Precise sawing solution for Parker Precision

Parker Precision, a West Midlands-based engineering company, has invested in a new automatic shuttle-vice bandsaw from Addison Saws. The saw, an Everising S-250 HB-NC model, is bringing efficiencies of 60% to Parker’s sawing line and is being used to feed no fewer than 20 CNC milling machines.
“With a growing order book, we identified the need to further enhance our ability to precision-cut heat-treated lengths of aircraft-grade stainless steels and aerospace alloys,” says Parker Precision’s marketing director Marc Corns.

A trip to see an Everising S-250 HB-NC bandsaw at the site of a local Addison Saws’ customer was enough to convince Parker Precision that the machine would more than fulfil its cutting requirements.
“Having seen the S-250 saw in action, we were happy to forgo cutting trials as we were more than convinced it would meet our needs,” says Corns. “However, in view of the fact that we work with a wide range of exotic materials, Addison Saws recommended variable clamping pressure as an optional feature in order to protect the integrity of even the most delicate tubes.”
Duly installed, the Everising S-250 HB-NC automatic shuttle-vice bandsaw is already bringing considerable benefits to production strategies at Parker Precision’s Bilston site. Significantly quicker than the saw it replaced, the Everising machine has more than halved the time it takes the precision engineering company to cut steel and aluminium into typical bar sizes of 50 mm diameter and 180 mm length.
“The amount of scrap material we generate has also been minimised, while the saw’s precise cutting action has reduced the need for deburring,” concludes Corns.
For further information
www.addisonsaws.co.uk

BTA drilling support

Deep-hole drilling specialist Mollart Engineering has extended its support operation for BTA drilling by creating a BTA Application Centre at its Chessington, Surrey headquarters backed-up by
two specialists based in the Midlands and north. The centre, which is part of Mollart’s strategic future development programme, is supported by tooling partner Botek. Based in Germany, Botek is a specialist in solid-carbide deep-hole drilling tooling and systems. Correct application support for BTA, otherwise known as the STS (single tube system) deep-hole drilling process, enables users to benefit from its distinct advantage of requiring just a single pass to achieve tolerance, with higher penetration rates than gun-drilling. In addition, the process can be applied across a wide range of materials.
For further information
www.mollart.com

Manufacturing Council

With growing opportunities for the UK’s manufacturers in industrial digitisation, innovation and emerging
markets, the CBI is establishing a new Manufacturing Council to help support the UK’s makers. The CEO-level council will bring together dozens of the UK’s top manufacturers – small, medium and large – from across the country and will be chaired by Tom Crotty, group director of Ineos. At the heart of the group’s work will be: shaping the skills agenda to build a UK workforce fit to adapt to AI and digitisation; building a new visionary industrial strategy that supports productivity; creating pathways to the delivery of the UK’s target of 3% of GDP invested in R&D by 2020; and delivering a Brexit that works for the UK’s manufacturing base.
For further information
www.cbi.org.uk

Pentaxia to relocate


Composites manufacturer Pentaxia has purchased a large manufacturing site on Alfreton Road in Derby. Completion of the sale will see the firm move in the New Year, from its home in Longbridge Lane to the six-acre site, which houses office space and 70,000 sq ft of manufacturing space. A six-month programme to refurbish and upgrade the site will start immediately. The £1m investment in the facility will include new manufacturing equipment, which will double the firm’s existing production capability. Constructed in the 1960s as the composite manufacturing plant for Rolls-Royce, the site was at the forefront of advanced manufacturing until 2002. This deal will see the facility return to its former glory as a centre of innovation and composites hub for the Midlands.
For further information www.pentaxia.com

Highest monthly turnover at FC Laser

Precision laser-cutting specialist FC Laser saw its customer activity grow by 20% last month, which led to the company achieving its highest ever monthly turnover. Moreover, in the past 12 months, FC Laser has experienced growth of 30%, so this recent level of activity represents a significant development for the business. FC Laser’s managing director Danny Fantom says: “Everyone in the company is always thinking about customer service and how we can improve it; and then improve it again. On top of this, employing a full-time person in a business and service development role has paid real dividends and underlined to our customers just how seriously we take their level
of satisfaction.”
For further information www.fclaser.co.uk