Engineering Capacity November 2019 Digital Edition

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November 2019

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COMPOSITES: Metal composites for landing gear

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DIGITAL | SOCIAL | PRINT Let us help you maximise your presence at Southern Manufacturing by putting you in front of your target customers ahead of the Show and during the show.

Engineering Capacity is the UK’s only magazine targeted solely at buyers of subcontract manufacturing services.

Before the show we will be publishing an extensive preview in our January issue – both in print and digital editions – and new for 2020 – we are sending an exclusive digital preview to our 8,000 newsletter subscribers. Being a part of this will help you ensure that visitors of the show pre plan to come and see you at your stand. We will also use our extensive social media reach to promote you before the show.

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FOR BUYERS OF CONTRACT MANUFACTURING SERVICES Visit our online edition for breaking news, jobs, events, features and searchable directory. www.engineeringcapacity.com Editor: Andy Sandford editor@engineeringcapacity.com Sales Manager: Arfan Qureshi sales@engineeringcapacity.com Tel: 0207 241 4627 Graphic Design: Dave Blake blakey@djbdesign.co.uk Printer: Holbrooks Printers Limited Norway Road, Portsmouth PO3 5HX Engineering Capacity is published six times a year in January, March, May, July, September and November SUBSCRIPTIONS Engineering Capacity is available free of charge to UK buyers and suppliers of subcontract manufacturing services.

For non-qualifying readers, annual subscription rates are as follows for 6 issues posted to addresses in: UK £60.00; Europe £80; Rest of the World £100 You can request your copy and sign up to our free weekly email newsletter on our website or contact us via subscriptions@engineeringcapacity.com www.engineeringcapacity.com Tel: O1737 270 648 Published by: Engineering Capacity Ltd Abbey House, 25 Clarendon Road Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1QZ United Kingdom Registered in England company number 10567217 ISSN 0306-0179 COMING UP IN OUR JANUARY 2020 ISSUE Machined Components, Laser & Waterjet Cutting, Casting & Forging, Heavy Engineering, Additive Manufacturing, Southern Manufacturing & Electronics Preview, Electronics Please send editorial for consideration to editor@engineeringcapacity.com There is no charge or cost involved with having your editorial included in the magazine or on our website

Editor’s View So, finally, with the forthcoming election we might have a chance for some clarity on the direction of the nation. Clarity that has been sadly lacking for the past couple of years, leading finally to a kind of corporate constipation as large OEMs move from stockpiling to stasis and back again.

The latest Contract Manufacturing Index figures (see page 5) shows that the number of new jobs being placed with subcontractors has dropped significantly in the last quarter, down by 47% compared to the same period last year. And it is the OEMs that aren’t placing the orders.

All the signs are that the smaller, more nimble, companies are more or less carrying on business as usual.

It is interesting that it has taken this long to come to a head. From the date of the Brexit vote until April this year the market had shown a remarkable degree of resilience, considering the circumstances. So maybe the election has come just in time.

Without wanting the parrot the ‘let’s just get this done’ attitude, any resolution of the Brexit question is better than none as far as the subcontracting market is concerned. Of course, that ignores the wider economic and political arena, which I am going to stay well clear off.

Of course, the election may not give us clarity, and it may well give us a clear view of something we don’t want.

What is important to me, though, is that whatever Government comes to power, it must recognise that it is business, not Government, that creates wealth. Wealth creates employment and money the Government can levy taxes on. But to create wealth you need to make a profit – and it isn’t evil to make a profit.

Andy Sandford, Editor

Member of the Engineering Industries Association

NOVEMBER 2019

www.engineeringcapacity.com

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Contents November 2019

24 FORMING & FABRICATION

News

Features

06 20 CNC machines target growth 06 Alucast invests to support

12 Turned Parts 06 Cycling and recycling 16 Composites 06 2500 missile parts from

lightweight castings supply to Aston Martin, Lotus and Morgan

Rockwood

07 Scanning to diagnose cancer 06 Convert is to supply cable assemblies for diagnostic equipment

20 5-AXIS MACHINING

machining Cutting metal round the clock

to encourage UK sourcing

26 Measurement, Inspection & Testing 06 Shipyard testing for Arabian Gulf

09 Northern show sets record 06 Northern Manufacturing

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machining Cutting metal round the clock

23 Forming & Fabrication 06 Composite and metal

08 UK Engineering Marketplace 06 Reshoring UK launches initiative

& Electronics hits all the right buttons

20 5-axis machining 06 Composite and metal

30 AEROSPACE

28 Aerospace 06 Ready for Boarding NOVEMBER 2019

Engineering Capacity | INDUSTRY NEWS

Subcontract market falls in Q3 The subcontract manufacturing market fell by 15% in the third quarter of 2019 and is down 47% year-on-year according to the latest Contract Manufacturing Index (CMI).

The overall number of projects is at quite a high level, but these are mainly from smaller companies and the large OEMs are not putting out any new work.

Machining has seen the biggest drop, down over 30% on the previous quarter, while fabrication is actually up by 5%.

The biggest sectors in the index were the biggest fallers, with construction, construction machinery and electronics dropping significantly. There were some encouraging trends though, with medical equipment, automotive and oil and gas increasing – one surprising growth area was in furniture manufacture, which was up by 144%.

Compared to the third quarter of

NOVEMBER 2019

2018, the market has dropped by almost half (47%), despite a relatively strong performance in the first quarter of this year.

