Located near Coventry, Exactaform’s new £5.8m facility is home to 12 Vollmer machines that include six Vollmer QWD750H, three QXD200, a QXD250, a QWD760, and now, the next-generation Vgrind 160. In 2012, Exactaform reported annual growth in the region of 25%, as its then seven Vollmer machines were running up to 158 hours out of a possible 168 a week. This level of automation and company growth has continued over the past five years, with staff levels rising from 13 to 63 and turnover almost quadrupling from £2m to £7m.
Exactaform recently developed its latest line of cutting tools, the Aero-Carb diamond-coated two- and four-flute end mills for composite machining, and the Aero-Ti line of end mills for titanium and aerospace alloys. Aiming to ramp up production volumes, the company wanted to improve its production efficiency. The answer arrived in the form of the Vgrind 160.
Company director Jamie White says: “We wanted the Vgrind for grinding pockets on small diameter tools. The combination of the 16,000 rpm high-frequency spindle and the facility for loading small grinding wheels instantly gave us the ability to pocket-grind tools in the 6 mm diameter range. This isn’t feasible with typical grinding wheels in the 70 mm diameter range and slower spindle speeds. The benefit was instant. We went from eroding tool pockets in 45 minutes to grinding them on the Vgrind in just two minutes. This was an astounding leap forward for our productivity levels, especially in the face of higher production quantities.”
For further information www.vollmer-group.com
