GF Machining Solutions has recently supplied a new wire EDM machine to Mechlam Precision Tooling, a precision mould tool, fixturing and subcontract manufacturing specialist based in Haydock.The machine, an AgieCharmilles CUT P 350 Pro, arrived at the company’s 8000sq ft facility in October 2022 and is machining a range of high-precision components that include complex and highly accurate mould tools, inserts and associated parts.

The acquisition of the CUT P 350 Pro has significantly increased and improved Mechlam Precision’s wire EDM capacity and capabilities. Notably, the machine’s fast processing speeds combined with quick and easy job preparation and set-up, plus its ability to consistently hit tight geometric and dimensional tolerances, have been more than instrumental in helping the company secure more high-value work from new and existing customers.

Says Martin Atherton, Mechlam Precision’s managing director: “We are always looking to improve and, as such, regularly invest in advanced manufacturing technologies to help make us more productive, efficient and competitive.Our new CUT P 350 Pro is a case in point and has helped transform our wire EDM operations, enabling us to make precision parts faster, better and more economically than before.”

With business from many of Mechlam Precision’s customers, specifically in the automotive, aerospace and medical sectors, returning to pre-pandemic levels, the company needed to act quickly and decisively to meet the upturn in demand for its high-quality machining services.

“Our existing wire EDM resource, specifically an older machine that we had acquired some years earlier, was becoming unreliable and creating production bottlenecks that, if left unchecked, would impact on our ability to meet lead times,” reports Atherton.

To overcome the issue, Mechlam Precision decided to upgrade its wire EDM capabilities, approaching a number of machine tool suppliers with its plans.

Although Mechlam Precision has a long-standing relationship with GF Machining Solutions, having invested in a number of the company’s milling and EDM machines in the past, the company decided toinvite three wire EDM machine tool manufacturers to present their ideas and take part in a test cut.

“The part selected for the trial cut was an existing mould tool insert that we have machined in the past, and that we knew inside-out,” says Atherton. “We were particularly interested in how the machines proposed by each manufacturer would meet the high accuracy and surface requirements, as well as the total processing time [from set up through to the completion of machining] involved to complete the part.”

The results of the test cut were illuminating.GF Machining Solutions’ CUT P 350 Pro machine used for the test cut came out “head and shoulders” above the other two machines in terms of speed and precision.

“The test cut results plus GF Machining Solutions’ back-up and support were major factors in us placing the order for the CUT P 350 Pro”, states Atherton. “Since being installed, back in October 2022, we have been blown away by the CUT P 350 machine’s continued performance, flexibility, reliability and efficiency.

According to GF Machining Solutions, the CUT P 350 Pro is a high-end wire EDM machine that features a number of proprietary technological innovations.The machine is compact and boasts X-, Y- and Z-axis travels of 350 x 250 x 220mm respectively, and can handle workpieces up to 1000 x 550x 220mm in size and up to 750kg in weight. In addition, the CUT P 350 Pro has a rigid design and build, and is equipped with GF Machining Solutions’ Quadrax system for high stability and accuracy during machining operations.

Says Atherton:“The mould tools, mould inserts and precision parts we machine are characterised by their high accuracies (±2µm) and surface finishes (Ra 0.08µm).The machine’s Quadrax system ensures we are able to meet these stringent quality requirements, even during long machining runs.”

The CUT P 350 Pro also features GF Machining Solutions’ Spark Track and digital generator technology – both designed to improve productivity, performance and process reliability.

“The machine is equipped with ISPS [Intelligent Spark Protection System] and iWire: together they have had, and continue to have, a significant impact on our performance,” says Atherton.

ISPS monitors the spark environment in real time, adjusting the spark intensity according to individual part characteristics and features.This technological innovation reduces the potential for wire breakage during machining operations, ensuring machine uptime and optimal production.

Says Atherton:“ISPS helps reduce wire breakages that can be caused by poor flushing and/or unstable machining conditions.As a consequence, machining operations do not require stopping to allow for wire re-threading and our production schedules are uninterrupted.”

ISPS is particularly beneficial during lights-out, unattended operations where wire breakages can severely disrupt and compromise production planning and manufacturing output.

Running in conjunction with ISPS is the machine’s iWire innovation which, adjusts wire speeds (feed rates) according to individual part characteristics.The bottom line with iWire is that the process consumes less wire to produce complex parts, delivering real consumable savings to the customer.

“IWire helps us reduce the cost per part, and this enables us to be more competitive,” states Atherton.

Another innovation, available on all new machine tools from GF Machining Solutions, is rConnect, a remote and secure diagnostic and trouble-shooting facility that provides customers with instant and secure assistance in real time.

Says Atherton:
“rConnect is a really useful tool.If we experience any machine or machining issues, or if we specifically need applications help and advice, the rConnect facility gives us instant access to GF Machining Solutions’ service engineers who are on hand to provide immediate expert input and assistance.”

Since investing, Mechlam Precision’s new CUT P 350 Pro has been operating around the clock.The machine is helping the company secure new, high-value machining contracts and is a key component in Mechlam Precision’s drive and ambition to create a truly world-class machining resource and become a ‘preferred partner’ to many of its customers.
For further information www.gfms.com

Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of DN Solutions (formerly Doosan) and Zayer machine tools in the UK and Ireland, has recently supplied Glasgow-based, Glenhead Engineering, a progressive and innovative subcontract specialist committed to continuous improvement, with a new DN Solutions’ SMX multi-tasking turn-mill machine.

The FANUC-controlled, 10” chuck/81 mm bar capacity SMX 2600S featureshigh-torque (700 Nm) 26kW/4000rpm opposing spindles, a 40-tool position ATC, a 12,000rpm B-axis milling spindle and a self-centring steady rest.

