Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of Doosan machine tools in the UK and Ireland, has recently supplied Stourbridge-based HCM Engineering, a precision toolmaker and die-casting process technology specialist, with a new large-capacity three-axis vertical machining centre.

The machine – a Mynx 9500/50 – is a box-guideway three-axis machining centre for heavy-duty operations, including interrupted cutting and long machining runs.

“It is,” according to Mike Hanson, HCM’s operations managing director, “a versatile machine: a real all-rounder.”
HCM’s new Mynx 9500/50 was installed in February 2021 at the company’s 12,000 sq ft facility, where it is being used to machine complex, high-precision die-cast mould tools for a number of leading OEM and tier-one customers – predominantly, but not exclusively, from the automotive sector.

The die-cast mould tools machined on the new Mynx 9500/50 are complex and characterised by intricate and high-precision features such as thin walls, ribs, tapers and cavities, and increasingly by their large size. Specific mould-tool elements machined on the Mynx include 3D ‘component’ forms and features, 2D plates, mould inserts, cores and slides. The elements are made from hardened tool steels and machined to tight geometric tolerances (0.025 mm), high surface finishes and exacting quality standards.

Established in 1969, HCM Engineering is an independent, privately-owned precision toolmaking company that has over 50 years’ experience and expertise in the moulding and die-casting business.

The company provides customers with complete ‘concept to completion’ tooling solutions, offering design consultancy and design for manufacturing services, through to the production and supply of high-pressure, low-pressure and gravity die cast mould tools. As part of its services the company also provides machined or 3D-printed prototypes for test builds.
HCM is committed to continuous improvement and achieving best practice and, as such, regularly invests in its people, plant and equipment to improve performance and competitiveness. Part and parcel of the company’s improvement programme is its willingness and readiness to invest in the latest advanced manufacturing technologies.

Says Mike: “We regularly monitor and review our performance. If, and when, we see any area for improvement, we act quickly and decisively to rectify the situation.”

The company’s progressive, and some may say ‘bullish’, ethos and approach is evidenced by its move, back in 2003, to create HCM India (a 50:50 joint venture enterprise) from scratch.

Says Simon Hanson, HCM’s commercial managing director: “To help combat tooling contracts from migrating to China and the Far East, we set up a new company in India. The joint venture has been, and is, a huge success: it has helped us remain competitive and has been instrumental in us securing new business.’ with: The joint venture has been, and is, a huge success: it has helped us to remain competitive and been instrumental in securing new business. HCM India has provided us with significant flexibility. We can design and manufacture hybrid mould tools, using both our UK and Indian facilities.”
The company’s ability to keep ‘one eye on the future’ is also evidenced by its successful five-year apprenticeship programme run in partnership with local FE colleges and training providers.

HCM’s investment in the Mynx 9500/50 was made for a number of reasons. Firstly, to increase the company’s machining capacity and capabilities: specifically its ability to produce large die cast mould tools increasingly required by, and used in, the automotive sector. HCM also wanted to improve the company’s productivity and efficiency by enabling it to adopt lights-out, unattended machining operations and, as a consequence, improve cost competitiveness and lead time fulfilment.

Automotive manufacturers under pressure to make vehicles lighter, more energy efficient and ‘cleaner’ are increasingly looking to make more parts from lightweight aluminium, zinc and/or magnesium alloys manufactured via the die-casting process.

“Customers’ tooling requirements are constantly changing,” says Mike. “Over the past 10 years the trend within the automotive sector is towards larger and more complex mould tools. It’s a trend, certainly with the rapid growth of electric vehicles, which looks set to continue well into the future.

“This is good news for toolmakers, as long as they have the requisite machining capabilities available to manufacture large-sized dies,” he continues. “To stay ahead of the curve and remain competitive, we identified that we needed to increase and improve our machining (milling) resources – specifically relating to the size and weight of parts (tooling) we could machine. Although we have a number of 2 and 3 m bed machines at our facility, we realised that it would be a strategically sound move to invest in another machine to enable us to succeed in a constantly-changing and ultra-demanding market. With the trend towards large mould tool production we decided to invest in the Mynx machine.”

