SUBCONTRACTING NEWS

25 years for Midland Deburr & Finish

Midland Deburr & Finish is celebrating its 25th anniversary after director Chris Arrowsmith launched the business in April 1999 following previous operational management roles in the manufacturing sector. He was joined four years into the journey by wife Sue, who brought her extensive corporate and HR expertise to the table. “The past 25 years have been a testament to our resilience and determination,” Sue remarks. “Despite facing numerous challenges, from Brexit and the pandemic to fluctuating material costs and geopolitical tensions, we’ve remained steadfast in our pursuit of excellence.”For further information www.midlanddeburrandfinish.co.uk

Manufacturing Awards winners named

Business Awards UK has announced the winners of its 2024 Manufacturing Awards, recognising exceptional achievements and innovative contributions across the manufacturing sector nationwide. Best Manufacturer UK went to Milton Keynes based The Engineering Quest, a specialist in high-precision machined components. The company also won Best Family Business. Among other notable winners was Bristol Fabrications, which won the Fastest Growing Business Award. The company specialises in fabrication projects from design to installation.

For further information www.bit.ly/4aS6OYF

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