MACHINED COMPONENTS

A new five-axis machining centre, with 30 pallet storage and retrieval serviced by an industrial robot has reduced production times for turbo-fan parts from a week to a day.

A few years ago, T&R Precision Engineering in Foulridge, East Lancashire, started manufacturing parts from Inconel 625 castings for the hot air side of the GE-Safran LEAP-1A turbofan that powers the Airbus A320neo family of single-aisle jets. The problem was that the work involved a labour-intensive sequence of three or four operations on separate machines. Not only was there a significant risk of introducing human error, but it also necessitated the production of a batch of eight components to start each day but each batch would take one week to complete.

The solution was an Okuma MU5000V 5-axis vertical machining centre (VMC) equipped with a Dutch-made Cellro 30-station pallet storage and retrieval system served by a 6-axis industrial robot.

Managing Director Tim Maddison commented, "The improvement in production performance has been enormous across the four different LEAP1A castings that we machine. All parts are now produced in one hit in a one-hour cycle, which means that eight components are now ready the same day rather than after a week. "The substantial saving in lead-time is accompanied by vastly less workpiece handling and work-in-progress on the shop floor, while at the same time fewer free-issue Inconel castings need to be supplied by our US customer at any given time, saving them money as well."

A further benefit is a 50% reduction in total processing time compared with when the parts were produced in three or four separate operations. An additional saving that Mr Maddison describes as "massive" comes from inspecting every completed part in the VMC in a 10-minute routine at the end of the cutting cycle. So instead of 100% inspection on a coordinate measuring machine, only one part per day now needs to be checked off-line.

The production cell was installed in November 2019, shortly before the start of the pandemic. The aircraft build rate promptly collapsed from 63 per month to zero, but Mr Maddison advised that by the start of 2022 it had recovered to 50 per month, will return to pre-Covid levels by the end of the year and is predicted to rise by a further 20% during the course of 2023.

The contract machinist could not have coped with these increased volumes without investment in the Okuma/Cellro plant, but is now in a position to take full advantage. The layout of the equipment is such that, if future volumes dictate, there is space for a second Okuma MU5000V to be installed adjacent to the first and to be served with pallets of pre-fixtured components from the same Cellro robotic store. It was this potential that steered the manufacturer away from sourcing a machining centre with its own integrated pallet storage and retrieval system.

A number of notable technical advances have been incorporated

Single-hit savings at T&R

into the latest production cell. One is the provision of Okuma's turn-cut software in the proprietary OSP machine control that allows, without the need for special fixturing, turned features to be produced that are not on the centreline of a component. Three of the castings require this technology to be used.

Features are machined by rotating a turning tool in the VMC spindle, circular interpolating the X and Y axes at the same rotational speed and feeding the spindle forward in Z. Had interpolation turning not been available, it would not been possible to produce all the parts in one hit.

The various elements of a casting can be measured and manipulated by the measurement cycles so that the workpiece can be placed in a position where it can be machined successfully; and if it cannot, the part will be rejected.

Alternatively, if any given feature is predicted to be out of tolerance, the customer can be informed so a decision can be made as to the feature's relevance and whether machining should go ahead anyway. The importance of harnessing all these technologies can be gauged by the fact that the raw castings are so expensive that machining adds only 20% to the cost of a finished component. 8 trprecision.co.uk

Wealdpark Limited

Stand number 5126

Subcontract Capacity

BS EN ISO 9001:2008. Approved by BSI since 1991.

Company Contact Details

Phil Smith, Director, Wealdpark Limited Sutton Road, St. Helens, Merseyside, WA9 3DJ Tel. 01744 22567 / 732083 Fax. 01744 451339 E: sales@wealdpark.co.uk www.wealdpark.co.uk

WDS has added two further CNC lathes to expands its UK production capacity for standard parts and components.

The extra capacity allows WDS to increase its stock holding for faster product availability. The additional production capacity also services OEMs with rapid availability for high volume orders. Further investment in manufacturing is also planned in the near future to expand WDS’ capabilities.

The Leeds based manufacturer has commissioned sliding head lathes, used to manufacture high volumes of popular smaller diameter components such as studs. The new machines boost WDS’ state of the art, lights-out manufacturing capacity and have effectively doubled the production of high-volume parts up to a maximum machining diameter of 32mm or M12 thread size.

The two new Citizen M32 CNC lathes can automatically manufacture a completed product, for example by cutting threads at both ends of a stud, as opposed to requiring two separate processes. This also removes the delay of a manual product change-over.

Set-up time to manufacture each component has also reduced from around an hour to just 15 minutes. As the machine itself is also compact, this means shorter distances for work pieces to travel, resulting in faster machine cycle times.