Qimtek owner Karl Wigart said:

“Until April the market had been fairly steady, but it has seen a significant decline since then.

“We are hearing from the market around the UK that uncertainty over the outcome and impact of Brexit is certainly a factor and there is a fair degree of spare capacity waiting for new projects.

“There are actually more projects out to tender than there have been all year, but it is small companies that are looking to outsource rather than the larger OEMS. This suggests that the OEMs are looking for clarity before making strategic decisions, whereas for the smaller, more nimble, companies it is more or less business as usual.”

8 qimtek.co.uk www.engineeringcapacity.com

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INDUSTRY NEWS | Engineering Capacity Alucast is targeting automotive opportunities with a new £2.25million machine shop.

The independent aluminium foundry’s new 7,000 sq ft machine shop will support the growing demand of its automotive customer base for lightweight, complex components. It can now draw on 20 CNC machines – five of them 5-axis – with bed sizes ranging from 400mm to 630mm.

The investment will also deliver a 30% increase in capacity to take on up to £3m of new projects, as well as reducing lead times and giving greater repeatable quality.

Tony Sartorius, Chairman of Alucast, commented: “Whilst there are a lot of challenges to overcome in the current automotive sector, there are also still many opportunities for suppliers who can build strategic partnerships with their customers, helping them to design, develop and manufacture the lightweight parts of the future.

“This is what we have been able to do with Aston Martin and a Blue Diamond Technologies, now part of TRITEC Performance Solutions, can offer custom parts in low minimum quantities without the need for high minimum orders. This allows customers to source a custom part with very little risk and minimum cost.

“There are many ways we can help our customers get the best outcome from sourcing low cost custom parts. Using our

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20 CNC machines target growth number of other luxury automotive producers and, in order to meet increases in volumes, we have completed our own sizable investment in creating a world class machine shop.”

He went on to add: “What it gives us is complete control of the machining process so that we can cast the part and machine it to the highest possible standard.

Twenty-four people will be

employed in this area, including operatives, supervisory staff and an apprentice, with more jobs set to follow shortly.”

Alucast will use the additional capacity to provide thin-walled lightweight castings for Aston Martin in South Wales, as well as new components for Lotus and low-pressure work for Morgan.

8 alucast.co.uk

Low volume custom parts services removes many of the problems and risks associated with sourcing directly from suppliers in the Far East.” explains Mike Doel, Business Development Manager, Blue Diamond Technologies.

“Customers often contact us because they cannot find a standard product to do the required job and they don’t

want to compromise on product design or quality. Frequently, they also want to buy low quantities to test the market before daring to commit to the higher volumes often demanded by large overseas manufacturing organisations”.

8 blue-diamond.co.uk

NOVEMBER 2019

Engineering Capacity | INDUSTRY NEWS Cable loom and harness manufacturer Convert Ltd has won an order to supply cable assemblies for two hundred slide scanners used to examine samples to help diagnose cancer.

The Kent-based electrical engineering company manufacturer the cable assemblies for FFEI – an awardwinning manufacturer of digital inkjet and life science technology – which builds the scanners for a multinational healthcare company

Scanning to diagnose cancer that’s a market leader in digital pathology scanning.

For each of the 200 machines on order, Convert will build 25 cable assemblies comprising a mixture of discrete, multicore and ribbon cables connected to LEDs, stepper motors and a variety of sensors.

Convert first got involved in the project in early 2017 with the manufacture of the prototypes before moving into small volume

production later that year and eventually ramping up production in 2018.

Dave Lord, Convert’s Managing Director, said: “To be involved in this project from the start was great as we were able to work with FFEI and suggest changes to the designs of the assemblies which made them easier to manufacture.”

8 convertltd.co.uk

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INDUSTRY NEWS | Engineering Capacity Reshoring UK is a new free website giving comprehensive information on sourcing products and services from the UK for almost any requirement.

The Reshoring UK website represents a unique collaboration of leading industrial engineering associations which has been developed with the goal of connecting manufacturers with trusted, accredited suppliers capable of providing any technical support, specialist products and niche services required. As the UK’s engineering marketplace, Reshoring UK puts a wealth of information at your fingertips to support informed business decisions.

Users can simply select a category that is relevant to their needs, with subcategories to help focus the search, or choose from industry sectors and even by association membership or search in the free text search for their product or service requirement. A region filter provides the choice between regions and country specific for suitable suppliers. After filtering, any potential businesses are

Visit our website or contact us for a quote or advice

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UK Engineering Marketplace

‘pinned’ on a graphical map allowing the user to interrogate each profile and individual company website link. The pin for any viewed business changes colour to easily identify which companies have been reviewed.

A ‘free text’ search box means bespoke products and services can be quickly identified without the deluge of information you would receive using an internet browser. And, with ongoing plans to continue expanding the content

and capability of the website, visitors to Reshoring UK will be assured of finding the latest technical content and current company information.

Julia Moore, CEO of the GTMA, the founding Association of the initiative, says: “It is an oftenrepeated misconception that the UK does not make things anymore.

The reality is that we are still the ninth largest manufacturing nation in the world and the sector plays a vital role as an employer, exporter and innovator.

“In fact, British-made goods are sought-after around the world, with manufacturing accounting for 44% of all the UK’s overseas sales. Manufacturing still contributes a tenth of UK Gross Value Added (GVA) and represents 70% of all business Research and Development (R&D) spend and directly employs 2.7 million people.”

8 reshoringuk.co.uk NOVEMBER 2019

Engineering Capacity | INDUSTRY NEWS The recent Northern Manufacturing and Electronics show was up more than 10% on the previous event with 2,240 visitors.

The show, which took place on 2 and 3 October featured over 200 companies and organisations from a wide variety of sectors and specialities.

Northern Manufacturing & Electronics is the leading industrial technology exhibition in the North West, which is a region of particular importance to UK manufacturing. The North West is home to around a quarter of the UK’s £35bn aerospace industry and produces 12% of the country’s automotive manufacturing output, making it the second biggest region for automotive manufacture in the UK. The show’s profile in both of these important industries was enhanced by the involvement of their respective regional trade organisations, the North West Aerospace Alliance and the Northern Automotive Alliance.

Also involved were Composites UK, NetComposites, SMMT, CBM, BGA and the GTMA. Other key event partners were the Manufacturing Growth Fund and Made Smarter, offering practical advice on business development.

HMRC was also in attendance to help business prepare for crossborder trade, post-Brexit.

Visitor demographics for the 2019 show reveal significant increases in attendance from the aerospace industry, defence, electronics, medical technology and industrial machinery sectors.

NOVEMBER 2019

Northern show sets record Materials and composites, rapid prototyping, electronic assembly, sensors and toolmaking all saw significant upticks in interest, reflecting a wider interest in advanced manufacturing materials and techniques.

We have made contact with at least seven new potential customers that we would have unlikely met if we had not exhibited at Northern Manufacturing

‘‘

Although comparatively small compared to its sibling event, Southern Manufacturing, the show nevertheless proved extremely worthwhile for many exhibitors.

Atia Bukhari, marketing manager of Grenville Engineering, said, “Northern Manufacturing exceeded

our expectations with better quality leads and genuine interest in our services. Southern Manufacturing has been a successful show for us over the last few years and our debut at Northern Manufacturing has proved successful so far.”

David Sinclair, director of Yelo Ltd. commented, “We have made contact with at least seven new potential customers that we would have unlikely met if we had not exhibited at Northern Manufacturing.”

The next event in the calendar is Southern Manufacturing & Electronics 2020, which opens from February 11 to 13 at Farnborough International in Hampshire. Northern Manufacturing returns to EventCity on October 7 and 8 2020.

8 industrynorth.co.uk www.engineeringcapacity.com

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INDUSTRY NEWS | Engineering Capacity BVM has upgraded and futureproofed safety systems at the UK’s level crossings with a new LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) system.

There are more than 6000 level crossings in the UK’s rail network, and in 2017-2018 there were over 400 collisions or near misses between trains, vehicles and pedestrians. To improve performance and reliability of locally installed detection and monitoring systems, BVM was asked to upgrade and future-proof existing technology. The system is designed to detect obstacles on the ground and around the edge of the crossing barrier lines, with a LIDAR solution working as a complementary obstacle detector to the existing RADAR system and managing a CCTV monitoring system recording the whole crossing and the road traffic lights.

Given the installation location,

Safety on the level

vibration and temperature extremes were a significant consideration for a technically demanding system.

The physical size of the bespoke embedded computer was constrained by the existing solution. The new system is based on a Micro-ATX motherboard with an Intel i5 CPU processing a digital I/O card, a PCIe video card and 3G

!

"

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connectivity. After selecting the key system elements, 3D CAD models were created to design the aesthetics, i/o positioning and the thermal dynamics of the system before building prototypes. The system runs on a bespoke version of Windows Embedded Standard 7, with McAfee Application Control restricting running to listed applications only and protecting against malware. The BVM solution is a robust, stable embedded computer designed to run 24/7/365 in a safety critical environment under challenging environmental conditions.

By supplying a software and hardware integrated solution, the customer receives an ‘out of the box’ ready to run solution that is unpacked, plugged in and turned on with minimal set up required. BVM also provided in-house training around the embedded operating system to enable the customer’s engineers to be fully conversant with the details of the system.

8 bvm.co.uk NOVEMBER 2019

Engineering Capacity | PEOPLE

Trade Leads from the EIA The following FREE OF CHARGE trade leads for the UK engineering industry are currently appearing on the Trade Board pages of the Engineering Industries Association at www.eia.co.uk UK-Telford: Fasteners Supply of General Military Consumables — Fastener Spares.

Reference: 33167 Closing Date: 19/04/2020

Francesca Stockwell has been appointed by Newbury Electronics to the new role of Business Development Manager and expanded its offices and assembly facilities. Francesca has over 10 years' experience in the electronics sector in a variety of sales and business development roles.

Ola Tengroth will become the new CEO of Lesjöfors on 1 January 2020 as the current CEO Kjell-Arne Lindbäck retires at the end of the year. Ola is 55 years old and holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law.

UK-Swindon: Pipelines Replacement Cooling Water System and Installation.

Reference: 34061 Closing Date: 28/11/2019 CNC engraving and miling A German SME active in the development and manufacturing of CNC engraving and milling machines is looking for commercial representatives.

Reference: JV1352 Closing Date: 15/01/2020 Plastic parts and mould tools A Czech plastic injection moulding contract manufacturer has free capacity and is looking for new business partners for a manufacturing agreement.

Reference: JV1354 Closing Date: 15/01/2020

Helen Lightbody has been appointed as Chief Operating Officer at the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC). She will head up its operations as the AFRC continues to grow as part of the new National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS).

NOVEMBER 2019

Jo Wetz currently CFO at Element Materials Technology is to step up to CEO at the end of the year on the retirement of Charles Noall.

