For any established subcontract business to switch from one CAM system to another can be a daunting prospect. Considering the training and skills invested in staff, the legacy programs and the prospect of having to re-program historical parts – many busy subcontract businesses will often stick to what they know. But for SRD Engineering, the change from a licence to a subscription CAM system did not fit with what the Bicester-based company wanted, so it made the switch to hyperMILL from Open Mind – a move the company is happy it made.

As a subcontract machine shop founded in 1989, SRD Engineering services clients in the motorsport and automotive sectors, as well as aerospace, oil and gas and medical among others. However, when its CAM software provider changed to a subscription-based model, the company started to investigate various alternatives available on the market.

SRD Engineering’s production manager Chris Bryant says: “One of the main reasons we invested in hyperMILL is because of the money. We were paying a subscription for our CAM software, and we wanted to pay a licence fee, so we started looking around and calculated that by make the switch we would save over £20,000 in three years.”

The financial savings should be enough to turn the head of any subcontract business, but particularly when the lower cost alternative can offer better performance. During the initial period of getting familiar with Open Mind’s hyperMILL, SRD Engineering felt the software was comparable to its previous system. However, once the subcontractor started to get more proficient with the software’s features, that perception changed.

“Now that the guys have got used to hyperMILL and gone through a transition period, it’s definitely better,” says Bryant. “Another reason we invested in hyperMILL is that our customers use it, which is really good for us, especially if we want to discuss any particular projects or similarities in the parts that we’re making. It helps us in supporting our customers.”

With regard to productivity gains from hyperMILL, Bryant says: “Since we’ve been using hyperMILL, we have optimised our run cycles and there’s a lot less ‘air cutting’. Additionally, some of our finishing cycles are much faster. We have one job that we were previously running at 45 minutes per part, which is now down to 30 minutes. For this component, we produce around 60 a year, thus giving us a saving of around 15 hours.”

This 30% cycle time saving is magnified throughout the business, especially when considering that SRD has five five-axis machines from DMG Mori and multi-pallet machining centres like the Matsuura HPlus-300. The 80-employee business manufactures over 1000 five-axis parts each month, and the savings on these complex components has been impressive.

“We have one motorsport part that was produced in a batch of over 130 components, and the cycle time was over 3 hours per part. By re-programming this job with hyperMILL, we’ve reduced the cycle time by 45 minutes per component, saving us over 100 hours of machining on just one job. We also have another part that we are producing at present for electrical testing machines. Here, hyperMILL has reduced the cycle time on a batch of 40 components from 10 hours to 5 hours per part – a 50% reduction.”

Since investing in Open Mind’s hyperMILL CAM software last year, SRD Engineering has rapidly ramped up to nine seats of the package, with many of the shop-floor operators programming their components online at the machine.

“By programming at the machine, operators take responsibility for following each job from the start to the end of the process,” states Bryant. “With often lengthy cycle times on complex parts, the operators can identify and eradicate any potential issues on the machine. For long-running parts, our team can also program the next job while the machine is running. One feature in hyperMILL that has saved us a lot of time is the pocket milling feature. It can machine straight and inclined pockets with any contour, and with automatic recognition of islands and rest material areas. Open and closed pockets can also be machined easily when using the pocket milling strategy.”

“The support from Open Mind has been incredible,” he adds. “Unfortunately, we made the change during the Covid-19 pandemic, so that didn’t help with things, but the support and online training has been very good. We even had specialist meetings using Microsoft Teams, so if we had any queries the development engineers at Open Mind would look into it and try and make the processes better for our programmers. The Open Mind team are customer-led in their development of the product to stay ahead of the curve. They want to have the best product out there and the best way to do that is by speaking to the customers and developing the product in partnership.”

SRD Engineering has also invested in some three-axis and four-axis machines, and will be running hyperMILL on those machines in the near future too.
“We really want hyperMILL used on as many machines as possible because of the capability it gives us,” concludes Bryant. “We have no regrets from making the switch; we are saving money, the machines are producing parts quicker than ever before and the surface finishes and overall quality have also improved.”

