival of the SC100X2, we had to sub many of these parts out, which added 2-3 weeks to our lead time. Now, we can machine in-house and keep lead times to just days while eliminating additional subcontract costs.”
For further information www.engtechgroup.com

Discover the complete manufacturing ecosystem

Subcon returns to the Birmingham NEC next week (7-8 June), bringing together the full manufacturing ecosystem for the UK’s longest-established subcontract manufacturing supply chain show. Over 200 UK and international suppliers will be present at the 46th edition of the exhibition, covering assembly work, CNC machining, metal fabrication, electronics, component parts and more. The exhibition organiser anticipates more than 4000 visitors, all of whom will benefit from free access.

Alongside the exhibition, two conference theatres will provide topical content on the challenges, pain points and opportunities for the manufacturing industry, including supply chain optimisation, AI and automation, agility and resilience, additive manufacturing, cybersecurity, sustainability, and digitalisation. These free conference sessions will showcase over 50 industry leaders revealing stories behind some of the UK’s most interesting engineering and manufacturing projects.
For further information www.subconshow.co.uk