The new CNC machines are supporting the expansion of WDS’ stock guarantee across the company’s product range. The stock guarantee backs up instock availability for same day shipping of large and small order quantities and includes a 10% price discount if it doesn’t hold the specified item in stock for the quantity required. Over 4500 products are included in WDS’ stock guarantee programme with additional products added on a regular basis.

The majority of WDS’ standard parts and components are designed in-house. High volume production and wide supply flexibility also ensures that WDS can provide competitive prices.

Adam Broughton, Production Manager, WDS said: “The new machines mean that we can make more products, faster, at a very high quality. The result is high availability for same-day supply across a wide range of products, as well as the capability to respond to high-volume OEM requests. This level of flexibility also helps WDS to achieve the most effective pricing structure across all standard parts and components.” 8 wdscomponents.com

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More capacity and stocks

Family-run Belfast precision machining specialist McGreevy Engineering has achieved the SC21 Bronze Award for the fourth consecutive year.

Specialising in precision machined components with internal engineering capabilities, the business services a wide range of sectors including, aerospace, medical, agri-tech, power generation, oil and gas, defence and security, ship building, rail and automotive.

The Supply Chain for the 21st Century (SC21) programme is a UK-wide programme delivered by the Aerospace, Defence, Security and Space Group (ADS), where participants must achieve and maintain certain criteria centred around delivery, quality, sustainable improvement and business, manufacturing and relationship excellence. As well as the SC21 Bronze Award, McGreevy Engineering also achieved AS9100 recertification shortly before Christmas, which is a quality management system standard for those that service the aviation, space and defence sectors.

After the challenges of the past two years, especially for the aerospace sector, McGreevy Engineering Managing Director, Aaron McGreevy said he was delighted and extremely proud of his team upon achieving recertification of the SC21 Bronze Award for the fourth year running alongside the AS9100.

Aaron said: “Like many companies around the world, we have had to work in extremely challenging circumstances over the past two years. I’m delighted with the recertification of the SC21 Bronze Award and am so proud of my team who are dedicated, hardworking and always striving to deliver the very best quality products for our customers.

“Continual improvement is something we have always prioritised here at McGreevy Engineering and participating in programmes such as SC21, give us the tools to ensure that we continue to achieve this.

“The recertification of the SC21 Bronze Award and AS9100, illustrates how committed we are to providing quality to our customers and the experience we have gained through the programme has been truly priceless.

“We are glad to see the aerospace sector slowly starting to recover after the major challenges posed by the pandemic and myself and my team are poised to help our customers with all their needs and requirements regardless of how complex they may be.”

McGreevy Engineering was guided through the SC21 process by fellow Northern Irish company, the Centre for Competitiveness (CforC), that works to help companies improve innovation, quality and productivity. 8 mcgreevyengineering.co.uk

Aerospace accolade fourth time in a row

DNow Accredited to

FM10101

Manufacturers of High Quality Mill-Turned Parts

Volz Engineering has installed two multi-tasking machines with integrated automation to kick-start its new subcontract machining operation.

Mills CNC supplied the Rochdale company, a whollyowned subsidiary of Volz Filters UK, with an 8” chuck Lynx 2100LSY turning centre, equipped with a sub-spindle, Yaxis and driven tooling, and a DVF 5000 (5-axis) machining centre equipped with an 18,000rpm spindle and a 120tool position ATC.

To increase output a Hydrafeed Multifeed 65 short magazine bar loader was integrated with the Lynx lathe, and a Doosan 8-pallet Automatic Workpiece Changer (AWC) is fitted to the DVF 5000.

Managing Director Alan Reeson said: “As part of our ambitious growth strategy we have recently rationalised and refocused the scope and scale of our operations: divesting lowgrowth and less profitable business activities in favour of ones that offer a better growth trajectory and a more favourable return on investment.”

As a consequence, Volz Engineering’s focus, moving forwards, will continue to be on the manufacture of high-quality components for its parent company, as well as on the design, development and manufacture of specialised, application-specific automated filtration production machines.

In addition to these core business activities, the company has also made the strategic decision to diversify its operations and create a highquality, precision subcontract machining operation located at its existing facility.

He said: “The danger, when setting up any subcontract machining operation, is to lack focus and attempt to try and be ‘all things to all people’. This approach invariably means that you can end up chasing your tail and are tied up dealing with unprofitable work.

“For our operation we have adopted a different route and implemented a ‘sniper’ strategy, targeting those sectors and specific companies, where we know we can provide real value and develop long-term, mutually profitable relationships.

“By researching the market and understanding customer needs and requirements, as well as competitor strengths and weaknesses, we have been able to create differentiation in the market based on quality, service and reliability, and cost-competitiveness.”

