Stand and deliver: New industrial strategy must put the fizz back in UK manufacturing.
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2024 was a mixed year, with some stellar announcements like Tata Group’s gigafactory investment offset by the cancellation of Phase 2 of HS2 and a budget black hole to pay for, but an Industrial Strategy may give the industry the long-term stability it needs. This article is by Will Stirling The Chancellor Rachel Reeves received a boost a week before her Autumn Budget when the IMF revised its forecast for UK growth this year to 1.1% (up from 0.7% in July) and 1.5% in 2025 – the biggest upward revision for any advanced country. It’s a sign of better things to come, and 2024 was not...
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Spark of Innovation.
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Anotronic Ltd is a well-recognised subcontract machining business and manufacturer of high-quality EDM fast-hole drilling and EDM die-sinking machine tools. Founded in 1982, the Leighton Buzzard business started in ECM, ECD and EDM tooling and machining, evolving to the production and growth of its own ECM and ECD technology brand. Along this journey, the company has worked with Sodi-Tech UK and the Sodick brand of machines. Martin White, Managing Director of Anotronic Ltd, says: “My father started the business in 1982, and I joined the company in 1985. We tend to machine a lot of...
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Six of the best
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With 75% of its turning centres bought from Dugard Machine Tools, it's safe to say that C&K Precision Engineers Ltd is reaping the rewards of working with the South Coast machine tool specialist. The Stoke-on-Trent manufacturer is a subcontract machining, assembly and fabrication business serving the medical, aerospace, surveillance and general manufacturing sectors. Working in these high-end segments, C&K Precision demands machine tools capable of delivering high-quality, tight-tolerance workpieces from the most challenging material grades. Matthew Kelsall from C&K...
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Research highlights impact of rising business costs
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Recent research commissioned by Close Brothers Asset Finance has revealed the significant impact of rising costs on businesses across the UK, with a majority of respondents reporting adverse effects on their operations and financial health. According to the research, 71% of businesses have been affected by the rising cost of doing business, while 25% reported no impact, and 5% were unsure. Among those experiencing increased costs, 56% indicated that it has negatively impacted their cash flow. Conversely, 27% reported no negative impact on cash flow, and 15% did not notice an increase in...
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Quick holemaking
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The design concept of assembled drills with exchangeable solid carbide cutting heads, adopted by ISCAR at the turn of the century, significantly altered the company’s holemaking product program. As part of this concept, a precise carbide head is mounted in a steel holder using the ‘self-clamping’ principle, which relies on the holder’s elastic deformation without any mechanical clamping means. This approach is characteristic of various successful ISCAR products, such as the SELF-GRIP and MULTI-MASTER tool lines. These have substantially improved machining performance and...
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Prima Additive and Comau respond to Euro 7 standards.
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Prima Additive and Comau, two Italian companies and global leaders in their respective sectors have joined forces to showcase the advantages of dual-layer laser cladding. This results from developing a high-speed, fully automated brake disc coating system for Stellantis. The first in a series of robotic-driven Rapid Coating Process cells was presented during the Stellantis Factory Booster Day, held in Turin on September 18th. By hard coating the raw brake discs with resilient steel and composite materials, the solution will enable Stellantis to significantly increase brake disc...
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Powerful lathe enables stainless broaching.
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Architectural ironmongery manufacturer Instinct Hardware has recently invested in a host of equipment that includes an Italian-built Biglia bar-fed, twin-spindle lathe with a ± 45 mm Y-axis turret having and 15 driven tools. Installed in the Stirchley factory where premium quality door knobs and handles, door stops, and accessories are manufactured, the latest turning centre was sourced in May 2024 from the Whitehouse Machine Tools. The company supplied the machine as a turnkey package with a bar feeding unit and a gantry-type system for unloading components onto a conveyor. This...
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Hexagon and SEAT S.A. partner in digital transformation.
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Hexagon, a world leader in digital reality solutions that combine sensors, software and autonomous technologies, has expanded its collaboration with the automotive manufacturer SEAT S.A. The deal builds upon a 25-year partnership working with Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division. The companies have signed a strategic agreement that aims to deepen the digital transformation of SEAT S.A, focusing on the digitalisation of vehicle components, the management of digitised information and advanced process simulation. This agreement will enable SEAT S.A. to optimise production and...