In his previous role as an investor at 3i, Jo alongside Charles, led the original buyout of Element in 2010.

Fasteners and bolts An Albanian manufacturer of fasteners and bolts is looking for partners for manufacturing, reciprocal production and distribution agreements.

Reference: JV1355 Closing Date: 16/01/2020 For more information please email head.office@eia.co.uk quoting reference number.

Please remember to use due diligence in responding to Trade Leads. Engineering Capacity provides you with the above information in good faith, but is unable to accept any responsibility or legal liability arising from any use of these leads.

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TURNED PARTS | Engineering Capacity Unicut Precision has added another pair of twin-turret, twin-spindle turn-mill centres for the production of complex components for the hydraulics industry.

The new Miyano BNE-51MSY machines from Citizen Machinery UK join two identical twin-spindle, twin-turret lathes with live tooling and a Y-axis on the upper turret that were supplied at the end of 2017.

Established in 1990, Unicut has been a turned parts subcontractor for most of its existence, progressing to CNC turning in 1993. However, in 2017 the company diversified into prismatic machining with the purchase of a multi-pallet machining cell, followed quickly by a second. A third cell is now on order for delivery later in 2019, which will be a record year for capital investment at ÂŁ2.3 million.

Over the years, Director Jason Nicholson has bought 104 CNC lathes, 93 of which were either Citizen Cincom sliding-head models or fixed-head lathes from Miyano, which merged with Citizen in 2011. Today, Unicut operates 22 Cincom lathes with up to 13 CNC axes, 80 cutting tools and 2,000 psi coolant pressure, as well as eight Miyano machines deploying up to 72 cutters. The machines are usually replaced every five to seven years to take advantage of the high residual value of the lathes at that age.

The key criteria for each purchase have been the combination of machine cost and achievable cycle times to 12

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More multi-axis machines

ensure lowest cost per part produced and the most rapid return on investment.

Unicut’s business model is to approach OEMs, analyse their main cost drivers, investigate the possibility of re-engineering

components for more efficient production, establish desired cycle times and then identify machine tools needed to machine components within those times and, subject to a long-term commitment from the customer, make that capital investment to become a strategic supplier.

80% of throughput at Unicut’s Welwyn Garden City factory is produced on this basis.

For machining larger diameter parts, a 51 mm capacity Miyano costs about the same as a top-end 32 mm Cincom slider. Unless a high component length-todiameter ratio dictates otherwise, Mr Nicholson prefers the fixedNOVEMBER 2019

Engineering Capacity | TURNED PARTS head option based on a number of factors including rigidity, thermal stability, value for money and speed. Bar capacity is greater, offering more flexibility; spindle power is higher, leading to increased productivity; cycle times are comparable; access is easy for setting up, despite the compact machining area; and the Mitsubishi control supports superimposed machining whereby three tools can be in cut at the same time for high productivity.

Once a BNE-51MSY is set, Mr Nicolson said that it will produce a run of say 1,000 components to very high accuracy without having to touch the machine by including macros in the program to offset tools automatically after a predetermined number of parts have been produced. Tolerances down to Âą 2 microns can be held, and surface finish is described as impeccable.

Mr Nicholson says that the

current weakness of the pound against overseas currencies has cut 20% off the price of components that Unicut exports and has boosted turnover, despite raw material and indeed the equipment on which to machine it being more expensive to buy. The firm's first order from China was delivered in August this year and exports overall currently account for 40% of turnover, up from 10 to 30% in previous years.

8 unicutprecision.com

Wealdpark Limited Stand number 5126

Subcontract Capacity #.# MILL TURN FACILITIES USING SLIDING AND FIXED HEAD LATHES WITH BAR CAPACITY UP TO MM DIAMETER -IYANO FIXED HEAD LATHES WITH BAR CAPACITY UP TO MM DIAMETER (URCO VERTICAL MACHING CENTRE 03, $ATATRACK MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

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

NOVEMBER 2019

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TURNED PARTS | Engineering Capacity Always looking for new ways to further its commitment to the environment, in August this year APT Leicester joined the Government’s Cycle to Work Scheme.

APT is already committed to environmental sustainability and has a long-term strategy for reusing and recycling as much waste as possible. It has also worked hard to ensure the packaging for its components is fully recyclable and it encourages reuse wherever possible.

This commitment extends to the workplace, where it makes it easy for employees to recycle all the plastic bottles, containers and cups they use.

The Cycle to Work Scheme is another way employees are helping APT to help the environment.

APT is no stranger to the bicycle.

It manufactures precision turned parts for bikes, including titanium screws and other moving parts.

Titanium is exceptionally light and strong, which makes it an ideal material for racing bikes.

As a supplier to the aerospace industry, APT holds the AS 9100 rev D accreditation. This means all

Cycling and recycling

Dany, Rob, Shaun and Carl with their new bikes

its precision turned parts, including those for bike frames, are manufactured to the AS 9100 aerospace quality standard.

The Cycle to Work Scheme has a number of clear benefits.

For the environment, it helps to reduce air pollution and traffic noise, while conserving our precious natural resources.

For participating employees, it provides low-cost travel, plus a chance to exercise and improve

Aerospace Oil & Gas Nuclear Defence

PRECISION ENGINEERING www.thomas-brown-engineering.co.uk Tel: 01484 548903

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Automotive Electronics Hi Fi

Industrial & High Volume Machining

their physical fitness. They can also choose to purchase a new bike, spreading the cost through salary deductions and saving up to 42% by getting the bike tax free.

