Somerset-based Watson Gym Equipment, a manufacturer of specialist strength training equipment used in high-end PT gyms, has recently invested in two new Doosan machine tools and a Doosan collaborative robot (cobot) from Mills CNC.

Watson Gym Equipment, created by owner and managing director Simon Watson in 1999, acquired its first Doosan machine, a large-capacity Puma 4100MB lathe, in March 2020.
This 15“ chuck, box-guideway Puma 4100MB is a rigidly designed and built machine suitable for a range of heavy-duty machining operations, including interrupted cutting. The Fanuc 0iT-controlled machine is equipped with a high-torque 30 kW/2000 rpm spindle, a servo-driven tool changer (12-position) and driven-tooling capability (7.5 kW/4000 rpm).
Since being installed, the lathe has been used to machine the company’s Pro Olympic weight plates, which are made from solid marine grade stainless steel. Weight plates are the flat discs located at either end of a weight bar to create a barbell or dumbbell used for weight training.
The acquisition of the Puma 4100MB lathe had an element of serendipity about it. In late 2019, Watson Gym Equipment had approached its existing CNC machine-tool supplier to discuss the best way to ramp up the production of its weight plates in order to meet increased demand.
Initial discussions centred on the acquisition of a new large-capacity vertical turning lathe to machine the components but, with an anticipated delivery time approximately six months after order placement, the company decided to consider alternatives and approached Mills CNC for help.
Says Watson: “We were aware of Mills CNC and knew that the company had a good reputation in the market for the technology it sold and aftersales services. We approached them to see if they could help with our specific machining capacity issue and, after an in-depth discussion, they recommended the Puma 4100MB. This large-capacity horizontal lathe was available from stock, and could be delivered and installed almost immediately.

“Mills took the time to understand our company and bought into our business model and what we were trying to achieve,” he continues. “They pointed out potential tooling interference issues that could occur by going down the vertical turning lathe route and, instead, demonstrated the productivity and flexibility benefits that we could expect to gain from investing in the Puma lathe. All of which, incidentally, have been correct.”
Watson weight plates can be supplied to customers in a range of standard sets (such as 150, 250, 350 and 500 kg) with individual plates weighing between 5 and 25 kg. All weight plates are machined to high accuracy and exacting surface finishes. Features include powder-coated end plates that can be customised (if required) with a customer’s logo or brand, and are supplied with a lifetime warranty.
“It’s relatively easy and cheap to manufacture weight plates from mild steel and add zinc- or nickel-plating to provide a professional looking finish,” says Watson. “However, after a short time, and through constant use, they will lose their lustre and the coating will peel, chip or discolour. Our business model is focused on manufacturing high-quality, high-performance and competitively priced premium products and equipment that look the part and which stand the test of time. That’s why we use stainless steel for our weight plates.”
Stainless steel is also used for the company’s range of best-selling dumbbell handles.
In early 2020, Watson Gym Equipment, with demand for its dumbbells at an all-time high, made the decision to increase its in-house production capacity and approached Mills CNC for guidance. Of particular concern was how to increase production of the company’s heavy-duty dumbbell handles, which are available in different lengths with a 30 mm grip.
“Dumbbell handles are not complex components,” states Watson. “They are machined from bar and cycle times are short. To meet increased customer demand we needed additional turning capacity, and we needed it fast. Having already established a good working relationship with Mills through the acquisition of the Puma 4100MB, we approached them again with our requirement and they recommended the purchase of a Doosan Lynx 2100LSYB lathe with a Hydrafeed bar feeder.”