Doosan’s Mynx 9500/50 is a large-capacity machine with a work envelope of 2500 x 950 x 850 mm that can accommodate workpieces up to 3500 kg in weight. The machine’s 2500 x 950 mm work table is being used by HCM to produce large workpieces, as well as multiple smaller jobs. These parts can be machined in a single set up and, such is the reliability of the Mynx 9500/50, unattended overnight and at the weekends.

Says Mike: “To help us increase our productivity and operational efficiencies, and to ensure we were able to meet customers’ often stringent delivery deadlines, we needed the machine to run lights-out.”

The machine features a BT50 built-in spindle (22 kW/10,000 rpm/452 Nm) with Big Plus dual-contact face and taper configuration.

“The Mynx’s rigid design and build, combined with its advanced spindle technology, enables us to ramp up feeds and speeds and to take aggressive depths of cut, all of which help reduce cycle times,” says Mike. “Its technical prowess, in addition to its 40-position servo-driven ATC with 2.5 second tool changeover time, gives us the ability and confidence to run the machine unattended.”

HCM is no stranger to Doosan machine tools or Mills CNC having invested in two DNM 650 Mk II vertical machining centres in 2014.

“Mills CNC knows our business and we have a good relationship with them: the previously acquired Doosan machines have performed well over the years,” states Simon. “In mid-October 2020, Mills made contact to inform us that they would soon have a large-capacity Doosan machine arriving in stock in the very near future. “The size and technical specification of the machine appeared to match our requirements perfectly and, when we found out its price and that it could be delivered, installed and be up and running in early 2021, we were, to put it mildly, very interested,” he adds. “Following further discussions with Mills we placed the order and the Mynx was installed in February. From order to delivery took just 10 weeks.”

Concludes Mike: “The productivity benefits we are experiencing from the Mynx investment are dramatic and significant. Just when machining 2D plates we estimate that we are now 800% faster.”

For further information
www.millscnc.co.uk

Founded in 1995, Point CNC has provided a high quality and flexible CNC machining service to customers in the medical, aerospace, surveillance and automotive sectors since it opened its doors for business. The evolution of the company down the years has seen the manufacturer invest in high-end machine tools from YMT and CAM software from Open Mind Technologies.

Based in Sevenoaks, Point CNC produces components and sub-assemblies for high-precision surveillance and ANPR camera systems in use by police forces, security agencies and rescue services, as well as high-technology parts for the motorsport and specialist road-car sectors.
With the ever-increasing complexity of components, Point CNC has invested in hyperMILL from Open Mind, a CAM solution for five-axis machining. The ISO9001-accredited subcontract manufacturer has been growing at a rapid rate in recent years, consolidating several facilities by bringing them into one large factory that houses all of the company’s 20 CNC machine tools.

“We are implementing more automation to maximise our output and undertaking more automotive, audio and MoD work at present,” says Joseph Goldsmith, CADCAM programmer at Point CNC.

Referring to the implementation of CAM software from Open Mind Technologies, Goldsmith states: “When I first came here, we were using different software and I had come from a hyperMILL background. The software we had was nowhere near as good as hyperMILL, so I put my case forward to the directors of the business, highlighting that our current growth rate and the turnaround requirements from customers meant we needed to be adopting hyperMILL.”

With a well-made case and business leadership that is always striving to enhance its capabilities, service and performance, the company invested in the hyperMILL CAM system.
“The facility to use things such as the tool library in hyperMILL and to teach our apprentices all the cutting speeds and feeds in a simplified format to build their confidence, has been invaluable,” says Goldsmith. “hyperMILL helps to give the apprentices a good grounding in every-day processes. Additionally, skilled engineers do not have to watch the apprentices all the time, giving our younger employees the responsibility and confidence to evolve.”

