UK NEWS

Welcome evening at Matsuura

Matsuura Machinery Ltd recently held a welcome evening for the four successful candidates who comprise the company’s next intake of technical apprentices.

Their families were also welcomed along to find out more about Matsuura and the staff who will guide their sons through their time at the company. Long-serving members of staff from each department spent time with the young recruits and their families, providing them with a good understanding of Matsuura, its products and customers.
For further information www.matsuura.co.uk

Schunk introduces new general manager

After 18 years at the helm of Schunk Intec Ltd, Martin Kent has stepped down from his role as general manager to allow Marcel Machado to take the reins. Machado arrives from machine tool and plastic injection moulding specialist Romi Machine Tools.

Commenting upon his new position, Machado says: “The opportunity to work with a global brand like Schunk was too good to miss. Roles of such magnitude are generally only available when a company is in difficulty. However, Martin has done a fantastic job in growing the UK business, which is yielding year-on-year growth.
“Thankfully, Martin will be staying with Schunk in a managerial role and his expertise and support as we go forward will be critical to our continued success,” continues Machado. “My personal challenge is to keep a consistent pace of growth and intensify our efforts with regard to targeting new market segments and building new relationships and sales networks.”.
For further information www.gb.schunk.com

Blum celebrates major anniversaries

One of the world’s leading ‘in-machine’ measurement specialists is celebrating two big birthdays in 2018, with its UK operation 18 years-old and its German parent reaching half a century.

“We started out as a one-man engineering office when founder Günther Blum combined his studies in aerospace engineering with design work for machine tool manufacturers, eventually leading to him starting his own company in Schmalegg, near Ravensburg, Germany,” explains David Mold, who founded the UK subsidiary in 2000.
“The company has come a long way in 50 years and now employs close on 550 people across 16 operations worldwide,” he adds. “In order to mark the celebrations, we took a number of customers over to Blum Tech-Talk, a major event that gave them the opportunity to see how our probes and systems are built, and see the scale of our manufacturing facilities.”
For further information www.blum-novotest.com

Midland Machinery set for 20th anniversary

Midland Machinery (Heavy Lift) Ltd will soon be celebrating its 20th anniversary.

The family-run company, which is based in Wednesbury, West Midlands has contracts throughout the UK and Ireland, and has become one of the UK’s leading providers of heavy-lift transportation. The company’s fleet consists of specialised heavy-goods vehicles with low loaders, semi-low loaders, trailers with loading ramps, lorry-mounted crane vehicles, Versa-Lifts and fork trucks, and fully-equipped site vehicles. Midland Machinery has its own escort vehicles for abnormal loads.
Recent investments include a Scania tractor unit in 2017 (pictured), which offers up to 78 tonne capacity. New to the fleet in 2018 is a 25/35 Versa-Lift, which provides lifting capabilities of around 16 tonne, while up and coming for 2019 is a new Faymonville four-axle, low-loader curtainsider, which is currently being manufactured. Additional services available from Midland Machinery include internal machinery relocations and storage for abnormal large equipment, if required. All health and safety regulations are handled comprehensively with the provision of method statements, risk assessments and bespoke lifting plans.
For further information www.midlandmachinery.co.uk

Cutting tools – and a great deal more

A recently signed annual ‘Preferred Partnership Agreement’ has been signed between Glasgow-based Walker Precision Engineering and Seco Tools UK.

The agreement, with its emphasis on continuous improvement and best-practice methods to help WPE increase productivity levels, reduce operational costs and optimise machining processes, provides the company with preferential and priority access to a range of Seco’s technical consultancy services, including: on-site and off-site technical support; turnkey and process improvement; documented cost reduction (DCR) programmes; custom tool design, manufacture and supply; STEP (Seco Technical Education Programme) training courses; regular updates on new technologies and process developments; and new tooling and service introductions and upgrades.
To ensure that the agreement is focused, proactive and maintains momentum, regular monthly planning and quarterly review meetings with key personnel from WPE and Seco are scheduled.
Within the first few months of the agreement being signed, the partnership was delivering results, most notably with the machining of a complex precision chassis part-manufactured by WPE for a defence industry customer. Working in partnership with Seco’s product and technical staff, and employing process improvement strategies and a focused DCR programme, WPE has been able to reduce cycle times for this part by 40%.
At one of the planning meetings, Seco presented an overview on My Pages – the company’s digital portal that provides customers with access to Seco product information, cutting data, previous purchase history and test reports. Benefits include the ability to quickly and reliably find the most appropriate tool for any specific application, which is achieved by searching the on-board SUGGEST database and selecting specific component characteristics, machining priorities and machining strategies that will be employed.
For further information www.secotools.com