UK NEWS

Jones-Nuttall on right track with ITC

When Warrington-based Jones Nuttall undertook a review of the overall service and support from its supply chain partners, cutting tool vendors were under the microscope. This forensic review based on a multitude of factors opened the door to UK cutting tool manufacturer, Industrial Tooling Corporation (ITC).

Located in the northwest, Jones Nuttall is a subcontract manufacturer with more than 60 employees to help it supply more than 30,000 different components to over 250 clients every year. This client list includes recognised names such as London Underground, Network Rail, Linde Group, ScotRail and Bombardier.

The machine shop is very versatile with over 12 CNC Hurco milling machines and eight CNC lathes, including models from Mazak.Producing everything from 1-offs and small batches up to runs of over 1000 from a diverse range of materials, the company utilises solid carbide and indexable tools for turning, milling, drilling and threading. When the company was witnessing indifferent service from its regular vendors, the company turned to ITC.

ITC technical sales engineer Chris Fairbrother says: “To emphasise the quality and productivity of ITC tools, we first manufactured special form tools for hydraulic components used in the fluid control industry. With supply chain issues from its previous vendor on special tools, we demonstrated our expertise by understanding the requirements of Jones Nuttall, providing technical support and then manufacturing special tools on short lead times. The tools performed exceptionally well, laying a foundation of trust and confidence in the ITC brand.”

With the relationship blossoming, Jones Nuttall incrementally introduced more ITC solid-carbide end mills to its shop floor with impressive results.

“The performance of ITC solid-carbide end mills immediately reduced tooling costs by more than 20% at Jones Nuttall,” says Fairbrother by way of example.
For further information www.itc-ltd.co.uk

Technical collaboration delivers productivity gains

With over 50 years of experience machining components for the aerospace, defence, medical, electronic and automotive industries; utilising everything from two-axis lathes through to multi-pallet five-axis machining centres axis, Aylesbury-based CNF Precision Engineering could be expected to have all the expertise it needed. However, when it won a significant order to machine exhaust collector manifolds for a motorsport customer, it found itself in need of additional support.

The issue faced by CNF was the complexity of the components, which came in six variants, along with the material, 304 stainless steel.

“When we were faced with stainless steel that required extra-long tool overhangs, we knew we would need additional technical input,” says Mark Baron, CNF’sproduction manager.

Ceratizit provided a range of tooling on trial, with no commitment until successful completion of the process. Key to that success wasthe use of35 mm diameter (with 4xD flute length) KUB Pentron indexable insert drillsfor the main internal port machining, along with a selection of high-feed indexable insert milling cutters using button and square inserts, with finish milling completed using Ceratizit’s Silverline solid-carbide mills and Torus cutters.

The collaboration resulted in significant cycle time savings along with greatly improved tool life. For example, the indexable milling inserts are showing a 300% increase in tool life after testing a variety of carbide grades, eventually settling on Ceratizit’s grade for heat-resistant materials, CTCS245. A 20/30% gain in tool life was seen when switching to Silverline cutters for finish milling, when compared with an incumbent competitor cutter.

In terms of cycle time, the work undertaken with the Ceratizit Torus cutters proved to be productive, with 40-50% decrease in cycle time generated from the switch from a conventional ball-nose cutter to a Ceratizit Torus Monstermill cutter.Tool life also doubled.
For further information www.ceratizit.com

12-year-old wins IET award

A 12-year-old from Huddersfield has won the Institution of Engineering & Technology’s (IET) national ‘Backpack to the Future’ competition. The winning entry ‘blew away’ judges with a design that filters polluted air, helping 8 million people in the UK who suffer the often-crippling effects of asthma.

The IET teamed up with global lifestyle brand HYPE, challenging youngsters to supercharge fashion with STEM and invent a backpack that helps them do incredible things. Eleanor Wood’s ‘Breathe Better Backpack’ – touchingly inspired by her Mum’s experience with asthma – features a built-in air filter and fans, powered sustainably by solar panels and a dynamo.
For further information www.engineer-a-better-world.org

First anniversary of skills partnership

Two industrial voices in the Midlands have marked the first anniversary of a partnership aimed at tackling the skills crisis facing UK manufacturers.MSC Industrial Supply Co and Next Gen Makers formed a strategic partnership at the end of 2021 to help engineering and manufacturing firms identify skills gaps and improve the quality of their apprenticeship, talent development and retention schemes.

Next Gen Makers has established a group of over 50 engineering and manufacturing firms as part of its Engineering Apprenticeships: Best Practice Programme. It enables companies to share best practice about how to run successful apprenticeship schemes, while benchmarking their individual approaches to identify areas for improvement.
For further information www.nextgenmakers.co.uk

NAKAMURA PROVIDES MEDLEY OF PRODUCTIVITY GAINS

When Medley Precision won a contract to produce fire suppression assembly systems, the Mansfield-based subcontract manufacturer was initially producing the parts on a single spindle turning centre. However, as the required quantities quickly escalated, the company sought a better solution, turning for help to the Engineering Technology Group (ETG) and the Nakamura-Tome brand.