The 8“ chuck/ 65 mm bar capacity Lynx 2100LSYB is a compact, multi-axis turning centre equipped with a high-torque main spindle (11 kW/4500 rpm), a sub-spindle (5.5 kW/6000 rpm), a Y axis (±52.5 mm) and driven tools (3.7 kW/6000 rpm).
Doosan’s Lynx 2100LSYB is suitable for small part production and is said to be fast, accurate and reliable. The machine and bar feeder were installed at Watson Gym Equipment’s facility in early May 2020 and its production capabilities have recently been increased further with the addition and integration of a Doosan M1013 cobot, which was delivered and installed later in the month.
The cobot, with its 10 kg payload and 1.3 m reach radius, is positioned in front of the Lynx lathe and programmed to unload the finished parts (dumbbell handles) once machining operations have been completed.
Says Watson: “The job and machining process were ideal for automation. We can set up the job and leave the machine running unattended overnight. As a consequence we have improved our productivity significantly and, as we’ve effectively removed the labour component from the process, have reduced the cost per part as well.”
Plans are well underway to increase the company’s floor space by an extra 22,000 sq ft with the building of a new machine shop adjacent to its existing facility in Frome. The new facility is expected to be completed by the end of 2020 and will house all the company’s CNC machining operations, including a new ‘Synergi 25’ automated manufacturing cell from Mills CNC.
The cell, which comprises a Puma 2600SY lathe (with Y-axis and sub-spindle capabilities), a 25 kg high-capacity industrial robot, an automated two-way drawer system (for stacking, storing and loading workpieces and finished components), a 17” touchscreen HMI, locating plates, pneumatic grippers and Sick safety systems, has been specified and ordered to help the company meet growing demand for its dumbbells.
“Automation is the key to higher productivity, operational efficiency and improved competitiveness,” says Watson. “The Synergi 25 cell will help us increase throughput and reduce bottlenecks, and exploit lights-out, unattended operations still further. We will be working with Mills CNC’s automation specialists in the next few weeks and months to create and prove out a bespoke manufacturing process at their Automation and Turnkey Centre in Leamington prior to it being delivered to our new facility.
“In the past six months we have developed a strong and positive working relationship with Mills CNC based on integrity and trust,” he concludes. “The technologies they are able to supply and the added-value consultancy they provide are helping us optimise our performance…making us fitter for the future.”
For further information www.millscnc.co.uk

Learning and understanding bending theory is probably as challenging as learning to be a good welder. It takes time and patience to learn the differences between every machine. Those differences can be significant, especially in a bending department with both old and new equipment. Marcel Fiedler, product manager – bending/automation at Bystronic Inc, reveals how technology has literally changed the way operators learn about bending.

Anyone starting a new job as a press brake operator before the smartphone era would spend most of his or her time going through the manual, guided by a veteran who knows the machine inside and out. The new operator would learn how to adjust the position of each axis, determine where the back-gauge needs to be, dial in the part, make other adjustments by typing nominal values into the controller, then run production until the batch ends. Once the basic concept of one machine is understood, the new operator would walk to the next press brake and learn this process from the beginning again, with the experienced tutor and manual alongside.
Programs would be created at the machine control. The material type and thickness are determined and the bend angle defined, before the back-gauges are positioned manually for each bend. If not provided on the blueprint, back-gauge positions would be specified as an actual absolute value that needs to be calculated manually.
Overall, 10 minutes (or longer) would be spent getting the press brake ready to make the first bend, and an old machine control would provide no indication of how this should be done. By looking at the control alone, the operator would not know which tools to pick or how to set them up. That is why an experienced operator is required alongside. He or she knows the set ups and best ways of doing it by memory.
At some point, new operators would be expected to work alone, so they would need a quick guide or ‘little black book’ close to the press brake to know which tools to pick.

Fast-forward to today. Imagine leaving the education system and looking for that first job in the sheet-metal industry. Thing is, new recruits today are not on the shop floor with an experienced employee who has operated just one machine for his or her entire career. Instead, they are in a classroom environment, sitting by a desktop PC installed with the press brake’s operating software. There is no printed machine manual to hand, and on some days there is no one with decades of press brake experience nearby, especially if they are needed on the floor. But that is not a problem, and here is why.
The controls come with a built-in guide to help operators understand each command. In actual fact, the operating system installed on modern press brakes is no different to any desktop PC. In this time of Industry 4.0, manufacturers are keeping pace with the latest versions of operating systems, like Microsoft Windows 10. The entire system is designed both for security and compatibility, with software that can communicate and connect with other equipment, office networks and the internet.
Software effectively ‘teaches’ operators to navigate through an interface of a product that is completely new. The HMI has no buttons or dials.
It is interesting how familiar that sounds. Smartphones have probably had the biggest impact on the way the industry interacts with machinery. There is no longer any need to push buttons or turn dials, and there is no need to take a blueprint, adjust each bending step, or define the X value of the back-gauge position. In fact, operators do not even see the X value being displayed on the controller; it is calculated in the background and corrected without any requirement for manual adjustment.
With offline programming, operators let the CAM software perform all functions as it takes the native 2D or 3D model and creates the program automatically. The software determines where to position each axis of the machine based on part geometry.