For further information
www.openmind-tech.com

Smithstown Light Engineering, based in Shannon, Ireland, has invested in a Trumpf TruPrint 2000 3D printing system to further enhance its support for the country’s burgeoning medical device industry. The first machine of its type in Ireland, the TruPrint 2000 is now busy producing prototypes and samples for a variety of customers in 17-4 and 316 stainless steel.

Founded in 1974, Smithstown Light Engineering started out with a workforce of four skilled toolmakers. During the early 1990s, the company moved towards specialising in medical device manufacturing and never looked back. Today, Smithstown employs 141 people across three sites, two in Ireland and one in Poland, focusing on the provision of precision-engineered medical device and orthopaedic instrument/implant solutions, typically for hip and knee replacement procedures and cardiovascular delivery devices.

Already offering a range of manufacturing capabilities, including milling, turning, grinding and EDM, Smithstown was keen to add 3D printing to its repertoire, and set about creating an Additive Centre within a recently constructed 30,000 sq ft extension.

“We worked for two years with IMR [Irish Manufacturing Research], a technology and research organisation, to experience 3D printing and get a feel for what it could do in terms of its capabilities, limitations, advantages and disadvantages,” explains managing director Gerard King.

The aim was to provide an additive support role for Smithstown’s medical device customers, specifically with regard to R&D work.

“We looked at many potential machines, before designing our own benchmark and sending it to suppliers of interest,” says Kevin Kelly, manufacturing engineer. “It was the quality of the benchmark produced by Trumpf, using their TruPrint 2000, which caught our attention. In addition, the volume of the machine was perfect for our needs and the price was competitive.”

Smithstown is already using its new TruPrint 2000 to produce printed parts from metal. The company’s new Additive Centre also houses a machine for printing polymer components.

“Additive is ideal for medical work because of the complex geometries involved,” says Kelly. “Without 3D printing, several processes would be required, taking many hours. Additive also offers the potential for individual customisation, which has obvious benefits for products such as implants.”

Since installation, the machine has been busy producing prototypes and samples for medical device customers in 17-4 and 316 stainless steel.

“In the medical sector it can take years to move from the design and test stage, to validated production, but we’re now in a position to help expedite this process and bring customer ideas to life,” explains Kelly. “Upon reaching the production phase of current projects we could well need several 3D printing systems so that we can dedicate machines to a single material. We will not hesitate to invest in more machines if the demand is there.”

With its small 55 µm diameter laser beam, the TruPrint 2000 provides a high-quality printing result that impresses with its surface quality and level of detail. Two Trumpf 300 W fibre lasers deliver high productivity over the entire cylindrical build volume of 200 mm diameter by 200 mm high.

The TruPrint 2000 also enables the industrial processing of amorphous metals. These metals feature exceptional strength combined with high elasticity, corrosion resistance and biocompatibility. Wall thicknesses can then be reduced and bionic structures used in component design, resulting in lower component weight and shorter production time.

Among notable options that help to ensure the highest quality standards is melt pool monitoring. With this function, deviations in the laser metal fusion process are detectable early via sensors, and critical areas of the component can be visualised. Users can also monitor all weld pools in parallel.

Moving forward, Smithstown’s business strategy is to focus more on high-volume precision components, rather than simply tooling and small-batch parts.

“Some of our competitors have 3D printers, but the TruPrint 2000 definitely gives us an edge,” says Kelly. “Furthermore, we have a dedicated team of experts who can design parts specifically to leverage the benefits of additive manufacturing, thus helping to minimise costs without compromising quality. Designing a part for additive is quite different to designing a part for traditional machining.”

Smithstown – which carries certifications that include ISO9001 (quality), ISO13485 (medical devices) and ISO14001 (environmental) – has recently secured several new projects that are driving the need for more staff recruitment. Alongside its investment in the latest manufacturing technologies, ongoing growth is assured at this forward-thinking business.

“We’re really happy with the quality and build speed of the TruPrint 2000, which is backed-up with good support from Trumpf – they’ve listened to our needs throughout,” concludes King. “As a result, we’ve not experienced any unexpected issues whatsoever, which is impressive considering this is our first venture into additive manufacturing.”

