UK NEWS

A new dawn at Norton Motorcycle Company

One of the great names in British motorcycling is rising again under new ownership and with new state-of-the-art machining technology. The Norton name is synonymous with the golden age of British motorcycling that ran from the end of the 19th century to the second decade of the 21st. It is a history that takes in Grand Prix wins in the 1930s to World Championships in the 50s.

Alas, the decline of British motorbike manufacturing led the company to the brink of bankruptcy and it was only the intervention of Indian motorbike manufacturing giant, TVS, which saved it in 2020. Following the new investment, a willingness to embrace new ways of working led Norton to examine its bike frame fabrication processes.

“Previously, we’d been hand bending and hand scalloping the bike frames because we didn’t know how to do anything different,” says Adam Green, senior manufacturing process engineer at Norton Motorcycles. “We looked at various options, but wanted to invest in the best-available machine. Mazak are the kind of people we want to be doing business with.”

Norton specified a VTC 800/30SLR, manufactured in nearby Worcester, which has a high-capacity working area and a wide door opening making it suitable for larger workpieces, such as motorbike frames.

“The size of the frame meant we needed a big machine, but also one that could work to very high tolerances,” says Green. “It’s all about repeatability. The machine takes away manual process. Now every single dimension will be within 0.2 mm of each other. We’ve tightened tolerances up by 80%, whereas previously there was 6 mm of difference at times from one frame to another.”
For further information www.mazakeu.co.uk

Tooling Intelligence moves to new facility

Tooling Intelligence, a specialist in industrial inventory and asset management, has moved to a new cutting-edge facility in Honiley, Warwickshire as part of strategic expansion plans. Previously operating from three different sites, the expansion almost doubles the floor area to 5000 sq ft with an additional 3000 sq ft of offsite warehousing.The relocation facilitates increased assembly capacity and improved workflow to streamline production, better serving the company’s growing customer base. Furthermore, the facility provides a demonstration area and customer meeting suite, supported by a service and support hub.
For further information www.toolingintelligence.co.uk

Investment at Ficep UK

Ficep UK is investing in its offices and stockholding capacity as a direct response to growing demand from clients who rely on the company’smachines. Newly added storage space holds more stock by introducing 44 pallet spaces to its 17,000 sq ft warehouse in West Yorkshire. The installation of an additional carousel system will double holding capacity, ensuring that essential components and spare parts are readily available to meet customer requirements. Ficep UK has also created new office space, located within the warehouse, to serve as a hub for the company’s tooling and consumables service team.
For further information www.ficep.co.uk

30-taper machine is clear choice for SPE

These days, 30-taper machining centres are more robust and fast than formerly, and can also cut tough materials. One company discovering the merits of this type of prismatic machining equipment is Staffordshire Precision Engineering (SPE) of Newcastle-under-Lyme. The subcontractor recently purchased a Brother R650X2 30-taper four-axis machining centre with a table-mounted indexing trunnion from the Japanese manufacturer’s sole sales agent in the UK and Ireland, Whitehouse Machine Tools. Programming support and unlimited training formedpart of the deal.

The machine is the subcontractor’s first 30-taper machine and is today producing aluminium parts for the aerospace, Formula 1, high-end automotive, scientific, medical and other industries. The material currently accounts for about 60% of prismatic component production in the factory. However, it so happened that the first job put on the Brother involved the production of a batch of 304 stainless steel pivot blocks for an aerospace customer.

It was at this point that Phil Smith, joint managing director of SPE (alongside brother Gary), realised that he had been harbouring an incorrect view that 30-taper machines are unable to cut tough metals productively. He is now convinced that modern Brother machines, with their high-torque spindles, are far more robust than he thought.

There are numerous 40-taper VMCs on site that are between 10 and 15 years old.The company will gradually replace these machines with more capable and productive plant. Smith predicts that the four-axis Brother will do the work of two of these older models. For instance, the R650X2 produced the aerospace pivot block in just two operations in a cycle time of 15 minutes, whereas one of the older machines took 38 minutes to produce the part in four operations. Moreover, there is now far less workpiece handling and work-in-progress.
For further information www.wmtcnc.com

Future skills

Sheffield Forgemasters is welcoming 24 new apprentices as the company progresses development atits advanced manufacturing facility. The forging and casting specialist is investing heavily over the next 10 years to support its defence-critical assets, including a new 13,000 tonne forge line and building, and 17 major machine tool replacements within a new machining facility.Apprentices have secured roles in the following disciplines:machining, electrical and control engineering, NDT, methods engineering (degree), design engineering (degree), production planning, and estimating.
For further information www.sheffieldforgemasters.com