For the rest of society, it means fewer cars on the road, reducing traffic, queues and congestion.

Since APT enrolled as an employer with Evans Cycles in Leicester, four of its 24 staff members have joined the scheme.

Sean and Rob were already keen cyclists who wanted to pursue their hobby through commuting and take advantage of the financial benefits to buy a new or different bike. Carl and Dany simply wanted to exercise and get fitter.

Before they joined, they were driving a total of 135 miles per week, to and from work. That’s 810 fuel miles, and counting, saved since the scheme began.

8 aptleicester.co.uk NOVEMBER 2019

Engineering Capacity | TURNED PARTS A new 600mm-swing turning centre from XYZ is helping A Fawcett Precision Engineers to offer a balanced machining capacity for current and future work.

The company’s policy of achieving this balanced portfolio gained fresh impetus when Joanne Thompson took over the running of the business from her father who retired in 2009. Joanne, who had worked part-time in the company for 15 years and had a background in the banking sector, instigated a new era and further investment followed.

Along with the investment came a change in focus with the company dropping the word Toolmaker from its title and adding Precision Engineering, which saw an increase in business from a much wider customer base, namely valve manufacture, which is central to the company turnover, as well as more diverse sectors such as aerospace, defence and automotive, as well as maintaining its toolmaking heritage.

This shift highlighted an imbalance in machining capacity that Joanne recognised had to be addressed. This revolved around the company’s turning capabilities. “When I took over the business from my father we did have a wide range of lathes, but all of them were manual and many were getting old and creating bottlenecks in production. To address this, we bought a second-hand CNC lathe, along with a brand new XYZ SLX 555 ProTURN lathe in 2012. And, while the XYZ SLX 555 is still with NOVEMBER 2019

Balanced turning capacity us and working well, the old CNC lathe had seen better days and needed replacing.”

This saw the arrival in March 2019 of a brand new XYZ TC400 turning centre, which with a maximum swing of 600 mm is the largest turning centre in the XYZ range. Built as a ‘workhorse’ with a 43 hp (32kW) spindle and axis travels of 275 mm and 650 mm (X and Z), based on a solid Meehanite, ribbed, cast frame and hardened Turcite coated box slideways, it was an ideal machine for the variety of work undertaken at A Fawcett, being capable of handling small to large components with ease. The Siemens 828D ShopTurn control also lent itself to the low- to medium-volume work that passed through the machine shop.

Now, following Joanne’s participation and graduation from

the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses programme, the incentive and confidence was there for further investment resulting in a further order being placed with XYZ Machine Tools.

This was for the latest ProTURN lathe, an RLX425, which was delivered in July.

“You have to be realistic and confident about what you can do for customers and not promise something you can’t deliver, that’s why we have continued to focus on the low-medium batch quantities in sectors that we have extensive experience. The XYZ machines meet our needs perfectly for that type of work,” says Joanne Thompson. “Having the machines has made us more cost-effective as a machine shop, reduced our labour costs and therefore made us more competitive.”

8 afawcettprecision.co.uk www.engineeringcapacity.com

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COMPOSITES | Engineering Capacity The world’s first commercially viable, low cost, lightweight, allcomposite wheel for electric and niche vehicles such as driverless cars, last mile delivery vehicles, road sweepers and next generation of agricultural vehicles could soon be a reality after winning grant funding of £135,500.

The ACRIM (All Composite Reduced Inertia Modular Wheels) wheel project - which is being developed by a consortium of UK composite experts comprising Carbon ThreeSixty, Far UK and Bitrez Ltd – won the funding after entering the Niche Vehicle Network competition.

Forecast to be 4kg lighter than a generic 8Kg 15-inch wheel, the all-composite wheel is predicted to provide efficiency gains of 5–10% representing a 5% fuel saving or a 5% CO2 reduction when retrofitted to a petrol or diesel powered- vehicle.

Over the next six months, the consortium – each of whom has an impressive automotive pedigree – will use the funding to move the all-composite wheel from proof of concept through to demonstration and production readiness.

Previously seen to be purely performance driven for racing and high-performance applications, lightweight carbon wheels are now being investigated by electric and niche vehicles and OEMs to further reduce fuel consumption, emissions, extend vehicle range and increase payload.

And with the wheel’s effectiveness set to be tested by two OEMs and a global Tier 1 wheel supplier - GKN, MeV and 16

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Composite wheel for EVs

Microcab – there is clearly a lot of interest in this project from the automotive industry.

Lead project partner, Edward Allnutt, Managing Director at Carbon ThreeSixty, which specialises in the design and manufacture of advanced composite structures, said: “Without funding from the Niche Vehicle Network this project would not have got off the ground. The funding is enabling us to further invest in R&D and accelerate the time to market for innovative products such as the ACRIMWheel. Support from organisations such as the Niche Vehicle Network and Innovate UK enables us to do just that. The partnership for this project represents some of the foremost experts in the UK composites sector working together to launch a truly revolutionary product."

Dominic Hopwood, Sales Manager at Bitrez Ltd, Europe’s leading manufacturer of specialist polymers and chemicals, said:

“We’re very proud to be the resin formulation partner for this project, developing high performance, REACH compliant matrix systems to meet the demands of process and performance, whilst also investigating how more sustainable materials can play their part. The all-composite wheel demonstrates how the industry is helping to reduce the world’s carbon footprint.

