Despite starting out more than 25 years ago, Dudley-based TWP Manufacturing only opened its CNC machine shop at the beginning of 2019 to produce in-house most of the components needed for its proprietary products.

Vertical machining centres and a single-spindle, fixed-head bar auto are to be found on the shop floor, but in May 2020 the company bought its first sliding-head twin-spindle lathe, a 20-year-old Citizen Cincom M32 equipped with an Iemca Boss 432r bar feed. The machine was originally sold in 2000 by the Japanese manufacturer’s agent for the British and Irish markets, NC Engineering, which in 2008 became a wholly-owned subsidiary, Citizen Machinery UK.
Phil Stanley, a director of TWP Manufacturing, says: “The speed and surface finish we are achieving are just incredible, and the fact that there is no operator intervention means we’re able to implement lights-out production, which we are looking to do later this year.”

In the first few of months of operation, the Cincom M32 was devoted to large-volume production of one particular component, but another four part numbers have now been added. All are machined from 1” hexagonal steel bar, and annual production will exceed 200,000.

Pre-sales time studies and cutting trials carried out by Citizen Machinery UK showed that all five components could be produced within tolerance at the required speed. The calculations were performed following a visit by managing director Edward James and regional sales engineer Warren Garratt to the Dudley factory, during which the company was advised on how best to proceed with its in-house turned parts production strategy.

“Even though the machine was 20 years old and we bought it independently on the second-hand market, from the outset Citizen have been behind us,” says Stanley.

For further information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk