Nacom Automation Ltd and its range of Flexopress printers rose from the ashes of liquidation when current owner Nick Cadby, who was a creditor to the original owner of the printing machine business, realised the only way to get his money back was to buy the intellectual property and turn the businesses around.

Part of that transformation was adopting in-house machining in partnership with XYZ Machine Tools.
Flexopress machines are designed and built to order, meaning parts must be designed and manufactured quickly, but the company’s reliance on subcontract machining was causing unnecessary delays. The solution was to bring machining in-house, a daunting task given Cadby’s limited machining experience. However, the XYZ ProtoTRAK control system came to the rescue.
“It was while visiting another business run by a friend that I saw an XYZ 2-OP machine and my curiosity was aroused,” says Cadby. “The compact nature of the machine was perfect for our situation, so I gathered up a few drawings, visited XYZ Machine Tools’ showroom and asked the question: how hard can it be to make these? The answers highlighted just how easy it was with the XYZ ProtoTRAK control, which fills the gap between an experienced CNC programmer and someone with basic machining skills, like myself.”
With that reassurance, the XYZ 2-OP portable vertical machining centre became Nacom’s first step along the road to self-sufficiency. It was quickly followed by an XYZ SMX 5000 bed mill, then an XYZ SLX 355 ProTURN lathe and an XYZ LPM vertical machining centre, with the common thread that all were controlled by a version of ProtoTRAK.
“Eliminating the reliance on subcontracting has cut lead times by at least 50%, and we are in total control of costs and quality,” says Cadby.
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com