SUBCONTRACTING NEWS

Investment in two Aida servo presses

Small Parts Incorporated, a precision metal stampings provider based in Logansport, Indiana, recently purchased two unitised-frame, two-point, direct drive, model DSF-N2 Aida servo presses. The presses have quickly realised several benefits on jobs moved from the company’s mechanical presses to its new servo presses, including increased strokes per minute (SPM) and up-time per run.

After modifying an existing automotive progressive die to run on Small Parts Inc’s new 110 ton Aida servo press, the company achieved burr reduction and less part distortion, which it attributes to complete programmability throughout the entire stroke of the servo press, decreasing parts failing post-sort. Moving this die from a mechanical to a servo press also shortened the feed length. These combined advantages resulted in a scrap reduction of approximately 30% on this automotive part.

Small Parts is also achieving die-life improvements. The sharp edge profiles on a non-automotive die were breaking or wearing down multiple times while stamping an order on a mechanical press. Switching this die to the DSF-N2 Aida servo press has already reduced die maintenance by 50%, which the company expects will increase to 60-70% when further tooling improvements are complete. As another example, making new cutting inserts to reduce the cutting clearance for an existing automotive die immediately yielded a 55% increase in die life when moved from a mechanical press to the new servo press.

The addition of the two Aida servo presses has also expanded Small Parts’ quote capabilities. Having seen the improvement and what is actually achievable first-hand, the company now has the confidence to quote servo-press jobs that would have been troublesome to stamp on mechanical presses.
For further information www.aida-global.com

Press investment helps Cotmor expand

A £250,000 investment drive with Worcester Presses is helping a leading Black Country metal pressing specialist take advantage of new domestic and reshoring opportunities.
Cotmor Tool & Presswork, which employs 16 people at its Brierley Hill factory, has seen sales soar to £2m following the easing of lockdown and is now setting its sights on an additional £1m of orders over the next 12 months.

The company has formed a strategic partnership with Worcester Presses to capitalise on this growth, resulting in the installation of one 160 tonne and two 110 tonne Chin Fong machines, two Tomac decoilers, Titan monitoring technology to improve tool and press life, and a die cushion to help accommodate multi-functional tools.

“Volumes have bounced back stronger than any of us expected and this has given us the impetus to look at new equipment that will make us faster and provide capacity to take on up to £1m of new work,” explains David Cotterill, who runs Cotmor with his wife Wendy and daughters Louise and Natalie. “80% of our work is overseas and we ship deep-drawn, precision and progression presswork to clients in Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, Turkey and South Korea.”

He continues: “We knew we needed more capacity so we started talking to Worcester Presses about our future requirements and the flexibility of the machines to produce components for the agriculture, commercial vehicle, foundry and food and drink sectors. After much discussion, we agreed on the robustness and durability of the Chin Fongs and the installation process and training were superb. Now the challenge is to win the work to fill them.”
For further information www.worcesterpresses.co.uk

A turn for the better at Goodman

Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of Doosan machine tools in the UK and Ireland, has supplied Milton Keynes based motorsport subcontractor Goodman Precision Engineering (GPE) with a new multi-tasking Doosan turning centre. The machine, a compact 6” chuck Lynx 2100LY lathe, is equipped with: roller LM guideways; a 15 kW/6000 rpm spindle; a servo-driven turret (12/24 position); the latest Fanuc control featuring 15” touchscreen iHMI; integrated Y axis (±52.5 mm); and driven tooling (3.7 kW/6000 rpm). GPE’s new Lynx 2100LY is the first Doosan machine at the company.

“Machining components to exacting tolerances and superior surface finishes from solid or castings is our forte,” explains GPE director Stephen Reynolds. “While milling remains the company’s primary focus, we recently made the strategic decision to augment our machining capabilities with turning.”

He adds: “Multi-axis and multi-tasking lathes with, for example, Y axes and driven tools, help us machine complex, high-precision parts in one-hit and make us more efficient. Lynx lathes and turning centres are proven and popular. They are reliable, versatile and represent great value. The fact that they are backed by Mills CNC’s after-sales services and technical support only adds to their appeal.”

Since being installed the new Lynx hasn’t missed a beat. It is operating for 16 hours a day, while its ability to machine parts to completion in one set-up means it is more than paying for itself.

As well as being used to machine parts for motorsport customers, the machine has also produced a range of components for ‘diversified’ customers operating in the aerospace, defence and rail sectors, to name but a few.
For further information www.millscnc.co.uk

Subcontractor busy as a bee after Quaser machining centre investment

Founded in 2000 as a subcontract machine shop, Little B Engineering manufactures everything from prototypes and small batches to production runs for a diverse range of sectors. When the company recently needed to add capacity, the Banbury-based precision manufacturer opted for the Quaser MV234 machining centre, the company’s third machine from the Engineering Technology Group (ETG).

The nine employee business has a broad range of machine tools for servicing customers in industries that extend from Formula One and automotive, to construction and luxury goods. When the company won a new contract back in 2015 and it needed a new three-axis vertical machining centre, Little B Engineering opted for the compact Quaser MV154P, starting its relationship with the ETG.

Managing director Michael Banks says: “I wanted a new machine with a Heidenhain CNC, and all machines in our price range at that time had Heidenhain CNC units retrofitted, not factory fitted standard control systems. Another point we found was that lots of machine tool vendors offered machines at a great entry price point, but every feature was an optional extra at significant cost. The base model Quaser MV154P from ETG had everything we needed at a standard cost, and it has been a phenomenal machine.”

A year later the company needed a turning centre and, with the service from ETG proving far beyond that of alternate machine tool vendors, Little B opted for a Nakamura AS200L twin-spindle turning centre from ETG.

“The Nakamura AS200L has a twin-spindle, single-tool turret with Y axis and we use it for everything from small quantities of complex parts through to batches of 5000 and beyond, where it will run unmanned all weekend,” explains Banks. “It is, without doubt, the best and most flexible turning centre a subcontract manufacturer could buy.”

With the company progressing to large aluminium extrusion components and steel mould tool projects with new customers, the Oxfordshire business needed a large-bed machine.

“The Quaser MV234 gives our business plenty of flexibility, so if we want to machine something particularly large we can, but if we want to make smaller parts that is also feasible,” states Banks. “We’ve put up to 10 vices on the machine and, by using different fixtures, we’ve clamped up to 40 parts on the bed and let the machine run unmanned over the weekend. This gives us complete flexibility and the facility for both large parts and small part batch production. This is something that we need as a subcontractor.”

Discussing how the Quaser MV234 machining centre has supported growth at the company, he adds: “Firstly, buying this machine has given us extra capacity, which we needed. Secondly, it’s given us the facility to machine large aluminium extrusion components, which is a sector that is very vibrant in the UK at the moment.”

The Quaser MV234 machining centre was the machine of choice with its 2.25 m by 800 mm bed that can facilitate components beyond 2 m in length. In addition, the machine offers X, Y and Z-axis travel of 2040 by 800 by 661 mm, a table load capacity of 2000 kg and a BT40 spindle taper with 48 tool positions as standard.

As a company that has previously invested in Quaser machines from ETG, Banks says: “We’ve stuck with the Quaser brand because the machines are perfect all-rounders. The MV234 can do anything. It’s not a super-high-speed machine that can only cut aluminium, it’s a fast and powerful machine that can handle any material and provide us with impressively short cycle times.”

He continues: “We have it running both days and lights-out unmanned. When we have large, complex 3D milling work, we leave the machine to run through the night. It has a really nice feature when it automatically shuts down after it’s completed the machining of a part. The machine is generally running from 07:00 to 22:00 every day. We’ve made everything from small 19 mm diameter button components through to 2 m parts over 2 tonnes in weight. For a subcontracting company that machines a wide variety of parts in different batch sizes, the Quaser brand is bang on. The machines are fast enough to do very quick turnaround and flexible work, but are also robust in their build quality to cater for heavier and more demanding components.”

As standard, the robust Quaser MV234 package incorporates a host of high-specification features such as: an oil chiller; 4th axis preparation; BBT spindle attachment; remote pulse generator; coolant system with wash gun and 20 bar through spindle coolant; air blast; external chip conveyors; 20 m/min rapid feed rates; and positional and repeatability accuracy of 0.008 and 0.004 mm respectively.

“All of these features are standard on the Quaser, while it also has some quirky unique features like the internal swarf screw,” says Banks. “This rotates in the opposite direction to other machines, compressing the swarf and draining the coolant before the chips exit the machine, making it a much cleaner machine than any other brand we have.

“From a performance perspective, the MV234 allows us to run lights out, which is what we need,” he adds. “For example, we recently ran a batch of 10 parts on the machine in a single set-up and each component had a machining time of over 5 hours, which meant we could load the job to run all weekend unmanned. Additionally, the faster feeds and speeds and a more powerful control has seen us take some jobs from a 6 hour cycle time to just 30 minutes.”

Now having three machines from ETG, Banks explains why ETG is the machine tool partner of choice: “As a business, they look after us well and the support is great. No other company has supported us like ETG. When we bought our Nakamura-Tome AS-200L turning centre, they delivered and installed the machine within a week of us placing the order. On the new Quaser MV234, we wanted to wait 6 to 7 months before installation and ETG kept the machine available, so we could bring it in when it suited our business. As soon as we were ready to install the machine, we gave ETG the ‘go’ on a Friday and it was installed on Saturday and fully commissioned in another 3-4 days.”
For further information www.engtechgroup.com

Dugard is key to success for subcontractor

As a general subcontract manufacturer, Cannock-based Key Precision attended the Southern Manufacturing exhibition earlier this year to investigate new technology that could help drive the business forward. The company found the Dugard stand and the Hanwha range of sliding-head turning centres, and an order soon followed.

The subcontract manufacturing company showed a particular interest in the Dugard Hanwha XD38I, a robust sliding-head machine with a bar capacity that is particularly large for the machine’s footprint.

Greg Jackson, engineering and quality director at Key Precision, says: “We were looking to expand our turning capacity by purchasing something with the flexibility of a sliding-head machine, but the capability of a fixed-head model. It was the relatively small footprint for the size of machine that attracted us to the Hanwha XD381, and the size of bar that we could accommodate.”

Looking at the type of parts the company is manufacturing on its new Dugard Hanwha XD38II sliding-head turning centre, Jackson adds: “At the moment we’re machining parts of over 35 mm diameter, but we’re a typical subcontractor, so we make components for cars, planes, trains and, at present, quite a lot for the agricultural industry. This involves machining harder steels such as EN19 and EN24.”

The rigidity of the new machine is already creating savings at Key Precision.

“We’ve seen tool life savings of 25-35% using the Hanwha XD38II when we produce parts that we’ve cut many times before on other machines,” states Jackson.

Concluding on the installation, he says: “The machine has been working for six full weeks, running day and night and even over the weekends. It hasn’t missed a beat.”
For further information www.dugard.com