The scope and scale of Volz Engineering’s subcontract machining operations are focused on the milling and turning of complex, precision parts, made from a range of materials, and characterised by their tight geometric tolerances and high surface finish requirements.

James Alletson, Operations Director, said: “Another aspect of our subcontract service was on our ability to machine one-offs and prototypes, through to preproduction parts and low-tomedium volume batch series.

“Multi-axis and multi-tasking machines, like the Lynx 2100LSY and DVF 5000, are critically important if you want to reduce set-up and part cycle times.

“The ability to machine parts to completion in a single set up improves productivity and operational efficiencies and delivers a real competitive advantage.” 8 volzfilters.com/

Volz turns on the power

The combination of automatic load/unload and onsite nitrogen generation allows 24/7 operation and fast turnarounds on high volumes at LaserMaster.

The laser metal cutting and fabrication specialist has switched from bulk delivery of nitrogen, essential for the cutting process, to an Atlas Copco onsite, high pressure nitrogen generation container unit.

This ensures a continual, unlimited supply of high purity nitrogen, independent of bulk deliveries, and saves the company around £2,500 a month.

Located in Redruth, Cornwall, LaserMaster offers metal cutting services from two fibre optic lasers, as well as CNC folding and bending operations, to industries ranging from private customers to local, national, and international manufacturing companies.

Founded 20 years ago by its managing director, John Gotts, the company processes mild steel, stainless steel, aluminium, copper, and brass components − items as diverse as brackets, machine panels, hoppers, bespoke sculptures, agricultural items, and fishing trawler parts, with nationwide next day deliveries on both one-off custom cut items and volume production runs.

Laser-cutting metal relies on a continuous supply of nitrogen gas as a blanket to prevent burning during the process. Purity of the gas is an important factor in overcoming the tendency for discolouration of laser-cut edges and to provide a high-quality finish. As well as these critical process requirements, it was important for LaserMaster’s production management to achieve savings on the cost of delivered bulk nitrogen supplies.

For the past seven years, LaserMaster has had a bulk nitrogen supply agreement in place and was renting an on-site storage tank. The perceived benefits of this approach were: a large storage facility with the required nitrogen quality; a scheme cheaper to run than delivered bottled gas; no large capital outlay was involved; and there were regular deliveries from the supplier.

However, for all these advantages there were evident drawbacks to the scheme. Rental costs were in the order of £8,000 p.a. and long contracts with 12 months’ minimum notice were the norm. Other negative aspects comprised the company’s dependence on on-site deliveries, the percentage of tank losses, environmental carbon footprint issues, and the total cost of a nitrogen supply which was in the region of 35-40p per Nm3.

The alternative option of on-site generation had been considered for some while, but the decision had been put off by the apparent prospect of dealing with several separate companies in the supply of the equipment, the installation on site, and the subsequent servicing programme. As John Gotts explains: “We were just looking for a one stop facility, one company we could deal with to provide the nitrogen system and be responsible for its maintenance.”

LaserMaster found the solution in the proposal by Atlas Copco’s authorised distributor in the area, TSB Engineering whose South West sales, service, repair, and installation operates out of Bristol, and Callington in Cornwall. After reviewing LaserMaster’s current supplied usage figures, TSB recommended

24/7 and fast turnarounds

the option of an Atlas Copco HPN2 skid 8, on-site, highpressure nitrogen generation containerised package. This was to be rented for an initial threemonth period in order to compare performance and costs against the current supply facility.

The trial unit is now a permanent installation, providing nitrogen for the two high production fibre lasers. It delivers 42 Nm3/h of nitrogen and 480 Nm3 of storage at 99.99% purity. The purity quality of the delivered nitrogen is as per the contents of original site tank. This gives LaserMaster the option of reducing the quality of nitrogen relative to the material being cut, thereby increasing flow and reducing generation costs.

The switch to on-site nitrogen generation is estimated to save around £2500 per month when compared to the company’s previous bulk supply method, and now the total cost of nitrogen has been reduced dramatically − down to 4p per Nm3 .

Commenting on the performance and success of the installation project, John Gotts said: “We have invested for the future, firstly by taking delivery of one of the first Bystronic 4kw fibre optic lasers in the UK. This has enabled unparalleled highspeed parts production and firstclass cutting quality. Now with our auto loader and a continuous and unlimited supply of nitrogen, we have the capability to cut metal 24/7 which means we can offer a fast turnaround on high volumes by operating throughout the night, allowing us to be more competitive on batch volume production”. 8 lasermaster.co.uk

atlascopco.co.uk/compressors

As additive manufacturing continues to evolve, many of the pre-conceptions concerning its usefulness as a production technology for plastic parts and components need to be revisited, say the organisers of Plastics Live.

