THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Former Finland PM selects Surfcam

For many years, even when he was Prime Minister of Finland, Juha Sipilä has relaxed by designing and milling a variety of items.

Now he has taken his hobby to a higher level, with a new four-axis CNC machine tool and Surfcam CADCAM software from Hexagon’s global portfolio. He machines aluminium, brass, plastic and wood, and was looking to upgrade his milling machine and CNC router, along with the software to drive them.

Before entering politics, Sipilä was an industrialist, owning a number of manufacturing companies, which gave him his first taste of machining. And he quickly realised that physically making things with his hands helped him to relax and solve abstract business issues.

Surfcam has totally changed how Sipilä uses both CAD and CAM. Typically, he today creates a 3D model in Surfcam Designer and exports it into Surfcam Traditional for producing fast, accurate tool paths. He is particularly impressed with the ‘Waveform Roughing’ strategy for milling aluminium and brass. “My CNC machine has a spindle speed of 24,000 rpm, so Waveform means I can have light cutting with fast feed rates,” he says.

Sipilä has already undergone initial training on Surfcam Designer and basic two- and three-axis machining, and will complete training on four- and five-axis tool paths later in the year. As Prime Minister he was not able to pursue his love of producing lifestyle products as much as he would have liked, but now his duties as an MP mean he has more time – and with his new machine tools and software he is looking forward to creating many more.”

For further information www.surfcam.com

Updated bending software at QBTEC

In 2017, Netherlands-based catering equipment specialist QBTEC purchased a SafanDarley R-Brake for the automated production of boilers and grease drawers used in its frying systems.

With the R-Brake, the press brake and robot are integrated into one system. The R-Brake has a fully automatic tool and gripper change connected to the machine. These systems and the product are programmed offline using RoboBend offline simulation software.
Since the installation of the R-Brake, an increasing number products have been programmed at QBTEC using the offline software. As the company gained more experience with the system, it developed a wish list of features it would like added to the software to further improve the bending process and work even more efficiently. These wishes have been met and SafanDarley recently updated the software at QBTEC to the latest version.

In the latest software, the 3D files are processed in AutoPOL, SafanDarley’s 3D system for programming press brakes offline. AutoPOL determines the best bending sequence before RoboBend ensures the correct calculation of the robot movements in order to easily automate a new product.

This update ensures that QBTEC can also process small series runs automatically to limit the storage of material. When the products are programmed using the offline software they are sent to the WLM (WorkLoadManager), where the amount of each product is entered. The different products are automatically bent and stacked in sequence, without operator intervention.

QBTEC recently purchased two new SafanDarley press brakes, including an H-Brake 230T (6 m capacity) for the production of long stainless-steel blades.
For further information www.safandarley.com

Expansion at Midland Alloy

A specialist Telford manufacturing company has expanded and created six new jobs after receiving nearly £100,000 from a grant programme supported by the Marches Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

Midland Alloy has taken on new staff and built a warehouse extension at its Stafford Park base after receiving £97,285 from the Marches Building Investment Grant (MBIG). The company, which specialises in the manufacture of complex curved metal products and components, says the expansion is part of a £500,000 investment in its future.

According to director Paul Beirne, the new 4000 sq ft extension had created a 6 m high, dedicated pallet racking storage facility for long lengths of aluminium, other materials and tools, and extra space for manufacturing. “This investment will also increase manufacturing space within the existing main factory, with the potential to reduce operating costs and increase the capacity for sales growth and more jobs,” he states.

For further information www.marcheslep.org.uk

Embracing change at BSA Regal

There is a transformation taking place at Southampton-based precision subcontract specialist BSA Regal Engineering Ltd.

This root and branch shift is a radical repositioning of the company focused on improvement and growth, and concerned with strengthening and elevating BSA Regal Engineering’s position within its existing supply chains, and on winning new high-value business in different industries.

Part of this transformation embraces recent investment in two new MACH 1062-HD vertical machining centres from MACH Machine Tools, part of the Vigilance Group. The machines, both MACH 1062-HD models (1020 x 625 x 610 mm in the X, Y and Z axis respectively) are now installed at the company’s 12,000 sq ft facility, where they are being put through their paces machining a range of high-precision components from a diverse range of materials that includes aluminium, stainless steel, tool steel, plastic, titanium and nickel alloy.

MACH 1062-HD machining centres are high-performance machines and have replaced three of the company’s older machines, which were used in part exchange to help fund the new investment.

Explains Martin Clayton, workshop supervisor at BSA Regal Engineering: “To achieve our growth objectives and make us more productive and competitive, we need access to high-performance CNC machine tools that deliver the accuracy, speed and process reliability we expect – and that our customers demand. When MACH made us aware of the performance and competitive price of the 1062-HD machines, we sat up and took notice.
“We’re delighted with the performance of our MACH 1062-HD machines,” he adds. “They are making us more productive, efficient and competitive. Features like their 24-position ATCs, their good ergonomic design and easy workpiece accessibility have already made them firm favourites with machine shop staff.”
For further information www.machmt.co.uk

Record production month at Corbetts

One of the UK’s oldest hot-dip galvanisers has recorded its highest-ever volume from a single facility in July, with over £1m of new customer orders secured since returning from lockdown.

Corbetts the Galvanizers, which celebrates 160 years of trading in 2020, has seen a 48% rise in volume from the fencing sector, with ‘wins’ also achieved in utilities, infrastructure and transport. The company is processing all of this demand in just one plant after taking the decision to temporarily close its other facility until early 2021.

In June, the Telford-based company announced 17% more output than its average performance and this rose a further 7% in July, driven mainly by investment in operational efficiencies and a bespoke loading system. “We are bouncing back from what has been a very difficult period of volatile sales due to the impact of COVID-19,” explains Sophie Williams, finance director and general manager. “Now, however, we have average output at an all-time high and some excellent new customer wins that will generate about £1m of additional revenue.”

For further information www.wcorbett.co.uk