It’s lightweight and low-cost and will help save fuel, reduce carbon emissions and increase the number of miles an electric vehicle can travel.”

Lyndon Sanders, Sales Director at Far Composites, which specialises in the design and manufacture of lightweight structural composite components to reduce both weight and vehicle emissions, said: “We are looking forward to this project. It feels like a great team and a light-weight and cost-effective wheel especially for new energy vehicles feels like a great place to make a difference.”

8 carbonthreesixty.com NOVEMBER 2019

Engineering Capacity | COMPOSITES Rockwood Composites has delivered its 2,500th composite missile part to Roxel, Europe’s leading manufacturer of tactical propulsion systems.

This marks the half-way point of a contract which ends in May 2021 and the company will continue to provide parts at a rate of around 120 per month.

The suite of parts includes covers and screens for air to air and air to ground missile systems.

The complex features and overall thickness need to be tightly controlled. Parts are made from a high temperature glass-epoxy prepreg. Rockwood’s matched-metal compression moulding technique is ideally suited to these parts, providing precision high volume mouldings. All parts are fully CNC machined and supplied paint ready on a just in time basis Commenting on the partnership, Laura Woodcock of Roxel UK said: “Rockwood are consistently reliable, they produce the parts efficiently and deliver them on time and within budget – they did exactly what they said they’d do. It’s great working with them.”

Rockwood Composites Managing Director, Mark Crouchen, added: “As specialists in compression and bladder moulding, we have taken component manufacture to the next level. These processes allow an extraordinary variety of parts to be made with levels of complexity that other methods would find hard to match. The partnership with Roxel has enabled us to apply this technology consistently over years.”

Rockwood designs and NOVEMBER 2019

2500 missile parts… manufactures composite components using out-of-autoclave techniques compression and bladder moulding of pre-preg composite material in metal tooling.

They deliver cost effective solutions to technically demanding problems, showcasing first class quality components, promptly delivered into a wide range of sectors. …and more composite capacity Rockwood Composites has also increased its workforce by 50% and is building two new 100 tonne presses to meet growing aerospace demand.

Mark Crouchen said: “By increasing our workforce and our capacity we can ensure a continuing supply of complex, bespoke components to our customers and maintain the highest possible level of customer service.

“The composites industry, particularly the aerospace sector,

is experiencing rapid growth, and we are seeing this with more enquiries and more orders. We consistently reinvest in Rockwood to ensure we continue to supply our customers with dedicated engineering support so that they can fully benefit from the unique advantages of compression and bladder moulding.”

The new presses will be on stream in October. Presses are used to apply the heat and pressure needed to cure raw composites materials into components and structures. These are used in a wide range of industries including aerospace, defence, nuclear energy and medical technology.

In addition, the company has invested in a high-specification Hurco CNC machining centre to complement its increased laminating and pressing moulding capacity.

8 rockwoodcomposites.com www.engineeringcapacity.com

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5-AXIS MACHINING | Engineering Capacity

Composite and metal machining A pair of Hermle C 400 5-axis machining centres at contract machinist Global Technologies Racing are used to process metal and composite components with and without coolant.

Founded in 2003 jointly by John Biddlecombe and Simon Kingdon-Butcher, GTR is a leading manufacturer of laminated carbon fibre components for the motorsport sector in the UK, supplying most of the Formula 1 teams.

Metallic materials are also machined, and the components produced are to be found in all parts of a race car – chassis, transmission and engine. GTR caters for everything from concept and design through patterns and moulds to complete assemblies.

The first machine, with a coolant tank for 'wet' machining and an additional 50-pocket tool magazine to supplement the standard 38 cutters, was delivered in mid-2018. It was followed in February 2019 by a second model equipped with dust extraction for 'dry' machining of composite materials without coolant. Both machines have a trunnionmounted table that provides the fourth and fifth CNC axes.

Mr Kingdon-Butcher explained, “Wherever possible we avoid wet cutting carbon fibre, but some of the components produced at our Fontwell factory have aluminium or titanium inserts within their structure, depending on the customer's specifications.

20

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"In those cases, we have to cut in the presence of coolant to avoid the heat that would be generated if we were to machine metals without coolant. This ensures that the structural properties of the adjacent areas of composite are not affected."

Although 95% of the ISO 9001:2008 and AS 9100 approved subcontractor's turnover is derived from motorsport projects, there is a growing need to machine metallic parts for roadgoing supercars as well as for other industrial sectors such as defence, aerospace, medical and offshore. The Hermle machining centre with coolant is ideal for fulfilling those contracts and the, often complex, parts benefit from the machine's fully interpolative 5-axis contouring capability.

The 'dry' machining centre, which is preferred for producing a majority of the carbon fibre parts, is linked to a Hermle-built external extraction unit by a large diameter, flexible hose that is normally connected to a port on the side of the guarding so that composite dust generated during machining is continuously sucked away from the working area. However, to remove residual dust that can collect inside the machine, the operator can remove the hose nozzle from its mount and use it as a portable vacuum to clean the machine base, trunnion table and other surfaces.

Tolerances down to Âą 0.01 mm have to be held and while this is commonplace when machining metals, on carbon fibre parts it is challenging. GTR's success in this area is down to its long experience working with composites coupled with the rigidity of the Hermles, which avoids generation of harmonics when trimming thin carbon fibre sections.

8 gtrcomposites.com NOVEMBER 2019

Engineering Capacity | 5-AXIS MACHINING Stoneswood Precision Components has automated its 5-axis machining centre with a multi-pallet storage and retrieval system to allow unattended subcontract production overnight and at weekends.