Plastics Live incorporating AMPLAS (Advanced Manufacturing in Plastic), runs at the Coventry Building Society arena on 5 and 6 July.

John Jones, Event Manager says, “Broadly speaking, when manufacturers look to produce in plastic, there are a range of alternatives to consider. Traditional routes to manufacture typically include injection moulding, CNC machining and/or vacuum casting. Manufacturers that do not bring the SLS (selective laser sintering) 3D printing process into the frame at this point are potentially doing themselves a great disservice.

“Let’s be clear, if you are looking to mass manufacture plastic parts and components, then there really is only one viable option, and that is injection moulding. When looking at lower volume runs, traditionally manufactures have looked at CNC machining and/or vacuum casting. These methods can offer an economical option but come with limitations of their own.”

The increasing sophistication of SLS 3D printing machines for industrial applications, the increasing palette of polymer materials that can be processed, and the ability to manufacture without the need for expensive mould tools mean they are now a viable alternative.

Jones continues: “If manufacturers do not realistically assess the possibility of using 3D printing as an alternative production technology, manufacturers are genuinely missing an opportunity to make parts and components quickly, cost-effectively and accurately. And you don’t have to invest in the capital equipment in-house to make this move, as there are agencies that exist that have invested in numerous 3D printing machines so that you can subcontract your manufacturing to real experts in the technology.

“It needs to be appreciated from the start, that additive manufacturing is by no means suited to every application. To assess where the best fit is, you need to factor in all the benefits and the constraints. First and foremost, consider how big the proposed part is. Pricing is effectively based on size, and as a rule of thumb, the larger the part, the less viable 3D printing is for production. Small components like jigs, fixtures, housings and fittings, however, are perfectly suited to the process.

“Next you need to assess the complexity of the proposed design. AM is agnostic to part complexity, where traditional production technologies are not. Again, as a general rule, the more complex the part, the higher the associated tooling or machining costs, and therefore the more viable additive manufacturing becomes.

“Finally, what sort of run volume do you have in mind? If you are looking for hundreds of thousands or millions, then injection moulding is your only option. If, however, you want hundreds or multiple thousands of small parts, then you are in the sweet spot for 3D printing as a production process.” 8 plasticslive.co.uk

AM forum for plastics

Metal AM to hit $18Bn by 2032

A new report by IDTechEX shows that despite COVID-19 and global supply chain disruptions the metal additive manufacturing market will rebound to hit $18.5 billion by 2032.

Many wondered how the metal additive manufacturing industry would fare after the upheaval brought by COVID-19. The pandemic has significantly impacted a key target market for metal additive manufacturing aviation. Additionally, global supply chain disruptions have led companies to re-evaluate their operations. Within this environment, how has metal additive manufacturing fared?

With a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 18.8%, metal 3D printing is clearly a dynamic field. Finding the valueadd use cases, from reducing the inventory of replacement parts to making complex production parts, is enabling wider adoption of metal AM across many key industries. Within this landscape, IDTechEx has identified several key trends influencing the metal AM market.

Lower-cost printers Printers for established technologies like laser powder bed fusion or electron beam melting often cost $300K-$500K, with many exceeding $1 million. The high investment needed to engage in metal 3D printing creates high barriers to entry for SMEs. To lower this barrier to adoption, several companies like Xact Metal and One Click Metal have focused on making printers more affordable with price tags less than $100K.

Expanding materials portfolio One factor limiting metal AM’s penetration is the limited size of available metals for AM. Not only are few high-performance metals available for demanding applications, but the cost of metal powders often exceeds hundreds per kilo. To address this, materials start-ups are exploring highperformance metals like aluminium and alternative feedstock forms like pellets and slurries.

New entrants into binder jetting Two major players, ExOne and voxeljet, have dominated the binder jetting space since its commercialization. However, the promise that metal binder jetting offers for high volume metal part production is leading more companies to launch their own binder jetting printers. Notably, this includes established companies like GE, HP, and Desktop Metal. IDTechEx expects to see the binder jetting landscape become more competitive in the medium-term.

The global supply chain and localized manufacturing Skyrocketing shipping costs and worker shortages have contributed to disturbances in the global supply chain. This has renewed interest in localized manufacturing to mitigate risks when relying on global manufacturing. Within this environment, metal AM has received attention for facilitating localized manufacturing.

Continued innovation Established printing technologies like DED or EBM have wellknown limitations, like slow build speeds or poor resolution, which limit their adoption in certain applications. These limitations have inspired start-ups to create their own variations on established technologies or to commercialize alternative technologies. The IDTechEx report examines the metal AM technology landscape with benchmarking studies that identify the limitations and opportunities for technology development in metal AM.

