A strong order book has led a Thatcham-based manufacturer to invest in new laser equipment and move to a new facility. Taylor Made Fabrication (TMF) has purchased a Mazak Optiplex Nexus 3015 III fibre laser to improve processing speeds, increase production capacity and meet growing demand.

Ray Baker, director at TMF, says strong demand led the company to approve the investment: “We’re always busy and felt it was important to upgrade our laser cutting technology. Our previous machine was becoming slower and needed more maintenance to remain operational. We can’t afford any downtime or let customers down, so the new investment, which coincided with our move to a new facility, was deemed very important for the future of the company. Mazak’s Optiplex Nexus ticked all the boxes for us in terms of price, performance and capacity.”

The Optiplex is equipped with a 3 kW laser that has improved production throughput.

“We’ve been able to make significant improvements in processing speed and begin cutting thicker aluminium, stainless and mild steel, which has opened doors for us with new customers,” says Baker.

Founded in 1992, TMF manufactures parts for multiple industries, producing components to order through its fully equipped CNC machine workshop and online CADCAM facilities, which ensure continuity and accuracy.

“One of the main things that stood out about the Optiplex Nexus was the flexibility offered by its twin-pallet design, as opposed to our previous machine, which was only equipped with a single pallet,” says Baker. “Being able to save time on loading sheets while we take out completed workpieces has made a significant improvement to our productivity.”

For further information
www.mazakeu.co.uk

Grimsby-based specialist engineering company Fowler & Holden is set to expand its manufacturing facilities and invest in new machinery following a £250,000 funding package from HSBC UK. The support will allow the business to expand its facilities through the addition of new and repurposed factory space, with the additional space used to house a second moulding line and new plant room. This expansion will increase the privately-owned company’s production capacity by up to 80% and create up to 14 new jobs.

The HSBC funding will also enable investment in new equipment, which includes a sand recycling machine so that the business can re-use up to 95% of the sand from its casting process, substantially reducing waste. As a result, there will be a reduced need for sand quarrying, while fewer HGVs will be required for transportation.

For further information
www.bit.ly/3I8l0h2

Starting out from fairly humble beginnings under railway arches in Camden, London in 1937, DYN Metal has grown into one of the largest suppliers of continuous and centrifugal cast products, specialising in standard bronzes and its own DYN processed bronzes. The company casts all of its products in-house at its Acton foundry, where the business relocated to in 1977.

Following that relocation, the family owned business recognised that simply providing cast billets for others to machine was not sustainable, so a series of investments were made to develop its own machining capability.

“We recently needed to improve productivity in our proof machining department in order to increase throughput and consistency,” says managing director Max Limbourg.

It was a combination of the ProtoTRAK control and a UK supplier for support that saw DYN Metal settle on two ProTURN lathes from XYZ Machine Tools. The machines are an XYZ ProTURN RLX 555 with a 1.75 m bed length and, the largest machine in the ProTURN range, an XYZ ProTURN RLX 780 with a 3 m bed length and swing of 780 mm over the bed.

Both machines feature the latest RX ProtoTRAK control system with its touchscreen interface and conversational programming capabilities. A key feature of the control welcomed by DYN Metal was the TRAKing capability, which allows the operator to use the electronic hand wheels to prove out the program.

“Coming from manual machines, our operator Peter had limited programming experience so it was a bit of a learning curve,” says Limbourg. “However, with support from XYZ Machine Tools he is now producing one-off components in a matter of minutes.”

For further information
www.xyzmachinetools.com

Now available from stock from TW Ward CNC Machinery (Ward CNC) is the Takisawa TT1100GC twin-spindle turning centre and the single-spindle TCC1100GA.

The Takisawa TT1100GC is a gantry-loaded turning cell with an in-built component stocking system for the lights-out machining of precision small parts. With both spindles mounted on a single-piece rigid bed casting, this machine incorporates precision hardened and ground box slideways and a high-speed servo turret.

Emphasising the speed of this machine is the ultra-fast loading and unloading of parts. Capable of loading components in 1.7 seconds, the loader is positioned at the front of the machining chamber to reduce the loading distance, while the movement of the spindle forward to the loading position further reduces component transition times.

Takisawa’s load/unload system works in tandem with a supply and discharge station that is integrated into the machine envelope to minimise footprint. The station is configurable as a three-guide bar type or a centre-pole type station with the part gripper available as a parallel or swivel type hand. In addition, the machine incorporates a peripheral modular unit that presents a measuring unit, washing unit, part positioning via camera, phase determining unit and a turnover transfer unit.

Also available from stock is the TCC1100GA. With a footprint of just 1.8 x 2 m and a high-speed loader, the TCC1100GA is a 6-inch chucking machine offering a maximum turning diameter of 220 mm and a turning length up to 171 mm with a bar capacity of 42 mm diameter. This single-spindle, single-turret turning centre has the choice of an eight-tool turret as standard, or an optional 12-tool station.

For further information
www.wardcnc.com

A new name in Scottish subcontracting has continued its upwards trajectory and expanded its machining capacity through further investment in machine tools from Yamazaki Mazak. Aberdeen-based 247 Machining Services (247) was founded by husband-and-wife director team, John and Aileen Forrest, in 2018 after 30 years working in the steel fabrication and engineering sector. The company specialises in providing performance-critical parts for the oil and gas industry, and traditionally produces low-volume, high-value batches of components.

Having previously purchased multiple Mazak Quick Turn turning centres over the company’s three-year history, including a QT-Compact 200M and two QT-350MY machines, the Forrests have now invested in an Integrex i-400 five-axis multi-tasking machine to increase its production capabilities.

“The quality machining offered by our existing QT turning centres meant that when we were looking to expand our portfolio further, Mazak was our first choice,” says John Forrest. “We wanted to make the move into high-volume, high-quality batch machining for the oil and gas sector, and look at branching into additional industries in the future, and the Integrex fitted the bill.”

With a maximum machining diameter of 658 mm, and capable of processing in the X, Z, Y and W axes, the new Integrex is suited to 247’s ambitions to produce a wider range of more complex parts.

“Our combination of highly trained operators and cutting-edge machine tools, of which Mazak makes up the majority, have been key parts of our continued growth,” says Aileen Forrest. “These, alongside a rigorous quality control process, has meant we’ve been able to go from an empty floor to a situation where our current premises may not be large enough to service growing demand levels.”

For further information
www.mazakeu.co.uk