Around 1400 jobs across the UK will be secured thanks to nearly £90m of investment in aerospace manufacturing. The government/industry funding for five major projects through the Aerospace Technology Institute Programme aims to improve manufacturing within the aerospace sector, developing technology to make production lines quicker, more efficient and more cost-effective.

Minister for Business Paul Scully said: “This multi-million-pound cash injection will safeguard vital jobs and support the aerospace sector as it builds back stronger after the pandemic. Manufacturing is at the very heart of UK industry, and innovative processes will ensure that the country is at the forefront of global efforts as we develop technology that can power a green aviation revolution.”

For further information
www.gov.uk

Rotherham-based Go Tools Ltd has recently invested in two Okamoto ACC450AV precision surface and profile grinding machines from DF Precision Machinery, Okamoto’s UK distributor.

Technical director Steven Barrowcliff says: “To help prove the ACC450AV’s capabilities, I witnessed a demonstration of the machine performing a range of demanding grinding tasks. The grinder confirmed its suitability for our needs, and we were happy to place an order for two machines.

“After installation and operator training, the new Okamoto machines soon began to make a significant contribution to our surface and profile grinding work,” continues Barrowcliff. “In addition to high precision and surface finish, their ease of use and speed has resulted in the machines becoming popular with our grinding staff.

“High-standards of surface and profile grinding are critical to the quality of the tools that we manufacture, and these attributes are exactly what our Okamoto machines deliver. As we’ve been so impressed with our new Okamoto grinders, to help satisfy ever growing demand for our tools, we’re now planning to install two additional ACC450AV machines.”

The Okamoto ACC450AV precision surface and profile grinding machine, as purchased by Go Tools, provides a length capacity of 450 mm across travel of 170 mm, while the maximum grinding height between the machine’s table and grinding wheel is 357.5 mm. Standard equipment includes a micro cross-feeder that allows fast and simple change over from 0.02 to 0.001 mm graduations. A high-visibility cross-feed digital readout enables easy monitoring of all manual adjustments.

Okamoto’s variable speed wheel provides simple variable speed control of the grinding wheel, enabling it to match the material and surface-finish requirements of each workpiece.

For further information
www.dfpmach.com

XYZ Machine Tools has made additions to its sales team with the appointments of Josh Adams and Lee Wilkinson, along with a change of role for John Aspinall. The most recent appointment is Adams (left), who will take on the area sales manager role covering Leicestershire, Oxfordshire and Coventry. He has extensive tool-making knowledge and experience in sales within the tooling and work-holding sector.

The second appointment is that of Wilkinson (centre), who will develop sales in the southeast of England, covering parts of Bedfordshire, Essex, London, Surrey and Kent. With an engineering background and broad experience in sales of high-quality tooling, work holding and machine tools, Wilkinson is looking forward to getting face-to-face with customers. A further new area sales manager is John Aspinall, who moves internally from education sales. Aspinall will cover South Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and into the Walsall and Telford postcode areas.

For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of Doosan machine tools in the UK and Ireland, has appointed Russell Harding as business manager for the Yorkshire and Humberside region.

Harding, a seasoned engineering solutions sales professional, takes over the business manager position from Adrian Jagger who, after 26 years in post, is taking on new and wider business development responsibilities within the company.

Harding is no stranger to the machine-tool and ancillary technologies sector, or to the Yorkshire and Humberside region for that matter, having worked as Fenn Tools’ business manager (covering a similar geographical area) for the past eight years. Prior to that, he worked as a CNC machinist for 15 years and has extensive knowledge and experience of machining and cutting-tool processes, as well as specific expertise in the aerospace sector.

For further information www.millscnc.co.uk

Sawing equipment and industrial warehouse manufacturer Kasto has added a new solution to its range of equipment for stockholders and processors of sheet metal. The new plate handler allows safe unpacking and storage of sheet stacks, reducing the amount of manual handling required, which is especially beneficial for heavy plates. Kasto’s new system not only saves time, but helps to prevent accidents and injuries.

The Kasto plate handler consists of a drum-shaped turning device and a support table that raises and lowers. A stack of sheet metal to be stored is placed for stability in the centre of the table by a forklift before it is unpacked. The user first removes the straps, packaging and edge protectors from the top, then advances the stack into the drum, which rotates through 180°.

Then, the table rises to its upper position, retrieving the stack in its inverted orientation and lowering to allow easy removal of the remaining packaging and the wooden pallet.

After removing all the packaging, vertical and horizontal guides align the plates exactly on the table according to the user’s requirements, either centred or at one corner. Telescopic forks convey the plates to a waiting cart and then on to a storage pallet. In this way, automated handling is achieved without any heavy lifting or carrying. The result is greater efficiency and better workplace ergonomics, while avoiding accidents and injuries.

Kasto reports that the device is suitable for sheet-metal stacks weighing up to 5 tonne in small, medium and large formats up to 2000 x 4000 mm. The system can handle corrugated sheets and set them down on either side as needed, while it can also connect to all Kasto sheet-metal storage systems.

For further information
www.kasto.com