Proprietary production service The classic business model for 3D printing companies has been to manufacture and sell printers to customers, but this comes with

inherent difficulties.

First, customers will need to find the budget for a printer costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, alongside consumable printing materials that cost hundreds per kilogram. Then, the customers will need to train employees to operate these printers and how to prepare and finish any 3D-printed parts; if the customer doesn’t have the internal resources for this, they will need to hire skilled labour. Lastly, to make the most of any 3D printer, customers need to understand how to identify applications where 3D printing offers the most value-add and how to design for these opportunities. Overall, these factors make convincing customers to invest in 3D printing, especially metal additive manufacturing, a difficult decision to make. That is not to say the metal printer install base is not growing, but that this increasingly popular business model fits into a growing industry.

New entrants have recognized the obstacles posed by the traditional business model of selling metal printers to customers for them to print parts. Rather than selling the printers using their proprietary technology like traditional 3D printer manufacturers, they have chosen a different business strategy where they keep their proprietary printing technology in-house.

Here, the 3D printer is not the main product being sold; rather, finished 3D-printed parts are the main product. This circumvents many of the classic barriers to 3D printing adoption, like high capital expenses and the need for specialized AM knowledge. Rather than having to convince customers that the customer can print great components if they buy a 3D printer, in-house production companies can simply demonstrate that their proprietary printers can indeed manufacture complex, custom parts. 8 IDTechEx.com/MetalAM

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Produced in the United Kingdom

Six million components at day

Batten and Allen signed a deal with Bruderer at MACH 2022 for a £400,000 high speed press that can make six million components a day.

The company will use the 28tonne BSTA 280-75B2 to stamp precision parts for use in electrical applications across automotive, aerospace and consumer goods.

Fitted with a high precision mechanical feeder, the machine offers a 750mm bed to accommodate complex press tools and comes with the latest control technology to provide benefits, such as Automatic Ram Shut height adjustment at micro adjustments while the press is under acceleration and decelerated loads.

This guarantees process stability and pinpoint reliability of the bottom dead centre (BDC) position even at 1500 strokes per minute.

“Bruderer presses are known throughout industry for their precise control and repeatable accuracy, two of the reasons why this machine will be our 30th from them,” explained Ian Mackinnon, who joined Batten & Allen as CEO four years ago.

“The components we make are extremely precise, often to a few microns. This means we require a machine that could deliver that level of precision, time and time again – in fact, volumes can run into millions of parts every day.”

He continued: “The BSTA 28075B2 is a superb press and has been specified to our exact requirements, giving us the flexibility to be able to run pretty much every tool we own on it.”

Established in 1972, Batten & Allen’s stamping capability means it can offer small close pitch components with material thicknesses in the range of 10 microns thick to more heavy-duty single piece stampings up to 2mm.

It exports 85% of its turnover to customers across the automotive, aerospace, electronics and consumer goods sectors and, following a major surge in orders, is expecting sales to hit a record-breaking £20m at the end of this year.

Adrian Haller, Managing Director of Bruderer UK, was delighted that the strategic partnership has been extended even further.

“Batten & Allen’s production facility is built on the power of our presses, dating back nearly 50 years, and involving the installation of more than 30 machines, ranging from 20 tonnes to 50 tonnes.

“The latest BSTA 280-75B2 can operate up to 1500 strokes per minute and the large press tool bed means it is extremely flexible and supports quick changeovers. It is also equipped with Ram Guidance exclusively at strip level, which helps eliminate displacement between the punch and lower die.

“The press will run continuously across three shifts and 24-hours per day – now that is what I call reliable performance.” 8 batten-allen.com

The Lesjöfors Heavy Springs group has installed the largest wire coiling machinery ever made by Wafios.

The massive Wafios FUL 226 model was installed at the group’s Lesjöfors Fjadrar AB site.

The €1.75m investment is part of an ongoing future focused growth plan for the heavy springs market.

Michael Gibbs, Managing Director of the UK factories and Chair of the Heavy Springs group says: “This exciting new investment cements the Lesjöfors group expansion intentions in the heavy springs sector and fuels our teams to continue to thrive being leaders in spring manufacture.”

At 40 tonnes and just shy of 10m long, the substantial FUL 226 can cold coil wire up to 30mm diameter in addition to coiling pre-tempered wire up to 22mm diameter, with a tensile strength of 2000 MPa.

Capabilities have been further enhanced with a new motorised wire pay-off, specifically developed by Wafios to manage the safety requirements of large wire dimension coiling.