Industry has switched from a ‘passive’ HMI with function-specific buttons and dials to an ‘active’ touchscreen displaying a full 3D environment – a shift that mirrors smartphones and other technology used in modern-day life.
Back in the classroom, operators learn how to navigate through the entire machine control. Any adjustments made are simulated by the HMI, giving visual feedback. If the bend sequence or tool station positions are changed, the operator will see the HMI conduct a real-time check of any collisions that might occur.
A part with eight bends has 10,321,920 possible bend orders. That is 20 million possibilities for a collision before and after the bend. Today’s software checks all possibilities within seconds.
Operators now have full 3D visualisation of the part geometry, originating from the CADCAM software, which allows the CNC to calculate each axis position automatically. It is also possible to retrieve other relevant information from the control, such as which customer the parts are for and where the raw material is located.
So, how exactly do newer CNC press brakes create more parts than older mechanical or hydraulic press brakes? Well, the real time savings come during set up.
Operators do not need to bend part programs for years to know how to set up jobs properly. The control provides a guide through every step, displaying which tools are needed at which rotation (facing forward or backward) and, most importantly, where they should be placed on the machine bed.
For those forming a simple one-bend part, the length of the tool station usually does not matter, nor does whether it is offset a little to the left or right on the bed (though of course the punch and die need to be properly aligned vertically). Most jobs, however, require precise tool positioning, especially when bending boxes or complex geometries. Placing tools incorrectly means they could collide with a previously bent flange.
Ask any press brake operator if they have ever bent a part backwards and they are likely to say yes, and they probably were operating an older press brake when it happened. This mistake is understandable, especially when forming similar components or when bending two parts that mirror each other.
Controls with 3D graphics help prevent this error. Graphics show every contour of the part, including internal features, such as holes that can serve as a guide as the part is held in the press brake. When the part’s colour changes on the control screen, the component must be flipped ready for the next bend.
Enhanced HMIs and other technology advancements have not changed the bending fundamentals. No matter the age of a press brake, the radius during an air bend still forms
as a percentage of the die opening. Moreover, the forming process still elongates the material at the bend, hence the need for software to run those bend calculations. New press brakes also still use K-factors, bend allowances and bend deductions; they are just calculated automatically in the background.
That said, operators starting a career at a new press brake with a smartphone-like control will learn the job in a new way. Decades ago, operators would have learnt to visualise how a piece folded up. In contrast, when running a modern brake, a 3D simulation appears right in front of the operator.
In essence, the modern press brake HMI has changed how operators navigate their careers. The technology makes a talent search more flexible, guarantees more security in the production schedule, and makes a job in the press brake department an attractive offer for someone who is able to operate a smartphone. Even if a new recruit has never touched a press brake, he or she will be able to bend their first part after only five minutes, all thanks to a smart, user-friendly control interface.
For further information www.bystronic.co.uk

As a successful subcontract machining, fabricating, plating, NDT and assembly business, Rotherham-based ENS Precision Engineering expanded its interests with a move to a new 39,000 sq ft factory in 2018. Since relocating to the new facility, the precision engineering company has purchased a Dugard HD1886B machining centre to increase its machining capacity and versatility.

The family business that is now based in Hellaby, on the outskirts of the South Yorkshire town famed for its coal mining and steel production, is delighted with its purchase from machine-tool specialist Dugard.
Commenting upon the purchase, Tim Atwell, director at the ISO9001-certified ENS Precision Engineering, says: “We bought a Dugard machine because it was a very competitive package with box guideways and a BT50 taper, which makes it very rigid. Before committing to the purchase, we visited one of Dugard’s customers and discovered that they were very pleased. In our opinion, this is always the best way to find out about a prospective machine. The testimonial we got provided us with the confidence to buy from Dugard.
“Although many companies go for very high spindle speeds with a low depth of cut, at ENS we believe in using as much of the carbide as possible, going for bigger depths of cut,” continues Atwell. “This is why we go for BT50 taper machines, because they always have the grunt to push the carbide. The results are very good, and we’ve not had any issues so far, which is great.”

Referring to buying the HD1886B machining centre from Dugard, Atwell says: “For this latest investment, we had no reservations in turning to Dugard, which is a long-established company with an honourable track record. The only question for us was around the fact that we’d never acquired this type of machine from Dugard before. We had bought a different brand machine from them in the past, but it was a lathe. So, we just needed to know that the machining centre could do the job and the back-up was there.”
Discussing the new installation at ENS Precision Engineering, machine shop operator and past apprentice, Josh Hipwell, says: “We recently installed the HD1886B and the main reason for the purchase was that our old machine was getting a little tired. We wanted a machining centre that could do all the work that our previous machine could do, and more.”
But as a subcontractor with a variety of brands across the shop floor, Hipwell says the company picked the Dugard HD1886B for a multitude of reasons.
“As a company, we had a set budget that we wanted to stay within. The Dugard machine not only came within that budget, but it was the most robust and rigid machine in its price bracket.”
The Dugard HD1886B has a BT50 spindle taper and this desire for a solid platform was based on productivity goals.
“The majority of jobs we are processing on this machine are produced from mild steel, not harder materials,” says Hipwell. “However, our aim with the HD1886B is to reduce machining times and increase productivity. So, we’re taking very heavy cuts at relatively high speed to reduce our cycle times.”
Looking specifically at the footprint of the machine, which has a bed capacity of 1800 x 860 x 700 mm in the X, Y and Z axis respectively, Hipwell says: “The Dugard HD1886B has one of the biggest ranges in the Y and X axis of any of our machines, but the overall footprint is very compact. Furthermore, the axes are flipped on this machine, where the Y axis is on top of the X axis. This configuration makes the HD1886B construction a lot more rigid for harder and heavier duty cutting.”
Expanding on this statement from Hipwell, Atwell adds: “The working envelope is very useful. Space is always at a premium and the other machines we have that require a lot of space are our sliding-head lathes. Comparatively, the Dugard HD1886B is very compact. I have to say we’re delighted with this machine.”

Referring to some of the jobs the company has cut on the Dugard HD1886B, Hipwell says: “The machine is very versatile. At present, we’re cutting some light fabrication work, but we’ve also cut some very heavy workpieces. The machine is already familiar with taking 10 to 12 mm depths of cut for sustained periods, and it stands up to the task.”
Dugard’s HD1886B is configured with the FANUC 0i-MF Plus series CNC, on which Hipwell concludes: “We already have several machines with FANUC control systems that work back to back from a program perspective, but we also have jobs where we’ve had to put new programs on the Dugard HD1886B with this control and it’s as easy to program as any machine on our shop floor.”
ENS is a family business which has been providing a high quality machining service for 25 years. The company’s customers cover a wide range of industries throughout the UK. As investment in the Dugard HD1886B confirms, ENS has pursued a policy of continuous investment in new high-quality CNC machines.
The company has an excellent reputation for providing right-first-time, high-quality products to its customers. Throughout the production process, regulated inspection procedures ensure complete ISO conformance and traceability. First-off, batch and final inspections are performed by shift supervisors and qualified engineers. Where appropriate, quality checks and reports are performed on the company’s Mitutoyo CMM, where high accuracy is an integral part of the process.
For further information www.dugard.com

”It is rare to find machine tools that are equally good at turning and milling, but Hermle machining centres are,” states Chris Kemp, manufacturing engineering manager at Michell Bearings, a company which has used its investment in the latest Hermle machine-tool technology to reduce the number of set-ups from seven to just two, a move that cut the cycle time for the machining of bearings by seven hours.