Trumpf will demonstrate its 3D printing systems at TCT3Sixty (28-30 September, Birmingham NEC). Visitors to stand F28 will see how 3D printing systems are shaping the future of manufacturing technology. Trumpf offers both relevant laser technologies for additive manufacturing from a single source: laser metal fusion (LMF) and laser metal deposition (LMD). Different industries and components have varied requirements, which is why Trumpf offers such flexible production solutions. New to the range is the TruPrint 3000 3D printing system, where the company says that production set-up is easily adapted to the requirements of the customer or application.

For further information
www.trumpf.com

Father and son team Andy and Owen Phillips, both of whom are pilots and aviation engineering enthusiasts, started a subcontract machining business in Havant in 1994. After four years, they applied their extensive knowledge acquired over many years of building and flying aircraft to transition their firm, Andair, into a manufacturer of fuel system components for light aircraft in the sport, amateur-build and commercial aviation sectors.

The QAS International and ISO9001-certified business is now a global producer of such equipment, with 90% of its fuel selectors, filters, check valves, gascolators and fuel pumps going to export markets. Regular customers include Cessna, Cirrus, Czech Sport Aircraft, Diamond, Grob, Grumman-Northrop, Rotax/Bombardier, Scaled Composites, Technam and Vans.

Miyano fixed-head, twin-spindle CNC lathes from Citizen Machinery UK have underpinned the production of Andair’s turned and milled parts since January 2005, when the first turning centre with sub spindle arrived at the Havant factory: a five-axis BND-42S. The machine proved so efficient that a second, identical model took its place on the shop floor six weeks later. Fast-forward 16 years and the company has bought a total of seven Miyanos, the latest being the first 80 mm bar capacity ABX lathe to be installed in the UK. The ABX arrived in June 2020, equipped with an Iemca KID 80 short bar magazine.

Andair had been waiting eagerly for the launch of the 80 mm version of this twin-spindle machine with two Y-axis turrets, having since 2015 been producing 3-inch and 2.75-inch diameter components from billet held in a Hainbuch chuck in the main spindle of a smaller ABX-64SYY, of which there are two at the Havant factory. The high requirement for components of this size meant that the lathes were performing chuck work 60% of the time.

Says Owen Phillips: “The production efficiency of our larger parts used to be lower because we could only manufacture a limited number of components from a billet, say five or perhaps seven. In the case of the aluminium body for an oil-air separator we are currently machining, we could only produce one per billet. Now we can machine all these parts from bar using the 80 mm capacity lathe, saving a lot of time. It runs continuously throughout the day and, although we are not set up for 24/7 operation at present, with this machine and our other Miyano bar autos it is feasible in the future.”

The other lathes in the factory all have twin turrets and Phillips had ordered a similar specification for the 80 mm model. Due to the cancellation of the MACH 2020 machine tool exhibition, however, Citizen Machinery had in stock a triple-turret ABX-80THY 12-axis model with a Fanuc control system that it had intended to launch at the show. Owen was initially hesitant, having never used a lathe of that configuration before, but decided to buy it anyway as it was available immediately. The machine turned out to be a complete revelation.

“I would not buy another twin-turret machine in future, because having three turrets is so much more productive,” states Phillips. “I would like a four-turret version if Miyano made one.”

He adds: “It’s no problem to transfer work to the more complex lathe, as a new program can be checked easily using the manual retrace function in the control, avoiding any possibility of interference between tool and workpiece.”

Phillips explains that the two turrets positioned above the spindle centreline, each with 12 live stations, work at the main and counter spindles respectively. The third turret is located below and has unrestricted travel to operate at either spindle, thus providing flexibility for balancing front and reverse-end machining. Three tools can be in cut simultaneously to achieve very high levels of machining efficiency.

So far, the company has produced around 60 different parts on its new lathe, all from 3-inch diameter bar. In fact, in one instance where a customer required a large valve machined from a 4.5-inch diameter billet, Owen turned the end of it down to 80 mm to allow machining in the collet.