Alluding to some of the savings that hyperMILL has generated, Goldsmith says: “Another advantage with the tool library is that it will calculate and optimise all of our speeds and feeds. Once the information has been entered, the speeds and feeds calculated by hyperMILL determine how hard we can be hitting the workpieces. It really has accelerated our programming. By reprogramming existing components in hyperMILL we’ve shaved a lot of time from our processes.”

He adds: “Essentially, we can input tool data from the cutting-tool manufacturer into hyperMILL and it will crunch the numbers and push the machining strategy to its limits. Every time I program hyperMILL I generally think we won’t get away with running at such extremely high speeds and feeds, but we do. It works without fail. On one of the first jobs where I really pushed hyperMILL, it was probably running 20% faster than I would have liked. In fact, it was running so fast there was steam coming off the chips and evaporating out of the machine. It really is helping these machines achieve what they are made to do.”

Referring to how hyperMILL helps to conserve tool life, Goldsmith says: “There are a lot of different factors in play here. For example, the benefits depend upon the type of tooling and what materials you are cutting, but hyperMILL goes a long way to helping with things like that. It creates greater tool engagement, which improves material removal rates, cycle times and tool life.

“Since coming to this company and helping migrate to hyperMILL, cycle times have improved by at least 20% and programming times have improved even further,” continues Goldsmith. “I can program jobs significantly faster as the previous software didn’t have all the facilities and tools I needed to do the job. This is especially the case with 3D work; the previous CAM system just wasn’t capable of doing what we needed.”

From a collision avoidance and security perspective, Goldsmith states: “One of the beautiful things about hyperMILL is that when we are putting all of our models together, we can build up a library of all our machine tools, fixtures, vices, chucks and cutting tools. We can put all of this information into the system and it will give us a 100% accurate picture of what is going to happen before we push the button. This allows us to avoid collisions and highlight things we might have missed.”

With three seats of hyperMILL and a significant investment in CNC machining and turning centres, Goldsmith alludes to the capabilities of hyperMILL with regards to the company’s turning activities, saying: “hyperMILL has had a major impact on our turning operations. Basically, it’s now allowing other people to undertake programming tasks. Before, all the programming for turning was done on CNC consoles on the shop floor. This is very time consuming and, during programming, the machines are not running or making any money. Now that we have hyperMILL we can program all of the turning in the office while the machine is running. After offline programming we just pop the program into the machine, run it through to make sure it works and we’re good to go. This has drastically reduced non-cutting times in the CNC turning department by virtually eliminating on-machine programming.”

Asked if the software is as important as hardware when investing, Goldsmith concludes: “I believe that software is an equally important investment as the hardware. hyperMILL demonstrates this with its significant savings, which are being created both in the programming office and on the shop floor.”

For further information
www.openmind-tech.com

As a supply-chain partner to a multitude of blue-chip OEMs that are household names, Unilathe has been providing a complete engineering service to industry since its inception in 1977. Applying the latest generation of machine tools, the Stoke-based tier-one subcontract manufacturer has recently invested in a Kitamura Mycenter HX500iG horizontal machining centre from Dugard, adding to its three previously installed Kitamura machines.

As a company that specialises in the oil and gas, rail, construction equipment, IGT and aerospace industries, Unilathe installed its first Kitamura machine more than 11 years ago. Recalling the start of the Kitamura journey, Unilathe’s managing director Andrew Sims says: “Our first Kitamura was a second-hand machine. That dipped our toe in the water with the brand regarding the twin box-way slides, the high speed and rigidity. In fairness, the performance and the reliability we got from that machine really started to pave the way for thinking about our machine purchasing strategy moving forward. We started asking whether we should go down a one-brand machine acquisition route.”