Jan Carlson, Managing Director of Lesjöfors Fjadrar says: “As leaders in heavy springs we strive to lead from the front, securing the very latest technology to ensure we stay ahead of the game to deliver competitively to our customer base across the multiple sectors we serve.

This latest investment not only enables us to expand our product range, it also creates a new flexibility in material grade opportunities, increasing quality options, which in turn enables us to pass on cost efficiencies to our customers.

Securing this significant investment through our parent company further supports the recognition of growth in the heavy springs sector and we’re delighted to be able to expand our level of delivery to existing and new customers.”

David Stople, Project Lead at Lesjöfors said: “It was certainly challenging, for us and Wafios, installing such a large and heavy piece of machinery but world firsts are meant to be difficult, aren’t they?

“Our engineers ensured the installation went smoothly and after a period of intense training, we are now eager to optimise the potential of this new equipment.” 8 lesjoforsab.com

Biggest spring machine

From design, sampling and technical support to manufacture, Simpson Springs & Pressings Ltd provide the complete service.

Tel: 0118 978 6573 Email: sales@simpsonsprings.co.uk

Subcon is back for 2022

Subcon returns on the 7- 9 June 2022 to the NEC, Birmingham. Now in its 45th year, it remains the UK’s premier event dedicated to subcontract manufacturing buyers, enabling them to source suppliers, benchmark capabilities, and form new manufacturing partnerships. At Subcon, visitors can find everything from product design, prototyping and development, contract and subcontract products and services through to machine tools, systems and equipment.

This June, Subcon will once again be collocated with The Engineer Expo and Manufacturing Management Show, bringing together more of suppliers, the latest innovations and practical advice.

The Engineer Expo is the dedicated event for the advanced engineering community that drives manufacturing and design solutions. Curated by The Engineer, the show provides a platform for engineers to source the latest advanced engineering technology, products and services, enabling them to optimise production and process throughout the manufacturing cycle.

After its success in 2021, the very popular Manufacturing Management Show (MMS) is also back this year. From the team behind the industry leading Manufacturing Management magazine, MMS brings together everything manufacturers need to know about running a successful manufacturing site under one roof - from maintenance, materials handling, sustainability, skills, IT and health & safety.

The exhibition Across the three show days the exhibition will deliver the contacts, connections and content that engineering and manufacturing businesses in the UK need to succeed. Visitors will be able to harness new innovations from over 200 world class suppliers to help increase capacity, optimise productivity and improve flexibility, whilst also driving down costs to stay competitive in a global market.

Subcon exhibitors span a massive range of manufacturing and engineering businesses, including assembly work, CNC machining, metal fabrication, 3D printing and many more. As this diversity of exhibitors shows, there will be huge opportunities to forge strategic partnerships and improve existing processes.

Exhibitors include: Dawson Precision Components An independent, family owned and run company, ISO9001:2015, offering high quality, cost effective machining solution –including special finishes and complete project management. Sectors served include instrumentation, medical and defence.

Trust Precision Engineering Trust Precision Engineering is an AS9100 for Aerospace accredited subcontract service provider specialising in sliding head machining. The proven cost savings of one-hit machining for both simple and complex components is fundamental to its philosophy.

European Springs & Pressings European Springs and Pressings is an expert in the field of spring manufacturing and high speed press technology. Its products are used in major industrial environments all over the world. It utilises the latest technology and qualified toolmakers to design and produce bespoke stampings, springs and wire forms.

Icon Plastics Icon Plastics offer precision injection moulding and manufacturing business with a difference, their aim is to make your manufacturing process simpler and more cost effective by providing an Integrated Manufacturing Solution for your plastic components and finished products. Machine range 25T to 700T, welding, Twin shot and assembly capabilities. Accreditations IATF 16949 & ISO 9001.

Qimtek Qimtek helps manufacturing buyers to find quality UK-based subcontract suppliers that have immediate or long-term capacity. Upload your drawings on Drag, Drop, Source or send them by email, tell them your requirements and it will put you in contact with manufacturing partners who will quote you directly.

Free conference sessions Visitors can also enjoy over 30 hours of free conference sessions led by industry experts discussing the key issues and trends that are driving innovation and shaping the UK’s industrial landscape in 2022: from the latest developments in key technology areas such as hydrogen mobility, electrification, and nuclear fusion to keynote insights on automation, finance and engineering skills.