The Hermle C 400 5-axis vertical machining centre, supplied by sole agent Kingsbury, has now been operating around the clock at the Duckinfield company, a member of the Hyde Group.

Stoneswood Precision's managing director Charles Day said: "We looked at four options before deciding to buy the Hermle cell. Its major differentiator is the ability to stop automatic production quickly and use the machine in manual mode to manufacture a one-off part. The other solutions we looked at could not achieve that easily.

"The flexibility it provides is already proving useful, as it is allowing us to machine fixtures during the day and simultaneously set up the HS Flex for lights-out running overnight.

The cell's connectivity also fits well within the Industry 4.0 environment that we are creating in our factory."

Stoneswood Precision's current facility was set up in 2004 to produce 450 different aluminium and titanium parts for a military aircraft, involving machining of mainly wing details. Already a user of several multi-pallet production systems based on horizontal machining centres, the subcontractor needed an additional system to fulfil a different contract for the NOVEMBER 2019

Cutting metal round the clock manufacture of aluminium control boxes.

Mr Day continued, "Apart from the control box work dictating the use of a 5-axis vertical machining centre, there are parts of other aerospace contracts that lend themselves to a vertical-spindle production platform and many new enquiries we receive also require such capacity.�

The specification of the Hermle cell includes an 18,000 rpm / 20 kW spindle, extended tool capacity from the standard 38 pockets by the addition of an

88-position magazine for HSK-A63 tools with breakage monitoring and measuring included, a Heidenhain TNC 640 control, 850 x 700 x 500 mm working area, +91 / -139 degrees trunnion swivel, 500 x 400 mm pallet size and capacity for 12 of them on two levels in the HS Flex store, which is served by a threeaxis pallet handling unit with rotary, lift and linear motions.

Currently, the Hermle C 400 HS Flex is devoted a control box contract, which entails supplying 300 assembled housings annually. All components are machined either individually on a pallet or four at a time on a tombstone, depending on size, from solid aluminium billet in two operations involving milling, drilling and thread milling cycles lasting up to two hours per side.

True position of the holes is now well within tolerance.

8 hydegroup.com www.engineeringcapacity.com

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5-AXIS MACHINING | Engineering Capacity

Medical orders drive investment Almond Engineering has purchased a second Hurco 5-axis machining centre with swivelling B-axis spindle as it invests to keep pace with new medical sector orders.

The company purchased the first machine, a VMX42SRTi, in 2016 when it doubled the size of its premises.

Managing director Chris Smith favours this style of 5-axis machining centre over the trunnion-mounted rotary table arrangement due to its versatility for tackling a greater variety of work, including 4-axis machining of large components.

Last year saw the arrival of a Hurco VMX30i, purchased with a 4th axis rotary table to speed setups, increase production efficiency and reduce delivery times, plus a larger 3-axis VMX60i with 1,525 by 660 by 610 mm working volume that significantly extends the size of component that can be machined on the Livingston site.

Overall spend in 2018 exceeded ÂŁ400,000 and half that figure is due to be spent again this year, including on new software.

Driving this level of investment was 25% growth in 2016/17, a further increase in turnover the following year and a predicted 19% rise this financial year. It is a pace that Mr Smith describes as "almost too fast" in view of the perennial difficulty in hiring skilled staff.

Much of the growth has come from winning new business from 22

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the medical sector in Scotland, such as the assembly of lines for producing contact lenses and the machining of parts for operating theatre equipment. The industry now accounts for 8% of the company's revenue by value.

Semiconductor firms across the central belt of Scotland are the other main sector serviced, while contracts are also received from the ever- resilient aerospace and defence industries. A hallmark of the subcontractor's service is significant design input into the mechanical engineering aspects of the contracts it undertakes.

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of its inauguration this year, Almond Engineering now operates eight Hurco machine tools, a TM8 CNC lathe with 8-inch chuck and seven machining centres. The latter form the vast majority of prismatic metal cutting capacity on site, the only other machining centre being a Bohner

& Koehle bought in the 1970s.

Organic growth at the Livingston company has resulted in the number of employees rising from 24 in 2011 to 37 currently, including three apprentices taken on recently.

Much effort is put into training the existing workforce and cooperating with local schools to promote engineering and STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) subjects with an eye to future recruitment of employees.

Most recently, in June 2019, Almond Engineering completed its first company takeover by acquiring the trade and assets of another Livingston company, Multex, which will see turnover increase by a further 16 per cent.

Established in 1991, the firm designs and manufactures test equipment for electronic circuit boards and has a number of customers that are common to those of Almond Engineering.

8 almond.co.uk NOVEMBER 2019

Engineering Capacity | FORMING & FABRICATION One of the most powerful flat-bed laser profiling centres to be installed in the UK for processing sheet metal has started operation at subcontractor ESP Laser Cutting. The machine is a ByStar Fiber 3015 with a 12kW fibre laser that can cut components from 3 metre x 1.5 metre sheet in a wide array of materials to a thickness of 30 mm.

Delivering one-fifth more energy to the metal sheet than Bystronic’s previous most powerful fibre laser (10 kW), the new source was expected to cut 20% faster. But what ESP's joint owners Steve McMillan and Paul Short have actually found is that productivity has gone up by a third thanks to a newly designed cutting head and improved cutting route software.