In the case of the oil-air separator body, it is now possible to machine five from bar in 30 minutes whereas before, with an operator loading billets manually into the chuck of an ABX-64SYY, it took at least 45 minutes to achieve the same output. In other words, productivity is up by more than 50%. A further benefit to Andair is that the two 64 mm bar lathes can now be devoted to collet work, as per the original intention.

Another example of where the 80 mm bar machine has introduced benefits is when machining one of the few Andair components that the pilot actually sees, a fuel selector fascia plate. This aluminium part requires a very high level of surface finish, necessitating the use of a diamond-tipped tool. Engraving is also necessary to indicate tank selection. Previously, after turning the part from a billet, a second operation was required on a machining centre to mill material from the reverse and drill four holes.

Today, however, milling and drilling – as well as turning – are carried out from bar on the Miyano, leaving only a small operation to clean the bore on a separate machine. Cycle time is now at least two minutes less, while one operation has been eliminated.

In the case of another component, in fact the first that Andair made on the ABX-80THY, all three turrets had almost an identical amount of work to perform. Cycle time is 2 minutes 15 seconds, including parting-off and the component comes off finished, whereas previously the cycle was 4 minutes. Plus there was the need for a second operation, requiring extra time for both metal cutting and inter-machine handling.

Aluminium accounts for three quarters of throughput at the Havant factory, with a wide range of other materials also machined, including brass, bronze, plastics, tool steel and stainless steel. Batch sizes are relatively low, normally between 100- and 500-off, so there is a lot of machine preparation.

The Miyanos are quick to set up however, as they have built-in tool setters and program preparation takes place offline using an Esprit CAM system. Typical tolerances are in the realm of ±0.02 mm. Phillips reveals that any occasional out-of-tolerance parts are always the fault of the tool, as the machines do not move.

For further information
www.citizenmachinery.co.uk

GF Machining Solutions has recently supplied Luzzo Bespoke, a designer and manufacturer of customised products, with a new Mikron MILL E 700U five-axis machining centre. The machine, which features an integrated seven-station automatic pallet changer (APC), is now operational at the company’s 10,000 sq ft facility in Brackley, where it is being used to machine, in low volumes, a range of high-precision components that go into bespoke products for high-end automotive, motorsport and lifestyle customers.

Luzzo Bespoke machines these parts from materials that include aluminium, brass, stainless steel, carbon fibre, wood and plastic. Tolerances are typically ±0.1 mm.

The MILL E 700U is also being used to machine work-holding and fixtures, as well as numerous prototypes and pre-production parts – integral to the company’s ‘design for manufacturing’ services.

Luzzo’s new machine joins, and has been installed adjacent to, another Mikron five-axis machining centre, a HEM 500U, acquired by the company in 2016. Together, these two five-axis machining centres provide the company with fast, efficient and reliable milling capabilities.

Like many other manufacturers, Luzzo Bespoke felt the impact and effects of the pandemic. Staff were furloughed and several orders and contracts were postponed, while some were cancelled altogether. However, during the summer of 2020, business began to pick-up and has been on an upward trajectory ever since.

Says Brian Challenger, Luzzo Bespoke’s managing director: “Since the beginning of 2021 things have improved considerably, so much so that if we didn’t strengthen our existing milling capacity and capabilities – sooner rather than later – production pinch points would occur which could detrimentally affect our operational efficiencies and productivity. As a result of these deliberations we decided to invest in a new machining centre.”

To address its potential milling capacity shortcomings, the company spent time identifying the ‘need to have’ specifications and capabilities of the new machine. Luzzo Bespoke is a keen advocate of five-axis machining, and of automation.

“Over the past 12 years our machine shop has changed and improved dramatically from having no CNC machine tools to one that boasts high-performance CNC multi-tasking lathes and three- and five-axis machining centres,” states Challenger. “We believe that five-axis machining is the way to go. The technology makes our company more flexible and enables us to machine parts in fewer set ups, often in one hit. This makes us more efficient and productive.”

He continues: “Machines with integrated automation have the ability to run lights-out overnight and at the weekends. A machine with integrated pallet change capabilities can give us up to 14 hours additional machining time per day: a massive boost to our productivity.”

Further machine requirements included: a high-speed, high-torque spindle; full simultaneous five-axis machining capability; good sized working envelope with easy part loading/unloading; generous sized ATC; efficient and effective swarf management; and the latest Heidenhain control.