Following the first Kitamura Mycenter, Unilathe has since invested in two horizontal Mycenter 630iG machines from Dugard in 2018 and 2019 respectively, with the latest Kitamura Mycenter HX500iG commissioned at the start of 2021.
“We’re a tier-one supplier to major OEMs throughout the UK, Europe and worldwide,” says Sims. “So, generally speaking, we machine a lot of gearbox components and other parts from cast iron, cast steel and other materials where rigidity and performance, coupled with high-speed and advanced technology, is really crucial. The Kitamura machines from Dugard fit the bill. When we’re looking at new machines, the main consideration is reliability, speed, performance and accuracy, as we have to produce these components in the most competitive nature possible while maintaining very high quality. At the moment, we’re currently running 100 hours a week, but if we need to get up to 24/7, the Kitamuras will certainly do it.”

The latest Kitamura to arrive at Unilathe, the BT50 spindle taper Mycenter HX500iG has a 500 x 500 mm table with travel of 870 x 930 x 500 mm in the X, Y and Z axis respectively. The accuracy and repeatability noted by Sims is demonstrated in the 0.001° indexing of the 4th axis, as well as the spindle and tool probing, and other features such as zero backlash, built-in encoders and linear scale feedback. A patented twin ball-screw system with cooling, hand-scraped surfaces and induction-hardened box ways offer additional assurance.

Commenting on the twin-pallet Mycenter HX500iG, Unilathe machine operator Louis Purchase says: “There are so many things I like about the Kitamura machines. For instance, the speed is incredible. I have been at Unilathe for over three years and worked on a wide variety of machines, but I’ve never seen anything like the new Kitamura models.”

Underpinning this testament to the speed of the Kitamura brand is 60 m/min rapid traverse rates, a B-axis rapid of 43,200 deg/min, an 8.8-second pallet change and 2.1 second tool-change time.

The majority of the work on the new Kitamura machines at present is cast-iron components for the agriculture industry.

“I work across the latest Kitamura machines and they just tear through cast iron – that’s the best way to describe it,” says Purchase. “We’re machining a range of different parts and there is flexibility and interchangeability between the 630iG and 500iG machines.In addition, the tool carousel moves extremely quickly. When it comes to production jobs, we want accuracy and speed, and we have both of them with our Kitamura Mycenter machines.”

The new Kitamura additions also incorporate probing, which ensures complete consistency.

“With the probing system, we know that the last job in a production run will be the same as the first because we are probing the datums on every single job,” explains Purchase.

Unilathe produces a number of precision turned parts that it subsequently transfers to the Kitamura Mycenter machines for secondary milling operations.
“The turned parts are held to tight tolerances before loading on the Kitamura machines, so if we didn’t probe the jobs every single time, we would not be able to guarantee the same result,” says Purchase. “However, having the probing system means that we know the exact tolerances of the part and its positioning on the Kitamura machine before we start cutting metal.”

He continues: “The Kitamura machines also have a ‘tool life calculation system’ incorporated into the machines that is perfect for production jobs.

Essentially, it counts how many jobs each tool has done. This is hugely helpful for production when we use a lot of tools. We calculate a tool life parameter and once the tool has hit this parameter, we receive notification to change the tool or inserts, reset and start again. For example, we may calculate the tool life based on 10 production-run components. While we know that anything can happen in manufacturing, the system is always right, and it helps with long-running parts. This is another feature that is all about speed and ease-of-use, which is the best way to describe the Kitamura machines.”

Taking a closer look at the work envelope of the BT50 spindle Kitamura Mycenter HX500iG, Purchase says: “The work envelope is easy to access. Everything turns very easily and we can reach the part without problems. It’s just a delightful machine to work on.”

From a productivity standpoint, the Kitamura Mycenter HX500iG is a twin-pallet machine, which minimises downtime for Unilathe.

“The twin pallet allows means we can run two different jobs at the same time and this flexibility enables us to double our production output.”