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CERATIZIT delivers success that is ‘Made in Sheffield’
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The term ‘one-stop-shop’ is often banded around the subcontract manufacturing industry. It’s not until you find a company like Woodbrook Precision Ltd that you can truly understand what a single source solution provider looks like. The Lancashire manufacturer ventures beyond rivals’ services and continually invests in the latest machine tools fully supported by advanced cutting tool solutions from CERATIZIT UK. The company is located in Ashton-Under-Lyne on the Northeast edge of Greater Manchester. It's plant list includes a complete array of manual and CNC 3 to 5-axis...
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Automotive subby speeds-up productivity with Filtermist
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One of the biggest challenges for any machine shop is workshop air quality and the impact coolant mist has on staff. To stop coolant mist from impacting air quality in the workplace, Tooling 2000 Limited installed on-machine mist extraction systems from Filtermist. In addition to COSHH compliant clean air, the Birmingham subcontract manufacturer is also benefitting in other less obvious ways…. Founded back in 1996, Tooling 2000 offers everything from prototyping and development to 5-axis laser cutting, CNC machining, precision tooling and presswork for marquee customers like Rolls-Royce,...
info_outlineBarrs Court Engineering has recently invested in a new DN Solutions’ DNM 6700 vertical machining centre from Mills CNC to increase its in-house milling capacity and capability.
The Hertfordshire precision subcontract specialist has acquired a DN Solutions’ Siemens 828D controlled DNM 6700 at the company’s 11,500sq/ft facility in Rotherwas in June 2024. It is being used to machine complex parts in low volumes for a range of customers in the marine, renewables, nuclear, steam, automotive and yellow goods sectors. The DNM 6700 is also being used to finish machine fabricated parts prior to assembly.
Barrs Court Engineering, established in 1983, regularly invests in new, advanced machine tools as part of a rolling, company-wide continuous improvement programme to increase productivity, performance and process efficiencies across all of its machining operations, and is no stranger to technologies supplied by Mills CNC.
In 2001, Barrs Court Engineering invested in its first Doosan lathe, a Puma 300 and it has also acquired a sub-spindle, Y-axis turning centre from Mills CNC to strengthen its in-house turning capacity and capabilities. The DNM 6700 is, however, the first milling machine the company has acquired from Mills in its 41-year history.
Almost 12 months ago, Barrs Court Engineering began a strategic process of rationalising and streamlining its business by creating three discrete machining areas in its machine shop - each one focused on a specific production model designed to meet different customers’ machining needs and requirements.
Explains Toby Kinnaird, Barrs Court Engineering’s managing director: “The new manufacturing strategy is focused on growth, and has imposed a discipline across all our planning and production operations. We analysed our existing business, including what our customers expected and demanded from us and identified three different production ‘models’ which would direct how we would organise our machine shop and manufacturing operations.”
Barrs Court Engineering has at its disposal several dedicated machine tools with integrated automation for its low mix high-volume manufacturing operation which is predictable and is characterised by ‘scheduled’ repeat business. Manufacturing bespoke, high-quality components in small batches has always been a particular strength of Barrs Court Engineering, and is perceived as a high growth area for the company.
Often requiring a ‘turnkey’ approach with machined parts characterised by their high precision, complexity and long cycle times, the company specifically acquired the new DNM 6700 machining centre to strengthen its performance in this high-value production area.
“To increase our high-mix low volume machining capacity, we decided to invest in a new high-performance machining centre to replace two of our older machines that had limited capacity”, remembers Toby Kinnaird.
“We were particularly looking for a machine with a larger X-axis to handle bigger parts which had been out of our reach.”
Barrs Court Engineering compiled a ‘must have’ technical checklist for its future machining centre investment and visited the MACH 2024 Show in April to identify a suitable machine. Continues Toby Kinnaird: “We visited Mills CNC’s stand on the first day of the show, and discussed our requirements with their sales staff. They provided details on the DNM 6700 that was in stock at their Leamington facility and would be available for immediate delivery. After a short while negotiating the deal, we placed the order for the machine later that week.”
The model acquired by Barrs Court Engineering is equipped with the 828D Siemens control with ShopMill software and features an 18.5kW directly-coupled spindle, a 1500mm x 670mm worktable and a 40-tool position ATC.
Says Toby Kinnaird: “Our new DNM 6700 is powerful, fast, accurate and flexible. The Siemens Control is intuitive and easy to use, making programming and job setups quicker and more accurate. The integration of the 4th-axis table enables us to machine complex parts with intricate features in a single setup, avoiding the time and cost involved in re-fixturing operations and the potential for losing accuracy, and the inclusion of Renishaw workpieces and tool probes improves process efficiencies.