Like many subcontract manufacturers, Medley has a plant list of high-end machine tools that epitomises the quality demanded by its equally prestigious customers in the offshore, power generation, rail, medical, aerospace and defence sectors. With the aluminium fire mist nozzle systems consisting of a family of four components, the initial requirement was for 200 parts (x4) per month – a volume sustainable for the existing turning centre. However, the volume rapidly exploded from a total of 800 parts to 6000 (1500-off x4) and a solution was needed urgently.

Medley Precision’sproduction manager Stuart Solomon recalls: “The volume rapidly expanded and we looked at a sliding-head lathe, but one of the parts in the assembly was over 50mm diameter – beyond the realm of a slider. We then looked at a range of other manufacturers, but it was the pedigree, quality and the price-to-performance ratio of the Nakamura-Tome brand that sold it to us.”

The AS9100-certified Nottinghamshirecompany purchased a twin-spindle, twin-turret Nakamura-Tome WT15II turning centre at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic to cruise through the 6000 part per month order.

“For us, having the facility for one-hit, ‘lights-out’ machining via a barfed turning centre was crucial to our investment decision,” says Solomon.“Moving from a chucking single-spindle lathe to the Nakamura WT150II was a complete revelation. On the four parts, we more than halved the cycle times. The cycle time for the aluminium nozzle body was cut from 14 minutes to 6, while the time for the other three parts were cut from 8, 6 and 4 minutes, to 4, 3 and 2 minutes respectively. But this wasn’t just about cycle time improvements, we wanted to create a stable and efficient process.”

The results were immediately evident. Medley went from one operator permanently located on the single-spindle lathe to one operator on two machines. The quality and consistency of the parts improved vastly, as did the surface finishes. Notably, the same Nakamura stability that improved surface finishes and consistency also prolonged tool life significantly with operational costs falling sharply.

“With the cycle time savings, we could also introduce a deburring cycle for each part and still be more than 50% faster than before,” explains Solomon.“The deburring cycle eliminated the need for the parts to be put through a post-machining rumbler. Our operator would put 200 parts per hour into the rumbler for deburring while running a single-spindle machine full-time. Not only have we eradicated this additional process, but our consumable costs and the energy efficiency of running one machine instead of two is evident.”

With the first Nakamura-Tome WT150II proving such a success for Medley, the company once again turned to ETG when the order books in the turned parts department continued to bulge.

Says Solomon: “With the first Nakamura dedicated to 24 hour, five days a week production of the fire-suppression system, we were noticing our remaining single and twin-spindle turning centres were increasingly close to hitting full capacity – we needed another Nakamura.”

The manufacturer was witnessing a surge in rail work with an increasing demand for fuel systems and associated parts for trains in batches of 100+, as well as an increase in high-value oil and gas exploration parts such as flow regulators and pins in varying quantities from 20 to 150+ parts. Medley specified the Nakamura WY150F, a turning centre with a larger footprint and work area than the WT150II – a footprint that accommodates Y-axis cutting on both the upper and lower turrets.

“The Nakamura WY150F is a slightly larger machine than the WT150II, but it offers additional capabilities,” says Solomon.“The machine was only commissioned recently and we are already seeing the benefits. We swapped the single-spindle machine out and replaced it with the WY150F, as the single-spindle machine no longer meets our profile for a turned parts machine. Although we can acknowledge that the single-spindle turning centre is no match for a twin-spindle Nakamura in productivity terms, we are realising the true value of the Nakamura WY150F, as we are now transferring parts from our other twin-spindle turning centre.”

He continues: “We’ve just moved a part from our other twin-spindle machine to the Nakamura WY150F, cutting the cycle time from 15 minutes to less than 8 on a brass component for the rail industry. This cycle time saving is achievable by hitting both sides of the part at the same time, by using the upper tooling turret on the main spindle and simultaneously hitting the back end of the part in the sub-spindle with the lower tooling turret. By identifying this saving, we will be gradually moving more of our volume components to the new Nakamura and transferring our lower batch quantity work to the single-turret turning centre. Another factor that is making the Nakamura perform so well is the impressive technology and software within the control panel, as well as the Hainbuch work-holding system.”

With the first Nakamura WT150II turning centre dedicated to producing a family of fire-suppression components and the second Nakamura WY150F rapidly churning its way through capacity for Medley, the reduced lead times and improved component quality is bringing more work to the subcontract manufacturer.
For further information www.engtechgroup.com