UK NEWS

50% growth

The order intake of Trumpf UK during 2016/17 has been reported at £57.1m, an increase of 50% on the previous fiscal year. Preliminary operating profit is shown as £988,239.

“We had an unprecedented high number of new and conversion customers this year and I am certain our focus on providing outstanding service to complement the technical competence of our machines played its part,” says managing director Annette Doyle. The UK workforce also grew substantially in the past 12 months with technical service accounting for most of the new staff members.
For further information www.uk.trumpf.com

Projects worth £1m

Birmingham-based contract presswork and stamping specialist Brandauer reports it has just completed a successful ‘first’ prototype project with a major international sensing company, and is currently quoting for 10 new projects worth in excess of £1m.

“The ‘needle eye’ technology deployed lends itself to automation and will offer customers in the automotive sector greater efficiency and robustness in interconnects,” explains Rowan Crozier, CEO of Brandauer. “Our Special Product Division can work with the clients to manufacture to bespoke requirements, producing a prototype push fit terminal in just 15 days.”
For further information www.brandauer.co.uk

Mazak apprentices win three training awards

Apprentices at Yamazaki Mazak have scooped an unprecedented three prizes at the annual Worcestershire Group Training Association awards ceremony. The three apprentices, all of whom are now working full-time at the Mazak facility in Worcester, picked up their awards at a special event held at Worcester Rugby Club.

Bethany Addis, 17, won Engineering Apprentice of the Year, the first ever female winner of the award. Harry Fuller, 17, who is in the second year of a four-year apprenticeship, won the Personal Development Award as part of his sheet metal apprenticeship. Finally, Joe Kennie, 21, won the Post-First Year Craft Apprentice of the Year Award. “These three awards are testament to the ‘can do’ attitude of all our apprentices, their enthusiasm and willingness to learn,” says Richard Smith, European group managing director at Yamazaki Mazak.
For further information www.mazakeu.co.uk

Trumpf machine keeps Alpha on target

Alpha Manufacturing, one of the UK’s largest precision sheet metal fabricators, has ordered a TruPunch 5000 CNC punching centre from Trumpf, which complements the acquisition last year of a Trumpf TruLaser 3030 CNC fibre laser profiling centre, and helps keep the company on track to achieve its ‘2020 Vision’ – a five-year plan to double turnover by 2020.

Last year, Alpha installed a STOPA automated materials handling and storage system, to which the company linked its new Trumpf TruLaser 3030. In the coming 18-months, the company intends to extend the STOPA by 5-10 bays, when it will be possible to fully integrate the TruPunch 5000.
“The TruPunch 5000 replaces an automated machine from another supplier and gives us far greater capacity – I estimate that it is 100% quicker,” says operations director Paul Clews.
Trumpf‘s TruPunch 5000 features backlash-free drives for high axis acceleration, while the high rotational speed of the C axis enables fast tapping, as well as the productive processing of complex contours. Thanks to the hydraulic drive it is possible to punch at up to 1600 strokes per minute and mark parts at 2800 strokes per minute.
“This investment is a clear indication of the direction in which the company will be heading in the coming years,” concludes Clews. “In fact, we have taken on three really big customers in the past few months, bringing orders that represent around £3 million per annum. Together with the greater efficiency and capacity afforded by our new Trumpf machines, we remain on track to double turnover by 2020.”
For further information www.uk.trumpf.com

Amada UK sells first 3 kW ENSIS

Amada has launched the ENSIS-3015 AJ fibre CNC laser cutting machine featuring a 3 kW source, already selling two into the UK market. The first has been bought by Bristol-based LW Jenkins Ltd, a specialist in fine-detail sheet metal solutions for the electronics industry.

At 3 kW, the machine offers the industry’s largest single-diode module size. Unlike other machines, there is no diode module beam combiner, thus improving reliability and increasing machine uptime.
Aside from the large, single-diode module, there are many more advancements in the 3 kW ENSIS. Firstly, Amada’s patented ENSIS technology is capable of changing the laser beam mode, not just the focal spot size and focus position. This results in the optimum beam control for both thin and thick sheet processing. The machine also offers single-lens processing for all materials and thicknesses, and features a large-capacity nozzle changer to cover the full range automatically.
Importantly, the machine is capable of cutting up to 25 mm thick mild steel, which is equivalent to the performance levels of a standard 6 kW fibre laser, but uses just half the power to do the same job. With energy prices proving a major overhead for profiling and fabrication shops, this presents the opportunity to make significant savings.
Among further new features is a development of ENSIS technology that provides a high-speed pierce in 20 mm mild steel, and faster cutting than a 4 kW fibre laser. This performance is achieved by instantaneously changing the beam mode between pierce and cut. For piercing materials at the thicker end of the material spectrum, oil-shot functionality is available for added reliability.
For further information www.amada.co.uk