The decision to invest in a Mikron five-axis machine from GF Machining Solutions was not a foregone conclusion, although the company’s “existing relationship with GF Machining Solutions put them in the box seat”.

Luzzo Bespoke has invested in a number of Mikron three- and five-axis machining centres over the years and, prior to the arrival of the new MILL E 500U, had two three-axis machining centres (VCE 800 Pro) and one five-axis machine (HEM 500U) at its disposal.

“We approached GF Machining Solutions and other companies with our requirements,” recalls Challenger. “Taking the machine cost, its availability and its technical specifications into account, as well as the applications and service back up of GF Machining Solutions, we invested in the Mikron MILL E 700U.”

The MILL E 700U five-axis machining centre has a rigid C-frame construction, large-sized guideways, a double-supported (trunnion-type) direct-drive rotary tilting table and an integrated seven-station APC. Further features include a Heidenain TNC640 control and a 36 kW/20,000 rpm OptiCool spindle with oil-air lubrication.

Says Challenger: “The machine’s advanced spindle technology with oil-air lubrication enables us to maintain part accuracies and keep within tolerances during long machining runs, while its direct-drove rotary table technology, in combination with the StepTec spindle, means we can achieve super-fine surface finishes on machined parts. All in all, the MILL E 700U is a versatile, high-productivity machine – and is a real asset to the company. The future is five-axis machining and over the next few months, we intend to make further investments in this technology.”

Luzzo Bespoke designs and manufactures a range of high-quality customised products for a diverse range of markets and industries. One of the most important of these is the luxury car market, for which the company produces high-end products that include drinks cabinets, picnic hampers, under-seat fridges, humidors, bespoke clocks, dials and instrumentation panels. Among the prestigious car makers to benefit from these products include Rolls-Royce, Bentley, McLaren, Bugatti and Jaguar Land Rover.

The company also manufactures a range of motorsport and classic car parts and, to lessen a potential over-reliance on the automotive sector, has diversified its operations by designing and manufacturing products for the marine and furniture markets.

Many products manufactured by Luzzo Bespoke, especially for its luxury car customers, are supplied as ‘finished’ products with all manufacturing and assembly taking place at its Brackley facility.

“We are a ‘one-stop shop’ design and manufacturing solutions provider,” states Challenger. “In addition to our comprehensive machining capabilities, we provide a range of other manufacturing and finishing services and specialisms in-house, which include wood veneering, laser engraving/marking, spray painting and polishing.”

Bringing all these services and specialisms under one roof helps the company maintain its high-quality standards, and keep control of its operational costs and customer delivery schedules.

“We made a conscious decision some years ago to avoid outsourcing,” he says. “This move has helped us become more competitive and provided positive market differentiation.”

A good example that helps highlight the range of Luzzo Bespoke’s in-house capabilities is the Rolls-Royce Champagne Chest. Part of Rolls-Royce’s accessories portfolio, the chest, made from machined aluminium and carbon fibre, comes wrapped in natural grain black leather and oak. The chest opens at the touch of a button, with the illuminated central bay exhibiting four hand-blown crystal champagne flutes, which Rolls-Royce says are “arranged to evoke memories of a V12 engine”, and the owner’s choice of Champagne – kept at the ideal temperature thanks to black anodised aluminium and carbon-fibre coolers.

For further information
www.gfms.com

Founded over 100 years ago, Blackburn-based Dobson & Beaumont is a subcontractor with a distinct niche: thread rolling. This established process relies on cold forming to create the threads, while simultaneously providing advantages such as work hardening, strengthened grain flow and overall strength that is some 25% more than that of threads produced by cutting operations. Before rolling its threads, Dobson & Beaumont has to machine some of the most challenging materials known to the industry, which is one of the many reasons the company has just purchased a Nakamura-Tome AS200 twin-spindle turning centre from the Engineering Technology Group (ETG).