Speakers confirmed this year include: • Dave Short - Technology

Director, BAE Systems:

Innovation in the defence sector. • Ian Whiting – Commercial

Director, UK Battery

Industrialisation Centre:

Scaling up UK electric vehicle battery manufacture. • Tony Langtry – Head of

Mechanical Engineering,

Tokamak Energy: The engineering challenges of nuclear of fusion. • Hugo Spowers – Founder,

Riversimple: Transforming mobility with hydrogen. • Professor Ric Allot – Director of Business Development,

STFC: Industrial applications of Big Science. • Professor Chris Tuck –

University of Nottingham:

Insight from the cutting edge of the UK additive

manufacturing research community. • Nick Hawker, CEO and co-founder, First Light Fusion on the commercial application of nuclear fusion. • Martin Little, commercial director, Rail Alliance on the overlooked opportunities within rail.

Jason Dante, event director for Subcon, says that this wide range of opportunity and the chance to see so many diverse companies is no accident: “With Brexit, Covid-19 and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, we are even more aware than ever of the pressures on UK engineering and manufacturing businesses, so we have crammed as much value into the event as we can. This year, alongside the Engineer Expo and Manufacturing Management Show theatre, we also have a brand new supply chain theatre that will bring together an expert line-up of speakers to talk about the biggest challenges and opportunities for the sector.

“We also once again have ensured there will be ample networking opportunities available at the show, including the VIP buyers lounge, sponsored by Qimtek.

“Plus, there will even be a couple of extra surprises in celebration of the Jubilee! We are incredibly excited to include so much new material and look forward to opening the doors at the NEC.” 8 subconshow.co.uk

GTR Composites is finish machining large carbon fibre composite components to tolerances measured in the tens of microns.

Headquartered in Fontwell, West Sussex and operating from four sites near the south coast of England, GTR Composites is probably best known for supplying Formula One teams with high quality carbon fibre components and assemblies.

Today it is also expanding its activities in all kinds of automotive special projects. The highly specialised subcontractor has produced lightweight chassis and other large parts from composite materials for a long time, but at the beginning of 2021 it started final-machining them to tolerances measured in tens of microns.

The introduction of this new service followed the installation of a Zimmermann FZU400 5-axis machining centre at its Bognor Regis facility.

Supplied by UK sales and service agent Kingsbury, the portal machine has a 4,000 x 3,000 x 1,250 mm working envelope and the ability to hold high levels of accuracy.

For example, a positional tolerance of 50 microns is achieved on features across a full chassis, while holes and counterbores are held to within 10 or 20 microns. As the components being produced are of high value, GTR adopts a policy of having an operator permanently in attendance, even when the FZU400 is running overnight.

Simon Kingdon-Butcher, joint owner of GTR said, "The investment has allowed us to expand our business not only in the motorsport sector but also on special projects and into more production chassis work for roadgoing supercars. We are presently producing 14 chassis for the research and development phase of such a vehicle. "The Zimmermann machine stood out in terms of its rigidity, which translates into the tight tolerances we are able to hold when cutting carbon fibre. We’re able to impress our customers by hitting really tight limits that our competitors cannot achieve. This investment has quite literally moved us ahead of the rest. "High spindle power - 34 kW continuous / 41 kW peak enables us to rough aluminium moulds, while spindle speeds up to 24,000 rpm means their surfaces can be finish-machined to very high quality using minimum quantity lubrication. "MQL also enables us to mill and drill carbon fibre components containing titanium or aluminium

High accuracy carbon fibre machining

inserts in the presence of a specific type of coolant approved by our customers."

He added that their other large capacity 5-axis machining centres are focused on pattern making and while carbon fibre can be cut on them, the parts would typically be of less demanding accuracy than the Zimmerman FZU400 is capable of delivering, despite its much larger working envelope. However, the machine is also used for large pattern work and he regards the versatility of the new capacity as an ideal fit for GTR.

The company is no stranger to making big components in large quantities, having produced 250 chassis in recent years for the MoD's Foxhound patrol vehicle. Transition to final machining of larger structures and assemblies in carbon fibre, which entails cutting cycles of up to 60 hours, is therefore proving seamless for the subcontractor. The addition of production volumes for supercars is seeing work for the motorsport sector, although remaining at a constant level, fall gradually from 90% of turnover to probably around two-thirds as the company expands.

The HSK-A63 spindle head of the thermo-symmetrically designed Zimmermann FZU400, which is fitted with extraction to manage the carbon fibre dust, has ± 300degree C-axis rotation and an Aaxis swivel of +125 / -95 degrees, resolution being 0.0001 degree. Tools are exchanged automatically from a 61-station magazine. Acceleration at up to 3 m/s2 to 60 m/min feed rate in the linear axes ensures high productivity and short non-cutting times.

