Rotadata, a Derby-based specialist in the provision of instrumentation for turbomachinery, has installed a new Sodick AD55L and a refurbished AQ35L EDM machine. Supplied by Sodi-Tech EDM, the two machines are set to help the company reduce lead-times and gain access to greater turnover without increasing head count.

“A typical machining project might see us take a civil turbine engine and produce all of the component holes and instrumentation required to run test, validation and development programmes,” explains Rotadata’s managing director Simon Taylor. “If we can help achieve just a 1% improvement in efficiency through our installations, it can potentially equate to customer savings worth millions of pounds.
“Clearly, we need to take a measured and precise approach to machining operations,” he continues. “However, we are under tremendous lead-time pressure; almost without exception jobs are needed yesterday, hence our investment in additional EDM capacity. The linear motor technology on the Sodick machines is unrivalled for our applications, and their reliability has never been an issue. Furthermore, Sodi-Tech EDM are a supportive and professional partner.”
The die sink EDMs at Rotadata are typically used to create trenches and holes in preparation for thermocouples, pressure tubes and UCTS, or other instrumentation equipment able to deliver complete validation of predicted customer models. The company can generate blind and through-holes as small as 0.10 mm, and slots as narrow as 0.15 mm.
“I would say our new Sodick AD55L is around 40-45% quicker than some of our existing die sink machines,” concludes Taylor.
For further information
www.sodi-techedm.co.uk