As the sole UK and Ireland agent for the Victor range of CNC machine tools, the GM Group is currently extending its warehousing facilities in Oldham to support business growth. Set for completion in spring 2022, the new facility will expand the warehousing space from its existing 16,000 to over 30,000 sq ft. The extra space will house more machine tools, as well as pre-owned machinery, a training area, new open-plan office facilities, a new reception area and meeting rooms. This expansion adds to existing facilities in Bolton.

GM director Nicola Howard says: “From a customer service perspective, the extension will enable us to further reduce lead times, with the ability to hold more new and used stock machines. Additionally, customers will be able to visit the new showroom to witness demonstrations of the very latest machine tool technology. The extension will be serviced by a new 21.5 m span, 20-tonne Street overhead crane with a distance of over 9.8 m under the hook.”

For further information www.gm-cnc.com

Mills CNC Automation has supplied Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR), an independent and not-for-profit research and training organisation, with a SYNERGi automation system. The new, large-capacity SYNERGi Premier is now in situ at IMR’s Technology Centre in Mullinger, Country Westmeath, where it partners with a Doosan Puma 2600 II multi-tasking lathe, acquired by IMR from Mills in August 2020, to create a flexible automated manufacturing cell.

IMR’s new SYNERGi will help the organisation de-mystify, de-risk and deliver new and emerging technologies that enable industry (across Ireland) to compete and succeed at the cutting edge of advanced manufacturing. The SYNERGi Premier system is a rigid, robust and large-capacity automation system comprising a Fanuc six-axis Industrial robot (25 kg payload) with Schunk three-jaw grippers, a five-drawer part-loading and unloading station, and laser floor scanner technology.

For further information www.millscnc.co.uk

A new specialist technology centre for laser machine users based in Sweden is due to open this month. The new Nordic Laser Technology Centre (NLTC) has been developed in partnership with Yamazaki Mazak’s two official distributors in the Nordic region, Ravema AB in Sweden and Norway, and the Wihuri Group, which operates in Finland.

Mazak’s new collaboration will allow each partner and its customers to benefit from shared resources and expertise, along with a state-of-the-art facility for demonstrations, virtual demonstrations, test cutting and training. In addition, a range of product solutions will be on display, including laser machines, sheet metal software, measuring systems, and automation systems.

For further information www.mazakeu.co.uk

In 2010, West Sussex based Cox Powertrain began its mission to deliver a new concept in ultra-lightweight diesel outboards. This process was the genesis of the CXO300. Since then, Cox has successfully raised over £120m of private investment in order to turn the outboard from a dream into a reality.

Cox Powertrain has invested £6.7m in a world-class production facility, with all components procured from a range of manufacturers. For instance, Delta Tooling (Horsham) produces the CXO300’s drive shafts using a machine tool acquired by Cox Powertrain.

Cox Powertrain’s head of DFM & manufacture Colin Stapley scrutinised several CNC universal cylindrical grinding machines with input from Gary Childs, the managing director of Delta Tooling. Stapley decided that the Studer Favorit was the ideal solution to meet the demanding dimensional and surface finish tolerances.

“With the assistance of Peter Harding, the owner of UK Studer agent, Advanced Grinding Supplies, Colin and I were able to precisely specify the Favorit to exactly meet Cox Powertrain’s demanding needs. Peter worked closely with us in areas such as developing the grinding process and ensuring the use of the correct wheels; he also helped organise the machine’s trouble-free installation and operator training.

“The machine is now in regular use and the quality of the drive shafts adheres to their challenging dimensional and surface finish specifications,” he continues. “In addition, the productive machine is helping us to satisfy ever-increasing demand.”

Stapley adds: “The decision to purchase a Studer Favorit and install it at the premises of Delta Tooling has proven to be a successful one.”

For further information
www.adgrind.co.uk

A Black Country manufacturer that supplies critical components to iconic buildings, train stations, sport stadiums and power stations is celebrating a big birthday in style. Hague Fasteners, which produces non-standard fasteners and bespoke bolts, turned 50 years old last week and marked the big anniversary by investing more than £100,000 into a new three-axis CNC lathe to help it deliver more complex parts and increased capacity.

The new XYZ CT 65 LTY is already playing its part in the delivery of contracts for the oil and gas sector, with the company hoping the additional turnover will help it move towards its target of £2m sales by the end of the year.

Managing director Jon Hague says: “The new three-axis CNC lathe is a perfect way to celebrate five decades in business and puts a marker in the sand for the technology we’re trying to embed into our future capabilities.”

Hague Fasteners has been manufacturing in the Black Country for the past five decades, its most recent move being to an 8500 sq ft factory in Willenhall in 2017. From here, the company produces specialist fasteners, headed bolts, studs, nuts and milled components in high-integrity materials and critical nickel alloys. Hague Fasteners can produce parts ranging in size from 2 to 250 mm in diameter.

Company owner Claire Hague says: “We also wanted to do something in our 50th year that left a lasting positive legacy, so we made the commitment to become carbon neutral by 2024.

This has seen us create the ‘Hague Forest’, where we will endeavour to plant and grow 200 trees every year in Haiti, Kenya and Madagascar to offset the 75 tonnes of CO2 we create manufacturing specialist fasteners for use across the globe.”

For further information
www.haguefasteners.co.uk