Finally, commenting on the ease-of-use, Purchase says: “The new Kitamura machines have probably been the easiest machines that I have worked with so far. The Arumatik control panel is intuitive and guides you through all the steps, which makes it easier for everyone, regardless of whether you’re an engineer with 20 years of experience or someone new to CNC machining. The touchscreen configuration is very easy to use, but one thing that I really like is the PC keyboard. This makes it so much faster to type anything in, as everybody nowadays has an understanding of a keyboard and its key positions.”

For further information
www.dugard.com

Question: “How long will it take to machine a part using your machine?” Answer: “I can quickly tell you exactly how long it will take by simulating the process in Vericut.” The dialogue is fictitious, but the scenario is realistic, not only because it is theoretically possible, but because Swiss machine tool specialist Starrag Group uses Vericut NC simulation software for this purpose. In addition to the verification and optimisation of NC programs, Vericut provides a precise indication of the run time of the optimised machining cycle.

Starrag Group develops, manufactures and sells precision machining centres with four, five and six axes for small to large workpieces, as well as gantry machining centres and vertical lathes for very large components, turning and grinding machines, associated software packages and special tools. Engineering and process optimisation solutions are also part of the company’s portfolio. Starrag solutions find use in aviation, power generation, transportation, precision engineering and medical technology. Headquartered in Rorschacherberg, Switzerland, the group of companies with more than 1500 employees has production sites in Switzerland, Germany, France, the UK and India, as well as sales and service locations in the most important customer countries.

Thomas Fink is head of application technology for machining centres at Starrag’s headquarters. Located on the edge of Lake Constance, the company has relied on Vericut as a solution for NC simulation for more than 30 years.

“The range of applications is very diverse,” says Fink. “We use Vericut in technology development for customer parts, conduct time and feasibility studies with it, and analyse customer programs in the event of problems or faulty machining.”

Machine-tool buyers naturally want to know what the machine is capable of in a specific application before they buy. So, as already outlined, Starrag builds a bridge to the future by means of NC simulation: the customer’s real NC program is checked for collisions on the virtual machine in Vericut, while the real process is digitised on the basis of the NC program, with the help of the machining centre’s digital twin.

Phillip Block, marketing manager of CGTech Deutschland, which distributes Vericut in the DACH region, classifies this process thematically.

“Vericut offers what Industry 4.0 is all about at its core: possibilities for high-level individualisation, potential for the intelligent production of equally intelligent products, and extensive integration of customers and partners into the company’s value creation processes,” he says.

Fink confirms it is exactly that kind of added value which can make all the difference these days: “As a full-range supplier of machine tools with technology support, it’s often necessary to know the machining times for customer parts as early as the quotation process, in addition to selecting the right machine. When implementing customer projects, the NC programs can be tested, analysed and optimised using Vericut before the real customer machine is even set up.”

The tools and clamping devices are also tested and optimised, which makes it possible to ensure – at a very early stage – that the process will run without collisions, travel violations or damage to the part. In this way, the safety factor as a mere snapshot of the present becomes a tangibly reliable expectation in the future.

Fink is not surprised “that most of our customers use Vericut for machine simulation”, and benefit directly from it. “Since our customers receive a digital twin of their purchased machine from us for pre-acceptance, they can check and optimise their processes even before final acceptance of the machine.”

Starrag as a machine manufacturer thinks in terms of product life cycles, so the use of Vericut even in the case of service is not surprising.

Fink states: “If problems occur during machining after the machine has been delivered to the customer, we are often provided with an NC program or a section of it. Thanks to Vericut, it is then possible to analyse this with very little effort, detect any errors or suggest optimisations.”

Of course, Starrag Group also uses Vericut classically in the simulation, verification and analysis of the NC programs with which Starrag Group manufactures parts for its own machines. Vericut, currently available in version 9.1.2, simulates the original NC code after the post-processor has run and detects programming mistakes such as rapid traverse errors or contour violations before real production. The software is sold in a modular format, so companies purchase only the capabilities they need. At Starrag, this naturally includes feeding Vericut with data from a central single source of truth.

