SUBCONTRACTING NEWS

OPG invests in brand new surface grinder

Gateshead-based Omega Plastics Group (OPG) has recently been successful in securing orders of over £2m for a wide range of multi-impression fully hardened production tools. This results in the manufacture of hundreds of core and cavity inserts, together with side cores and other ancillaries for customers.

OPG’s recent business-winning success was instrumental in its investment decision to extend the company’s surface grinding capability, thusimproving efficiencies and catering for multiple insert set-ups and larger X, Y and Z-axis grinding capacities. The machine is also equipped with dust extraction, an 800 x 400 mm magnetic table and a coolant filtration system.

Following a frustrating six-week period of window shopping and searching for a viable solution,the agility of the team from RK International Machine Tools resulted in the delivery of asurface grinder within three weeks from placement of order.

The new PERFECT PFG-D4080AH surface grinder was supplied and delivered to OPG on a short lead time and included the installation of a digital readout prior to shipping.This acquisition will allow the company to reduce its reliance on the laborious task of sub-contracting this type of work. Also through the ability of NC programming and auto down-feed will expand the multi-tasking approach of the company’s skilled workforce, and allow the machine to run unattended.

A survey based on the workflow of current production demands estimated that the time saved by investing in the new surface grinding machine will result in efficiency gains of 3%, resulting in saving over 180 hours compared with the company’s smaller manual machines.
For further information www.rk-int.com

Targeting growth through bending machine investment

With the acquisition of Malvern Tubular Products and Maxpower Automotive from Tricorn UK towards the end of 2021, the Lander Group created the opportunity to continue its development as a single source of supply for tube-based assemblies. Now, under the branding of Lander Tubular Products, and with the latest investment in BLM tube bending equipment, the group has the capability to provide automated tubular solutions from 4 to 152 mm diameter in a range of materials, including steel, stainless steel and aluminium.

With capacity to bend tube up to 152 mm diameter, with added efficiency delivered by the multi-stack tooling system where up to eight tool sets can mount simultaneously, the BLM Elect 150 adds to the group’s overall capability and supports further expansion of its growing customer base.

“At Malvern we focus on lower volume production of larger tube diameters, often with higher complexity of bends, mainly for the off-highway, construction and power-generation industries,” says David Alexander, sales and marketing manager at Lander Tubular Products.
“With the new BLM machine we can look to expand into new market segments with our fully finished tubular products.”

Despite the scale of the BLM Elect150, weighing some 18,000 kg, the machine is versatile and brings greater control to production through itsSiemens Simotion system, which runs in conjunction with BLM’s proprietary VGP3D programming and 3D simulation software.Moreover, the machine allows torque to vary between 2 and 6 tonnes to eliminate part deformation, even on tight radius bends and. Control is via a control,

“We see many positives in the arrival of the BLM Elect150, and with many other BLM machines within the group we already have a good understanding of how to maximise their potential,” concludes Alexander.
For further information www.blmgroup.com

Tosec had clear preference for SafanDarley

Tosec is a Zwolle-based company that specialises entirely in sheet-metal working, including cutting, machining, bending and welding.

“We are known for being able to deliver high-quality products quickly,” explains company manager Ruben Nieboer. “These are generally products in small series or single pieces. Often we don’t know today what we are going to make next month. That’s why SafanDarley’s new H-Brake 320T Ultra suits us perfectly.”

Variety is an important factor at Tosec, asNieboer explains: “We consciously choose to produce small and medium-sized series and single pieces, because this ensures variation in the work,setting up the machine every time and looking at drawings and checking products. It can be big, small, thick or thin. We also work with different types of steel, such as very hard steel, such as Hardox, which is difficult to bend,or high-strength steel, which is very tough.

“That’s why no day is ever the same for the people in the office, our setters and our colleagues in the dispatch department,” he adds.“We make a wide variety of products for machine builders, the trailer and crane industry, the agricultural sector and offshore companies, among others. In total, we have over 500 customers throughout the Netherlands.”

Tosec’s relationship with SafanDarley goes back a long way. Still, the company did not go overnight for its most recent investment, assessingseveral competing brands before making a decision.

“In the end, the decisive factor was the opinion of our people on the shop floor,” says Nieboer.“Based on their experiences with the machines and SafanDarley’s service, we chose the new model.”
For further information www.safandarley.com

STATEMENT OF INTENT AT NTG PRECISION ENGINEERS

Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of DN Solutions’ and Zayer machine tools in the UK and Ireland, has recently supplied precision subcontract specialist, NTG Precision Engineers (part of the NTG Group), with a new, large-capacity DN Solutions’ multi-tasking, box guideway turning centre.

The machine, a 24” chuck Puma 700LM II, arrived at the company’s new, purpose-built 45,000sq ft manufacturing facility in Gateshead in January 2023. Although still early days it is intended that, when fully operational with the arrival of a steady rest that is currently on order, the new Puma lathe will machine a range of large, high-precision components and specialised tooling equipment for a growing range of OEM and tier-one customers operating in the defence, oil and gas, subsea, electric vehicle, food production and power-generation sectors, to name but a few.

Whether billet or bar work, the Puma lathe will machine everything from prototypes and one-offs, through to small batch series (typically 10-20 off), from a range of materials that extend from aluminium alloys through to duplex and super-duplex stainless steels.

The new lathe, with its integrated mill and drill capabilities, underscores NTG’s growth ambitions and its commitment to continuous improvement.In recent years, this commitment has seen the company not only relocate its entire operations to a new facility on the Team Valley Trading Estate, but also continue to make regular, strategic investments in staff development, upgrading its plant and equipment, and streamlining its processes and systems.