AGM Michell invented the tilting pad bearing. The company he founded in 1920, Michell Bearings, today manufactures a wide range of white metal- and PTFE-lined bearing products. Customers are to be found worldwide making pumps, motors, turbines and generators for the commercial marine, naval and industrial markets.
The mainstay of production on the shop floor at the South Shields factory is a pair of highly specified, five-axis mill-turn machining centres built by Hermle, Germany, and supplied by Kingsbury, the sales and service agent for the UK, Ireland and Middle East.
“Until 2017, we produced all bearing parts that fell within a 600 mm cube in-house and subcontracted the rest,” says Kemp. “However, it was becoming increasingly difficult to find contract machinists who could produce good quality parts in low volumes, at competitive prices. We therefore decided to invest in equipment that could machine cylindrical components up to 1200 mm diameter and their prismatic equivalents.”

A five-axis mill-turn machine was the preferred option, as this style of production centre offers a single-platform solution for producing all of the main parts that go into a vertical bearing, as well as four principal constituents of a horizontal bearing. As ones and twos are typically machined, cutting out set-up time is especially important for cost-effective production. The traditional process for machining a vertical casing formerly took seven operations, which are compressed into two set-ups on a Hermle mill-turn centre, eliminating five re-clamping steps that save around seven hours per component.
Kemp was familiar with the Hermle brand, as many such machines are in use at a nearby aero-engine factory that he visited in the recent past. Other potential suppliers of mill-turn machines were also approached. The Hermle C60 UMT with its 1200 x 1300 x 900 mm working volume was selected due to its robust construction and the high-precision machining of which it is capable. This factor is crucial as bearings include tight tolerances, such as 25 µm maximum total runout over 400 mm for the perpendicularity of a face to the bore.
During cutting trials, the machine was also found to be capable of turning a 0.4 Ra surface finish on bearing faces, saving the time and expense previously involved in grinding and polishing them.
The Hermle machining centres are equally good at turning and milling, even when roughing due to the ability of the turning table’s 4000 Nm torque drive to handle high forces up to 400 rpm without stalling.

Previously used by the Nuclear AMRC in Rotherham, the machine was transferred by Kingsbury to South Shields. Within three weeks it was in production and has been running 24/7 ever since. Kemp says he had never seen a machine of this size installed in a factory so quickly. Part of the reason is the Hermle’s one-piece construction with triple guideway system above the work zone for the Y-axis gantry carrying the X-axis slide. This configuration allows the machine to be craned in and placed on a foundation without having to be fixed to the floor. He believes the fact that major machine elements are not bolted together raises the milling and turning accuracy.
The high performance and reliability of the Hermle led Michell Bearings back to the same source in 2019 when a second mill-turn centre was needed to meet capacity demand. This time a new, slightly smaller C52 UMT was selected with a 1000 x 1100 x 750 mm machining envelope.

An important part of the machine packages supplied by Kingsbury is the aftersales service provided by the agent and its principal, which Kemp describes as “phenomenal”. He says that on the rare occasion there has been a failure, a telephone call to Kingsbury in Gosport often solves the problem. If not, a diagnostic dump from the control is emailed to the agent, which can be forwarded to Hermle if necessary for a more in-depth analysis. If there are, say, three parts which are suspected to be causing the issue, the Kingsbury engineer will bring all three, usually the next day, allowing the correct part to be fitted so that the machine is quickly back in production. “I have never experienced such good service before,” concludes Kemp.
For further information www.kingsburyuk.com

Over the past year, industrial giant Schneider Electric has embarked on large-scale Industry 4.0 implementation across its worldwide operations. Named the ‘Smart Factory’ project, the company is strategically deploying cutting-edge technologies and the benefits of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to drive process optimisation. Designed to increase operational efficiency and reduce costs for its customers, the initiative has been rolled out to every factory across the globe, with each plant challenged to embrace innovation and drive digital transformation.