“Due to close co-operation with various customers, Starrag uses several CAM systems,” says Fink. “For central management, a tool database is used that offers interfaces to all systems. The interfaces of the CAM systems to Vericut are also used.”

As one of the software’s early adopters, Starrag Group also uses Verticut Force, a physics-based module that analyses and optimises cutting conditions throughout NC program operation. The module delivers the most effective NC program for the given material, cutting tool and machining conditions.

Dirk Weiß, CGTech’s sales manager for Switzerland, among others, compares the Force application to conventional simulation: “Force is not about the milling strategies of existing programs; it also does not change tool paths. Material removal remains constant by adjusting the feed rate, and sub-dividing tool-path motions as needed to maintain consistent machining conditions for each tool. Everything is controlled by the feed rate: the geometries are not changed in the process.”

The result is significant time savings and improved cutting tool and machine life.

At Starrag, Vericut Force is used to optimise customer projects, design machine components and analyse NC programs in the event of tool breakage.

Fink says: “Tool breakages must be avoided, especially in demanding machining operations. The same applies to thin-walled parts, where avoiding deformation of the part due to excessive cutting forces is key.”

This sums up Vericut Force’s analytical potential to a tee: unsafe cutting conditions, excessive forces, metal removal rates, power, torque and tool deflections are graphically displayed during visual analysis of the NC program.

Lastly, Vericut Force pays off in optimising machining times so that customers have another competitive advantage with their Starrag machining centres.

Fink illustrates this with the example of a demo part for a stator segment: “The tool design, fixture design and CAM programming were completely checked in Vericut and optimised in Vericut Force. As a result, no time was wasted on prove-outs at the machine – the first part has already met the desired requirements in terms of surface and geometric quality. And all this with a 20% reduction in machining time.”

For further information
www.cgtech.co.uk

Upon the formation of HPC Services Ltd in 1997, the company started with a single sliding-head turning centre. Since that point almost 25 years ago, the Ilkeston-based company has invested heavily in sliding-head turning technology for small part turning. However, for almost everything outside the dimensional realms of sliding-head machines, the subcontractor has put its faith in turning centres from Nakamura-Tome. Supplied and supported by the Engineering Technology Group (ETG), the Nakamura-Tome machines at HPC have provided productivity and flexibility for everything from simple to complex turning, as well as the machining of prismatic parts from bar.

“I think we bought our first Nakamura machine around 2003, and we’ve had them ever since,” recalls Paul Cobb, managing director at HPC Services.

Now with five Nakamura-Tome CNC turning centres on the shop floor, the subcontract manufacturer invested more than £600,000 in three machines between August 2018 and June 2019. The Nakamura WT100 and two WT150II machines followed the July 2017 arrival of a smaller Nakamura AS200 MY turning centre with live tooling and a Y-axis facility.

At that time, Cobb said: “As a subcontractor, you don’t know what is going to come through the door on any day, so these machines are perfect. We mostly use them for making mill/turned parts, on medium-sized production runs from a few hundred components to a few thousand, which is a real sweet spot for us.”

As part of the Hemlock Group of companies, HPC has more than 17 turning centres and 25 employees producing components for the industrial equipment sector. This includes fire-suppression equipment, printing machinery, scientific devices, packaging machinery, camera equipment and braking systems for the rail industry. The company typifies the subcontracting sector with its diverse workload, the variety of industries it supports and the expansive diversity of materials it machines and the services provided. With this thought in mind, the company has added yet another Nakamura-Tome turning centre, a WT150IIF model, which arrived shortly before Christmas.

Confirming why the Nakamura-Tome turning centres are so popular, Cobb says: “A few years ago Nakamura upgraded their older machines with new controls and much more rigid and powerful driven tooling. The machines were really good before, but now they have changed the game – and we simply had to invest in the new technology when it came out.