Commenting on the subcontractor's relationship with the machine supplier Kingsbury, Mr Kingdon-Butcher concluded, "We've had some horror stories with unreliable machine tool companies in the past but we made the right choice this time. "Kingsbury's local engineering support, service and parts availability could not be better. Back-up has been impressive since they installed a pair of smaller 5axis machining centres of a different make a couple of years ago and it is proving to be so again. "They understood the high knowledge level of the GTR machinists they were instructing after the Zimmermann was commissioned and tailored their training to suit their needs. It was a good all-round experience." 8 gtrcomposites.com

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Subcontract friction welding from KUKA Systems

The many benefits to using KUKA’s subcontract friction welding facility include: established and proven expertise; use of industry-leading Thompson Friction Welding machinery; no need to invest in capital equipment; multiple component manufacture across numerous sectors; a range of geometries and material combinations can be joined –with advice at hand on material, geometry, metallurgy and pre and post weld processing.

Rotary Friction Welding is suitable for an immeasurable number of applications where it is possible to join two components by oscillation.

In the case of bi-metallic, copper-aluminium connectors, there is no other viable method of joining these two materials directly to each other due to the difficulty presented by them having very different thermal expansion coefficients. Low-cost aluminium is joined directly to high cost copper. Other than the obvious benefit of cost reduction by limiting the use of expensive oxygen free, high conductivity copper material, reducing direct costs, and waste, aluminium is the optimum mating material which does not impede conductivity and is useful for ease of crimping to electrical cabling. The electrical connector market for power distribution and rail is a significant market to benefit from these solid-state bonding processes.

Other industries that specify friction welding as their standard bonding method include the automotive sector producing axles, cv joints, turbo chargers, airbag canisters and other such safety critical components. The construction and yellow goods industry use friction welding for manufacture of piston rods and hydraulic cylinders where large diameter high quality steel chromed rods are joined to eyes, yolks and pinions for heavy duty industrial service. The aerospace industry has also been known to utilise the processes for manufacture of high integrity components.

Mining, oil and gas industries, manufacture drill pipes and rods for deep hole water boring, directional drilling, rock drilling and oil & gas (sour) service applications whereby the integrity of the joint is paramount as it can be performing under the harshest of conditions and under extreme compressive and torsional loads or percussive forces. The cost of failure in these components can literally cost the operators millions of pounds in lost revenues. The integrity of the friction welded bond is so superior to other joining processes by offering in many cases parent material properties, that most world renowned, OEM’s across these industries own and operate their own friction welding equipment to produce their safety critical components in-house.

Cryogenic applications also benefit from the processes’ ability

to join dissimilar materials. For instance, stainless steel to copper and interlayered transition joints consisting of stainless steel welded to titanium by use of an aluminium alloy interlayer to facilitate bond between the stainless steel and titanium which it is not suitable for direct bonding. Joints manufactured for this industry sector perform in very low temperature environments. Again, this is a unique benefit of the processes, that these very dissimilar materials can successfully be directly bonded and operate in very demanding environments.

Friction welding has also proved very successful for welding tools, such as drill bits for example. Stronger than conventional welding, friction welded drill tools have an enhanced join integrity, as the weld is as strong as the parent material. This is vital for drill tools as they are commonly used at high-speed, so the weld must be strong enough to withstand dynamic stresses endured during drilling.

Friction welding has been used in the printing roller industry, decreasing production time and reducing product weight. This method allows the machining time on endcaps to be reduced, and eliminates the need for weld preparation, further decreasing production time.

Whatever the sector, or application in which the component shall be utilized, friction welded products have proven to have an enhanced structural integrity.

KUKA’s on site metallurgical lab employs a team of industrial engineers and scientist, to serve companies that manufacture products containing a variety of metal components. As the UK’s only subcontract friction welding facility to deliver metallurgical investigations to clients across a broad range of industries, for material selection, pre and post weld recommendations, inspection, analysis & reporting and testing of materials and bonded components, even if we are not managing your subcontract friction welding project.

The friction welding process affords many advantages, compared to competing manufacturing processes, such as fusion welding, structural integrity being the most obvious. The benefits are substantial, and when you partner with KUKA, you’ll be assured of an end-to-end subcontract friction welding service.

The question that engineers and manufacturers ask when considering their production joining and manufacturing processes is “can we do this better, cheaper and more efficiently?”

The answer is ‘yes’ and the solution lies in subcontract friction welding, for those instances where a manufacturer might not have the means to invest in capital equipment. But when welding engineers, welding production supervisors or operations managers require a machine, on premise, from which they are able to deliver rotary friction welding in house, to whom do they turn?

In addition to our subcontract friction welding capabilities, KUKA’s Hereward Rise facility is also the manufacturing epicentre of the iconic Thompson Friction Welding machine. Rotary friction welding or industrial metallurgical joining has been delivered by Thompson Friction Welding machines for more than 50 years.

Call 0121 585 0888 to find out more

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