One of the company’s shining lights has been the Puente la Reina plant in Navarra, Spain, which has strategically adopted Stratasys FDM additive manufacturing throughout its production process. The plant is reporting significant efficiencies across its tooling operations in particular, which has led to the management team receiving high-level recognition within Schneider Electric. In fact, the Puente la Reina plant was recently named winner of the internal European-wide ‘Smart Factory’ Schneider Electric competition – recognising the acceleration of the plant’s Industry 4.0 transformation for the vast quantities of 3D printed manufacturing tools produced, the outstanding time and cost savings achieved, and newly optimised supply chain efficiencies.
“In the past year, using Stratasys FDM additive manufacturing we’ve achieved a saving of about €20,000 in the production of assembly-line tooling alone, which has easily paid off our original investment in the F170 3D printer,” says Manuel Otamendi, industrialisation and maintenance manager – global supply chain at Schneider Electric’s Puente la Reina plant. “With this technology we’re able to produce new high-performance production tools in just one day, whereas it would have taken at least one week to outsource the same tools previously. This reduces our dependency on suppliers and gives us much more control over tool production, which has increased the overall flexibility of our manufacturing process and accelerated our time-to-market for many products.”

Purchased through Stratasys’ local partner, Pixel Sistemas, Schneider Electric’s industrial-grade Stratasys F170 3D printer is deployed for a range of tooling applications, including assembly-line tools, jigs, fixtures, robot grippers and other end-of-arm tools – all of which were previously outsourced to third parties and produced using expensive injection moulding or CNC processes. The F170 has become a staple workhorse on the Puente la Reina factory floor, cranking out over a hundred new production tool designs a year.
One such example is the production of grippers for robotic arms on the assembly line. Leveraging its F170 3D printer, Schneider Electric has come up with new application ideas for the grippers to not only improve the performance of the robots, but secure major cost savings.
“It’s not uncommon for aluminium parts of the mould to break when they collide, and when they do, they are very expensive to replace,” explains Otamendi. “To circumvent this issue, we’re now able to replace costly aluminium grippers for robotic arms with 3D-printed alternatives. Not only does the 3D-printed tool offer the same mechanical performances as the traditional tool but, importantly, it ensures protection of more expensive aluminium parts when the moulds collide. Should the 3D-printing tool break, we can quickly 3D print a low-cost replacement within hours.
“To put the cost saving into perspective – outsourcing a machined gripper would previously cost €200 per tool,” he continues. “Now, we can 3D print one on-demand for around €100. The ability to also reduce the complexity of our supply chain is very important to us right now, so having this on-demand production capability in-house is essential.”
Having enjoyed significant cost savings and a more streamlined production workflow since integrating Stratasys FDM additive manufacturing, this has had a positive knock-on effect on the plant’s overall manufacturing efficiencies and reduced time-to-market in key areas.
“Additive manufacturing has transformed the way we work and changed our entire mind-set in terms of the way we think about doing things in the future,” explains Otamendi. “While we will continue to use our F170 to further optimise the tooling process, we’re actively exploring how to leverage other high-performance FDM materials in the Stratasys F123 3D printer series to address final end-use part applications on the production line. The increased application use of this technology will play an important role for us in achieving our digital transformation objectives.”
As a multi-material printer, the F170 is a fully-featured prototyping tool, with the capacity to load two material reels simultaneously. The machine is part of the F123 series, and includes advanced features like Fast Draft mode for truly rapid prototyping, and soluble support to prevent design compromise and hands-on removal.

Yann Rageul, director manufacturing solutions EMEA at Stratasys, says: “As we work our way through the global pandemic, we’ve seen clear indications that additive manufacturing can play a key role in enhancing the traditional supply chain and conventional production lines. With business leaders seeking to re-optimise their operations, we expect to see an increase in companies adopting the technology at a strategic level, such as Schneider Electric, who continue to successfully drive digital transformation across the business.
“Not only does additive manufacturing enable Schneider Electric to increase flexibility within production and reduce dependency on suppliers, it also opens up the ability to make significant operational efficiencies across product development,” he adds. “While this may be a common objective for most businesses, the impact of COVID-19 has amplified its importance even further.”
For further information www.stratasys.com