“As a business, we’ve built up our Nakamura models over the past couple of years, and the latest machine is testament to both the success we’ve had with the Nakamura machines and our investment programme,” he adds.

Before the investment drive in new Nakamura machines, HPC Services previously had the older models of the Nakamura brand.
“The residual value of these machines is unbelievable,” states Cobb. “We recently sold a Nakamura machine 13 years after we first purchased it, and we sold it for 50% of the purchase price. The loss you make each year really isn’t that much. It caused a problem when we sold the machine because we had written it down very low year-on-year so, when it came to selling the machine, we actually made a profit.”

Discussing the difference between the twin-spindle, twin-turret Nakamura-Tome WT100 and Nakamura-Tome WT150IIF, which both have Y-axis capability, Cobb says: “The WT100 is a smaller machine, making the kinematics and movement a little bit quicker.

However, it isn’t quite as versatile as the WT150II machines or the new WT150IIF, which has more power on the tooling stations. The other obvious difference is the bar diameter: we can get 46 mm diameter bar on the WT100 machine, whereas the WT150II machines can accommodate bar up to 65 mm.”

Continues Cobb: “The Nakamura machines have a lot of versatility and the ability to throw many driven tooling stations at the components. So, if you want to make fully milled parts with complete automation, you can. For example, it can be quite difficult to automate a machining centre, but if you can mill a prismatic component out of round bar, you are better off making the parts on a Nakamura machine. We do quite a lot of that type of milling work on the Nakamuras.

“Additionally, you don’t want to be putting your turned components on to milling machines after they have been turned, as it can knock all of your geometric relationships out. So, if you can make components in a single operation on a turning centre with all the complex milling and drilling, the quality of the finished part is far superior. Furthermore, the cost per component comes down as there is less handling of the parts.”

This is exemplified by the set-up of the latest Nakamura machines, which are all equipped with barfeed systems and a part accumulating Rota-Rack system from Hydrafeed. This configuration permits unmanned machining for upwards of 18 hours.

“The machines are also suitable for simple component runs,” says Cobb. “Our Nakamuras are very capable machines that do not take long to set up with the new control system, making them suitable for simple components. To make these machines justifiable on simple parts, we tend to do a minimum batch of 50 to 100 – that is our entry point for balancing productivity rates against set up times.”

Alluding to the flexibility of the Nakamura-Tome, Cobb states: “We have a really good team of people. This includes two or three highly skilled operators and a couple of apprentices, and they are all perfectly capable of setting these Nakamura-Tome machines. This gives our business the ability to switch components every day if we want.”

HPC Services has been delighted with the enhancements to the new models in the Nakamura-Tome range in terms of stability, rigidity and performance, but nowhere is this better emphasised than in the new Smart X CNC control panel. Working on a Windows platform, the FANUC-based control system introduces a multitude of innovations via a user-friendly and intuitive touchscreen interface. Some of the new technologies include a 3D Smart Pro AI system that automatically analyses CAD models to determine geometries, cutting tools and paths, as well as machining sequences. From this, a CNC program can easily be created to slash programming times and set-ups.

The Smart X system also introduces the NT Thermo Navigator, which uses AI-based machine learning to compensate for thermal growth, thus improving machine set-up and run times, along with precision. In addition, the CNC unit incorporates a simulation and overload function, the NT Work Navigator and an Industry 4.0 interface for complete connectivity.

Discussing the new format of the CNC on the Nakamura-Tome machines, Cobb says: “The old control systems were much more complicated. This new format has simplified the whole programming process, because a lot of it is feature orientated. So, if you are pocket machining or anything like that, there are many cycles built into the system and a lot of mathematical help to support you in working out dimensions and corners. As a result, you don’t have to use a CAM system. For everyday prismatic parts, the CNC control on the Nakamura is perfect.”

For further information
www.engtechgroup.com