NTG, through a combination of organic growth and through securing/winning new business contracts from new customers, has experienced significant growth over the past 12 years.
A management buyout (MBO) concluded in January 2021, which saw Ignite Growth (a private equity investment firm) acquire a majority stake in NTG has delivered extra impetus and provided the company with a clear roadmap of its future business goals.

Says Mike Hutchinson, NTG’s group managing director:“Our future growth and success will be achieved by continuing to provide a unique and highly-differentiated offering to customers. The main focus, our ‘raison d’être’ if you like, is on delivering high-quality, high-value and competitively-priced machined components supplied on-time, every time.Everything we do is predicated on our ability to strengthen our position as a preferred supplier and a ‘manufacturer of choice’ to new and existing customers operating across the many industries where we operate.”

To help increase its productivity, consolidate its position within supply chains and maintain its competitive edge, NTG has an impressive range of more than 35 high-performance machine tools at its disposal, many of which are characterised by their multi-axis and multi-tasking capabilities.

Explains Hutchinson: “Our five-axis machining centres and multi-tasking turning centresenable us to machine high-precision, complex components and specialised tooling equipment in one-hit.Multi-tasking machine tools improve our productivity and process efficiencies. They help improve throughput and reduce production bottlenecks and pinch points.We are always looking to improve and increase our machining capacity and capabilities in order to meet growing demand.”

It is against this backdrop of continuous improvement that NTG’s investment in the new DN Solutions’ Puma 700LM lathe must be viewed.NTG is no stranger to DN Solutions (Doosan) or Mills CNC, having previously invested in a 12” chuck Puma 3100XL lathe with a 2150mm turning length back in 2013.

“Although not as large as our new Puma 700LM, the Puma 3100XL is still a big machine and, with its rigid design and construction, has many similar features to our latest acquisition and has performed consistently well over the years,” says Hutchinson

This positive experience of Puma lathe technology combined with Mills CNC’s aftersales service and support both proved instrumental in helping NTG make its latest, large lathe investment decision.

Says Hutchinson:“The decision to invest in the new Puma was made for a number of reasons.We knew we needed a large-capacity machine to take pressure of our existing turning resource and to help spearhead our new business growth ambitions.”

As such, NTG prepared a detailed technical and application-based specification for the new lathe and approached a number of machine tool manufacturers with its proposed investment plan: one of the companies approached was Mills CNC.

“Although we have a large installed machine tool resource, we are not beholden to any manufacturer,” he states.“Instead, we select new machine tools based on their performance, capabilities, price and availability. The in-depth research undertaken into the market established that large-capacity Puma lathes, from many manufacturers’ perspectives, have a good reputation and that their accuracy, power, flexibility and reliability are considered ‘second to none.’

“From talking to Mills, we were informed that they had a new Puma 700LM on order and, as such, that it that could be delivered and installed relatively quickly, virtually coinciding with our relocation to our new facility,” continues Hutchinson. “We ordered the machine in September 2022, and it was delivered, installed and fully commissioned in January 2023.”

The Puma 700LM is a large-capacity, long-bed heavy-duty 24-inch chuck lathe equipped with 15kW/1500rpm high-torque (8076Nm) spindle, a 12-position BMT 85P turret with driven tooling capabilities (11kW/3000rpm) and a programmable tailstock. Notably, the machine supplied to NTG featured the latest Fanuc 0iTP control with an on-board 15-inch touchscreen iHMI.

The Puma 700LM has a 900mm maximum turning diameter and 3200mm maximum turning length to help accommodate large, long workpieces. Despite its size, the Puma 700LM is fast with X- and Z-axis rapids up to 12m/min and 10m/min, respectively.

In addition to the basic machine, the investment package included an automatic tool setter, swarf conveyor and high-pressure (70bar) coolant system to increase the machine’s productivity and process reliability.

Although only installed a few weeks ago, the new Puma 700LM lathe is already having a positive impact on NTG’s performance and productivity.Some jobs, previously undertaken on the company’s existing turning centres, are now being machined on the new Puma 700LM – helping to ‘free-up’ capacity. And the imminent arrival of the steady rest will help NTG realise the Puma’s true, large part processing potential.

Concludes Hutchinson:“We are actively promoting, via our new business development team, the capabilities of the new Puma lathe to new and existing customers. We believe that our latest machine tool acquisition will open up new opportunities and drive future business growth.”
For further information www.millscnc.co.uk

Ceratizit delivers productivity gains for Bedford CNC

Ceratizit UK & Ireland’s technical sales and applications teams work in partnership with customers to ensure maximum productivity, whether that is with the latest in cutting tool technology, or with advice on manufacturing efficiency. The latter was the case when Bedford CNC was looking to improve throughput of some aluminium blocks.

While the productivity of these blocks was already good, machining four per cycle using two Ceratizit ZSG 4 vices on a four-axis machining centre, a suggestion by Ceratizit would double throughput and, by default, reduce manufacturing costs.

“When Ceratizitrecommended manufacturing a bespoke fixture that would accommodate four ZSG Mini vices, with each vice holding two components, it was an easy decision to make, as we can now produce twice as many parts in a single cycle, with reduced set-up time and costs,” says Andy Soos, managing director and owner at Bedford CNC.

Ceratizit designed and manufactured the fixture in-house at its technical centre in Sheffield, where the applications team has a range of CADCAM suites and an array of machine tools on which to produce projects such as this, or simply to provide customer training. From concept to manufacture, Ceratizit managed thewhole fixture project in-house with the completed fixture available within two-weeks of order placement.

“Having this capability adds another level of service that we can offer to customers, where we are able to develop manufacturing solutions quickly to assist them as they look to increase efficiency and profitability,” says Ceratizit technical sales engineer Nev Frisby. “When I put the idea to Andy at Bedford CNC, his reaction was how soon can I have it?To turn it around in such a short space of time was a major advantage to him.”
For further information www.ceratizit.com