THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Two key promotions at Mills CNC

Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of Zayer machine tools from DN Solutions and Zayer in the UK and Ireland, has strengthened its management team through the promotion of two existing members of staff to director positions. Both appointments become effective from 1 August 2024.

Richard Wilson (pictured), current business manager for the West Midlands, Wiltshire and home counties region, has become Mills’ new sales director. This company-wide role will see Wilson assume responsibility for the strategic planning, co-ordination and implementation of the company’s UK sales operations. The second appointment sees Craig Clarke, Mills’ existing operations manager, promoted to operations director.

More information www.millscnc.co.uk

Renishaw opens new technology centres

To help service its growing customer base in India and Japan, UK-based Renishaw has recently opened two state-of-the-art technology centres: one in Chennai, India, and one in Nagoya, Japan. These upgraded facilities will strengthen Renishaw’s presence in both countries and improve customer access to the company’s engineering services and technologies.

Renishaw is continuing to invest in upgraded and new facilities to better support its customers. In addition to the facilities in India and Japan, within the past year the company has also opened new offices in Brazil and created its first subsidiary operation in the United Arab Emirates. The latter will serve the rapidly growing manufacturing and advanced engineering sectors in the Gulf Cooperation Council region and Egypt.

More information www.renishaw.com

Sustainable Materials Hub

The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) has invested in a new hub for sustainable additive manufacturing (AM), thus opening avenues for research and development to support the design and manufacturing of net zero products with end-to-end circularity.  

The new hub features polymer and ceramic AM machines to manufacture net-zero products alongside material reprocessing equipment that recycles waste AM materials and parts into feedstocks. Notably, a new Carbon M3 machine will enable processing of high-performance polymers for net zero products in sectors including aerospace, defence, and energy.

More information www.the-mtc.org

Tufcot Engineering installs large Puma lathe

Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of machine tools from DN Solutions and Zayer in the UK and Ireland, recently supplied Tufcot Engineering with a new, large-capacity multi-tasking lathe. The machine, a 24” chuck DN Solutions Puma 700LM II featuring driven tooling and FANUC 0iTP control with 15” touchscreen capability, is one of the largest CNC machine tools acquired by Sheffield-based Tufcot in its 43-year history.

Tufcot’s relationship with Mills CNC began in 2005 with the purchase of its first Doosan lathe, a Puma 240LC. Over the past 19 years, more investments with Mills followed and, in early 2024, the company placed an order for the Puma 700LM II and a new 21” chuck Puma 4100MC lathe (due in August 2024). These latest investments take the number of CNC lathes Tufcot has acquired from Mills CNC to 11.

Tufcot’s managing director Greg Majchrzak says: “The high-performance lathes from Mills are real workhorses; they are reliable and deliver the fast processing speeds and high accuracies we need to meet the quality and lead-time demands of customers.”

The Puma 700LM II is machining small batches of high-precision, large diameter Tufcot composite bushes and bearings for customers primarily in the UK and European marine sectors. These parts, machined to tight tolerances, often have long cycle times (hours as opposed to minutes) and a range of intricate milled features.

Says Justin Krebs, Tufcot’s operations manager: “Our own knowledge of composites and their application in the marine sector, combined with expert insight from our international distributor network and existing customers, helped highlight significant new business opportunities that we could exploit if we had larger and more sophisticated in-house turning capabilities.”

More information www.millscnc.co.uk

MTT invests in Nakamura-Tome WT150

When an ex-employee of the Engineering Technology Group (ETG) had the ambition of setting up his own business, the company provided both its blessing and support with a Nakamura-Tome machine tool. While working as an applications engineer at ETG, Mike Jerdin’s personal circumstances changed and he needed to be close to his family, not on the road as the role required. Jerdin subsequently launched MTT Engineering and bought a Nakamura-Tome WT150 multi-tasking turn-mill centre. The results are nothing short of phenomenal.

“Most start-ups begin with a second-hand machine or two, but working with Nakamura users during my 10 years at ETG meant I knew that these machines deliver a competitive edge,” says Jerdin. “I spoke with the team at ETG and they helped me with a finance and support package that you wouldn’t get from any other machine tool supplier.”

Initially having challenges acquiring a local industrial unit, MTT Engineering co-located with a fabrication business in Macclesfield – a partnership that is proving beneficial for both parties. As part of the start-up strategy, the company is offering a fast-turnaround service to the subcontract and tier-one supply chain in the local area. MTT’s early customer base is reaping the rewards of the twin-spindle, twin-turret Nakamura-Tome WT150.

“I started the business with customers that would give me their overspill work when they are running at capacity,” explains Jerdin. “However, with its twin-spindle and twin-turret capabilities, I can manufacture the parts faster, with higher precision and more cost-effectively than my clients. They recognise the benefits and profitability they are yielding from my service, so they continually provide us with more work. This service is enabling my clients to reduce their lead times and, in turn, win kudos from their customers.”

More information www.engtechgroup.com