Appointed managing director of the family business last year following the unfortunate passing of Phil Dobson, who had served the company with distinction for 50 years, Richard Guest comments on the firm’s position during the pandemic: “Like all subcontract manufacturers, we were impacted by Covid-19. Luckily for us, our niche offering sees our business work across the fastener, pump/flow control, automotive, motorsport, oil and gas, petrochemical, marine, defence, subsea, wind energy, and aerospace markets, which means that we were not too heavily impacted by one particular industry segment.”

The pandemic allowed the company to review its processes and ageing plant list, and instigate a plan for investing in new technology.

“We machine a lot of parts in batches that can vary from 4 or 5-off through to 50, 100 and beyond, and our turning centres were all single-spindle machines,” explains Guest. “This meant that most of our turned parts required secondary operations. We knew we needed a twin-spindle turning centre to reduce secondary operations and, following a comprehensive review of the market, the Nakamura-Tome AS200 twin-spindle turning centre from ETG was the perfect choice.”

The company machines ‘normal’ materials but increasingly processes more challenging metals such as titanium, Inconel, stainless steel and super duplex to tolerances in the region of ±0.0125 mm. Thread rolled parts are often critical components in their respective assemblies.

“We run six Hardinge lathes and have been using Hardinge for over 20 years, so we understand the build quality, rigidity and stability they offer,” says Guest. “Out of the available machines, the Nakamura-Tome from ETG was sensibly priced. In addition, it had the same FANUC programming language as existing machines and was supplied as a long-bed version for our 400-500 mm parts with a bar feed, part catcher, twin spindles for one-hit machining and a reputation for build quality, stability and precision.”

Installed at Dobson & Beaumont in April, the new Nakamura-Tome AS200 twin-spindle turning centre immediately replaced two ageing machines to release shop floor space, free-up machine capacity, cut power consumption, and reduce set-ups and the subsequent labour requirement. In the few months since the machine has been installed, it has reduced the cycle time for a number of parts, including connecting rods from 2 minutes 10 seconds to just under 1 minute. The company has also reduced the cycle time of double-ended bolts from 1 minute 30 seconds to less than 45 seconds. The ease of use of the Nakamura-Tome AS200 and its FANUC CNC control have immediately impacted the 14 staff at Dobson & Beaumont.

The most dramatic saving has arrived on hexagonal head bolts, where the cycle time has fallen from 8 minutes to 1minute 30 seconds.

Says Guest: “We produce a lot of bolts where we have to machine the hexagonal heads, and this is a perfect example of the savings that we can achieve with the Nakamura-Tome machine. The combination of twin-spindle machining, powerful and robust milling capability, and automated production through the bar feed and part catcher has made a significant difference on this component – as it will on future parts. This machine is a step-change in technology for our business and, as we move forward, we will be aiming to transition legacy work from existing machines to the new Nakamura.”

The robust Nakamura-Tome AS200 has a spacious work envelope offering a maximum turning diameter of 340 mm and a turning length of 570 mm with a bar capacity of up to 65 mm diameter. A 15-station tooling turret provides machining flexibility, supported by a 5.5/3.7 kW driven tooling motor that achieves a speed of 6000 rpm. Motors rated at 15 and 11 kW drive the main and sub-spindles. These high-torque units are capable of reaching a maximum speed of 4500 rpm.

Concluding on the acquisition, Guest says: “We are still in the early days of this installation, but, so far, it is clear we’ve bought the right machine for our business. We have drastically cut cycle times on many parts and we’re eliminating secondary operations across the shop floor. ETG has been extremely helpful in getting us up and running, and we’re still enlisting their help on more complicated components. We have one part that currently requires five operations, but ETG’s engineers will help bring that to one-hit machining on the Nakamura. It’s a perfect example of why we have moved to twin-spindle turning with Y-axis milling.”

He adds: “The next step for Dobson & Beaumont is processing more new and legacy work through the Nakamura to reduce the burden on other turning centres, as well as in the milling department. With the bar feed and parts catcher, we also have the opportunity to automate the production of complex work, meaning unmanned and lights-out running. The investment in the new Nakamura, as well as a new thread-rolling machine, has created enthusiasm on the shop floor and who knows – we may be looking at more Nakamura machines from ETG in the future.”

For further information
www.engtechgroup.com