UK NEWS

Bryken trebles automated milling capacity

A long-time user of two automated machining centres that exchange parts fixtured on pallets, in 2022 subcontractor Bryken installed a Hermle C12 machining cell with an integrated RS05 robot for loading billets directly into the working area and unloading finished components. It was supplied by Kingsbury, the sole sales and service agent in the UK for the German machine manufacturer.

The installation was followed one year later by a second cell, this time with drawer rather than tray storage. A similar, even more advanced system with gripper exchange and vice jaw change system arrived in early 2024, allowing multiple different parts to run without operator intervention overnight and at weekends.

Bryken purchased the first Hermle cell after an oil and gas OEM placed an order for 600 new types of manifold, bringing the total number of different parts produced for this customer alone to nearly 1400. Almost all manifolds are made of 316 stainless steel.

The company’s director Phillip Taylor explains: “We don’t have any allegiances to machine tool suppliers, always choosing the most appropriate, high-quality kit for the intended purpose. We opted for an automated cell from Hermle as it was the only solution that was a true billet-handling, five-axis machining cell with a fully integrated robot. The other systems offered either had bolt-on component handling or were pallet-exchange configurations.”

At Bryken’s Knowsley factory, the Hermle cells work 24/7 and delivers an OEE above 90%. Taylor says that the machines hardly ever stop. The first two cells produce around 2000 parts per month. One machines about two-thirds of these components spread across 15 different part numbers, while the second has a more diverse workload involving smaller batch sizes.For further information www.kingsburyuk.com

XYZ machines elevate stairlift specialist

XYZ Machine Tools is helping Handicare to maintain the accuracy, rigidity and quality of its stairlifts by machining the mating surfaces of its tubular components using an XYZ RMX 3500 bed mill for straight sections and an XYZ RMX 4000 bed mill for curved sections.

Among Handicare’s UK manufacturing facilities is its Kingswinford, Birmingham plant, where the company designs and manufactures straight and curved stairlifts, producing more than 50 every day. The key element of each stairlift is a pair of tubular runners with welded gear racks. These support the seat and, with its pinion drive and rollers, allow it to transport the user smoothly and safely between floors.

Nabil Mohamed, production engineer at Handicare, says: “For straight stairlift sections, the tubes and gear racks are welded together by  a robot and cut to length. We leave an excess of 0.5 mm which we machine off using the XYZ RMX 3500. This process ensures that the gear profile on the rack is perfect when we join the tubes.”

The XYZ RMX 3500 is dedicated to straight sections and has a set of fixtures on the bed, each designed to lock into the gear profiles and position the tube in the exact position required to mill across the end and generate an accurate gear profile and tube length. The open design of the bed mill makes it possible to work with long tube sections that overhang the bed.

For curved profile stairlifts, the process is similar with tube sections machined on the XYZ RMX 4000. This machine has a larger bed of 1474 x 355 mm and fixtures loaded to suit the end-machining of curved sections.

For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

Deal signed for largest UK robots

Aerospace automation specialist Loop Technology has signed a deal with FANUC UK for
seven new robots – including the largest industrial robot ever ordered in the UK, the FANUC
M-2000iA/1700L. Three FANUC M-2000iA/1700L six-axis robots will be delivered to the
University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) for its new
innovation facility in South Yorkshire.
Part of Project Compass (Composites at Speed and Scale), the Loop/AMRC deal also
encompasses two further FANUC M-2000iA robots: a 1200L and a 900L model. As part of a
separate project, another 1700L model, along with an additional 900L unit, have been
ordered by Loop Technology to form part of a high-rate composite preforming cell for a
North American aerospace client.
For further information www.fanuc.eu

£10m heavy engineering plant

Subcontract manufacturer, WEC Group, is constructing a state-of-the-art 60,000 sq ft heavy
machining and fabrication facility in Blackburn. The development marks a significant
milestone in the group’s ongoing expansion strategy and is set to become one of the largest
subcontract machining plants in Europe, serving sectors such as nuclear, defence, offshore
and general engineering.


The facility will feature six large CNC machining centres capable of handling components up
to 20 m in length and 5 m in diameter. This will significantly expand WEC Group’s existing
capabilities, which include a trio of large Correa and an Asquith Butler travelling column
milling machines. The new plant is expected to create 60 new jobs, including 10 additional
machining apprentices.
For further information www.wec-group.com

The die is cast

Phase two of a demolition project has started at Sheffield Forgemasters to make way for the
UK’s largest open-die forging line. Unused buildings on the Sheffield Forgemasters site,
north of Brightside Lane, are being removed as the second phase of work gets underway to
create space for a new 13,000 tonne heavy forge and its 12,700 sq m housing. Victorian-era
forge and foundry buildings will make way for the new facility, creating one of the most
efficient open-die forging operations in Europe and the largest in the UK. The demolition will
eventually expose the whole footprint of the new facility, which will dominate the skyline.
For further information www.bit.ly/3Ubjxyq