Like a number of socially responsible and conscious manufacturers, Yorkshire Precision Engineering Ltd (YPEL) was among those that offered to support the Government and its Ventilator Challenge UK consortium.

When the call came from Rolls-Royce plc, YPEL turned the first batch of parts around in just one week.

Founded in 2001 by Michael and Lynda Laybourne, the Keighley company received the call for 8000 turned brass parts at the end of March. Within a week of getting the go-ahead, YPEL had programmed the parts, sourced the materials, identified the tooling, and had the parts machined, inspected, certified and out the door.

The rapid turnaround of high-quality turned components led to a second enquiry from the Ventilator Challenge consortium, a requirement for prismatic parts; and this is where a Bridgeport Hardinge V1000H from the Engineering Technology Group (ETG) stepped up to the mark.

Primarily functioning as a turned-parts business, YPEL has operated a solitary machining centre, an ageing Hardinge VMC600II workhorse, alongside its fleet of turning centres for several years. When the company required additional milling capacity, YPEL once again turned to ETG and its Bridgeport Hardinge range of VMCs, investing in a four-axis Bridgeport Hardinge V1000H machine that proved integral throughout the Ventilator Challenge.

With 4000 complex prismatic components to machine, YPEL created a workflow whereby the plastic housing parts were initially machined on the Bridgeport Hardinge V1000H prior to a second operation on a turning centre and a final operation on a Hardinge VMC600II.

Sales and financial director Lynda Laybourne says: “The capabilities, precision and flexibility of the Bridgeport Hardinge V1000H via its integrated 4th axis meant that that it did the bulk of the work. Our new V1000H conducted face and side milling, pocketing, grooving, drilling and threading in a 20-minute cycle.”

For further information www.engtechgroup.com