The machine arrived at Glenhead Engineering’s 22,000sqft facility in Clydebank in February 2023, sitting adjacent to the company’s first mill-turn machine, a Doosan 12” chuck/102mm bar capacity SMX 3100 acquired by the company in March 2022.Together, both machines not only look impressive but are a formidable multi-tasking resource that will be used to machine components for a new three-year contract that forms part of a unique product collaboration between two global brand leaders that launch in late summer.

Says Bob O’Donnell, Glenhead Engineering’s managing director:“Publicity and promotion surrounding the collaborative joint venture is limited until the launch. NDAs are in place, and we can’t say too much about the initiative at this moment in time.Suffice it to say, this is a major machining contract for us and one that will, for the next three years, take up the entire machining capacity of our two turn-mill machines.”

Both machines are currently in pre-production mode, helping to fine-tune the machining process before moving into full production.

Anyone who knows Glenhead Engineering will not be surprised that the company has secured such a high-profile machining contract.Established in 2005, Glenhead’s development and growth over the past 18years has been nothing short of phenomenal.
Many of the customers it ‘inherited’ when the company purchased the premises, plant and equipment of Clydesdale Tool & Gauge remain, but the company has significantly diversified its business by entering new sectors and strengthening its supply chain relationships with new and existing customers.

Glenhead Engineering has achieved this, in part, through its commitment to continuous improvement and, as such, regularly invests in its people, plant and equipment. Today, the company, which employs 34 members of staff, provides customers with a comprehensive range of integrated in-house services, from design for manufacture (DfM) and reverse engineering through to high-quality machining and assembly.

Glenhead Engineering has a number of strengths that help differentiate it from its competitors and that contribute to the company’s growth and success. These include an impressive range of CNC machine tools that includes EDM (wire and spark erosion) and grinding, as well as state-the-art turning and milling. The company also has a highly-skilled and experienced workforce committed to providing quality and delivering best-in-class solutions, further strengthened and future-proofed by a popular and successful apprenticeship programme.

A particular specialism of Glenhead Engineering is machining and supplying prototypes, one-offs and small batch series. This type of activity is supported by a sophisticated MRP system that ensures efficiency and seamlessly integrates all aspects of the company’s operations – from enquiry through to delivery.

Not surprisingly, the company has a growing domestic and international customer base keen to take advantage of its value-added, ‘one-stop’ manufacturing services, namely the manufacture of precision components, jigs and fixtures, press and mould tools, and special purpose machines and equipment.

Although the two SMX machines are the first turn-mill machines acquired by Glenhead Engineering in its 18-year history, the company is no stranger to multi-axis machine tools.
Since 2015, when its relationship with Mills first started, the company has regularly invested in advanced Doosan machine tools with multi-tasking capabilities.These include vertical machining centres with four- and five-axis capabilities, as well as a large-capacity simultaneous five-axis machine – a VC630 5AX –acquired in 2021.

Says O’Donnell: “We’re always looking to improve the services we provide to customers.
As a matter of course, we systematically benchmark and review our performance against KPIs and, if and when we identify areas of the business that need improvement, we act decisively and invest.”

This focus on continuous improvement and understanding its own, as well as its customers’ immediate and longer-term needs, ultimately resulted in the company’s making its first SMX machine tool investment in 2022.

“We know from our own experience that multi-axis machines, and their ability to machine complex, high-precision parts in one-hit, have been more than instrumental in helping us increase our productivity, improve our process efficiencies and give us a distinct competitive edge,” says O’Donnell. “To help capitalise on post-pandemic business opportunities and improve our productivity by addressing potential ‘pinch points’ within our own manufacturing operations, we made the decision, back in 2021/22, to invest in our first turn-mill machine.”

The company, as one might expect, did its homework and, having drawn up a detailed machine tool technical specification, approached the market and contacted a number of potential suppliers for their input and advice.

Explains Sharon Colvan, Glenhead Engineering’s operations manager:“We had, at that time, already invested in eight Doosan machines from Mills CNC, so it was quite natural that they would be one of the companies we approached.We have a good open relationship with Mills CNC.The technically-excellent and reliable Doosan machine tools they sell and support, combined with the company’s proactive and customer-focused business approach, put them in a strong position.”

Through discussion and research into the machine’s capabilities, particularly its five-axis simultaneous machining potential, Glenhead Engineering could see that investing in the SMX machine would help it secure new business and, by adding an extra string to its bow, ensure the company was even better positioned to fulfil its promise to customers to deliver right first-time, high-quality machined components, on time.

As a consequence, and due to the machine’s relatively quick availability and relationship with Mills CNC, the decision was made to invest in the SMX 3100.The machine has proved pivotal in helping Glenhead Engineering secure the machining contract for the previously mentioned joint collaborative venture, by enabling it to ‘win’ a similar contract, in 2022, for a leading whisky distillery in Speyside.

Fast forward to the present and the recent contract win, prototypes and product iterations machined on the SMX 3100 have demonstrated that the fast part cycle times, the ability to machine intricate features and details and the high surface finish requirements are no match for the multi-axis machine.However, to fulfil the machining contract, once in full production, it was determined that a second SMX machine (the SMX 2600S) would be required.

Concludes O’Donnell:“Although the machining process was developed and proved-out on the SMX 3100, to meet the volumes required once in full production, it was obvious that we would need to invest in a second multi-tasking machine with similar capabilities.And that’s where we are now. The SMX 2600S, a machine with a second spindle as opposed to a tailstock, is now installed and both turn-mill machines are geared up – ready and raring to go.”
For further information www.millscnc.co.uk