On one job, profiling of chain links from 10 mm mild steel sheet, ESP achieved a three-fold improvement in productivity compared to the 10kW machine it was previously produced on.

On that machine, which is still in use at ESP, the maximum output was 200 components per hour as there was not sufficient laser power to use nitrogen as the assist gas. Using oxygen instead meant that the cutting speed had to be reduced to get an acceptable edge quality.

By contrast, the 12kW machine produces 600 parts per hour, as the higher power allows the use of nitrogen and hence full profiling speed. There is the added advantage that cut edges are better, especially on the underside of the sheet, than when formerly using 'active' oxygen, as 'inert' NOVEMBER 2019

Supersized laser starts cutting

nitrogen does not react with the sheet material. ESP cuts at 6,900 mm/min when producing the chain links, although the machine is capable of 150 m/min on thin gauges and accelerates at 2.5g to minimise non-cutting time.

Steve McMillan said, "We started ESP 25 years ago with a 1.2kW CO2 laser cutter, buying a

second, 1.5 kW model four years later. We noticed a hike in productivity when the 6kW fibre arrived in 2013 and another when the 10kW version was installed three years later, which at the time was the first in the UK. However, the 12kW laser cutter is the best machine ever.�

8 esplaser.com

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

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23

The Hamilton branch of metal bending specialist Barnshaws has delivered 11 rolled steel cylinders for two deaerator vessels destined for the Johan Sverdrup oilfield in the North Sea. The customer – a leading supplier of vessels, tanks and piping to the offshore industry – has worked closely with Barnshaws in the past. When it came to deliver the 11 rolled cylinders for the deaeration vessels within a constrained timeframe, the supplier contacted Barnshaws.

Work was required to be carried out within 3 weeks, meeting transport arrangements and ensuring the deaeration vessels could be installed on the offshore platform as quickly as possible.

Barnshaws rolled 35 tonnes of steel plate at 16mm thickness to a

Spring in the air In order to provide the best possible trampoline experience, tension springs with ultimate properties are required. North Trampoline has, assisted by Lesjöfors, developed a premium product with the firmness and a long lifespan that professional jumpers require.

In North Trampoline’s development process of the Performer Revolution for jumpers with higher demands on performance, quality and safety, the existing spring solution needed to be refined and improved so it turned to Lesjöfors.

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Image courtesy of Equinor

FORMING & FABRICATION | Engineering Capacity

Offshore fabrication on a roll diameter of 3.8 metres, producing the 11 finished cylinders.

Offshore platforms are hazardous working environments where safety and space efficiency are of the utmost importance, so the rolled cylinders had to adhere to stringent quality requirements.

John Chalmers, Company Manager at Barnshaws' Hamilton Branch, said: "We were able to complete this work within the

allotted timeframe, while meeting the high quality standards of the offshore oil and gas sector. Our innate capability in precision curving metal fabrications means we can deliver bespoke fabrications of almost any size quickly, while our Scottish location puts us in an advantageous position for marine and offshore customers in the region."

8 barnshaws.com

Based on calculations of the previous springs, the project team found that the new springs needed a much longer stretching capability than before to achieve a softer jumping experience. There were also requirements of adjustable spring stiffness. Another vital component was the unique end design of the springs required in order to optimize the trampoline zone without sacrificing the high safety requirements.

“We rapidly produced a handful of prototypes with desirable properties. Then North Trampoline let some of Sweden's most qualified jumpers try the characteristics of each spring type and based on their reviews, the trampoline company decided

which spring type they wanted to proceed with”, says Henrik Berner, Technical Sales at Lesjöfors Industrifjädrar in Herrljunga, Sweden.

The Performer Revolution has been very well received by the market and is now available in several European countries with further expansion planned.

North Trampoline expects a top selling product in the premium segment. Thomas Hagel of North Trampoline said: “We are very pleased to collaborate with a Swedish supplier with extensive knowledge, efficient production and a very accommodating technical development support.”

8 lesjoforsab.com

NOVEMBER 2019

Engineering Capacity | FORMING & FABRICATION

A faster finish Optima Metal Services, a metal stockholder that also offers laser and bending services, is set to add three new 10kW lasers, a tube laser and new deburring and finishing machine. The total investment comes to around £1m.

The new Timesavers 42-1350RB series machine carries out deburring, finishing, edge rounding and laser oxide removal and removes a production bottleneck.

Optima’s Operations Manager, Andy Knowles, says. “Previously all our deburring and radiusing had been a manual process, which was subject to the usual human inconsistencies and was also time consuming. With the Timesaver we now get consistent quality and much faster.”

When Optima first viewed the Barnshaws Plate Bending has expanded its laser cutting capacity with the installation of a new Bystronic BySprint Fiber machine that can process ferrous and non-ferrous metals in sheets of up to 12 x 2 m.

The BySprint Fiber laser cutting unit specified by Barnshaws operates at up to 6 kW of laser power, which enables the machine to cut stainless steel up to 30 mm thick, mild steel up to 25mm and aluminium up to 25mm. Operated via touchscreen, the fibre laser can produce twice as much power from the same amount of current compared to a CO2 laser, making it highly efficient.

Ian Clark, Commercial Director at Barnshaws, was keen to NOVEMBER 2019

Timesavers machine there were some comments that the process seemed slow as work travelled past the rotating brushes on the vacuum conveyor. However, when applied to a working example where manual deburring a batch of parts was taking up to four hours to complete, the total time when using the Timesavers machine

reduced to 11 minutes. “This one job was enough to convince everyone that this was a good move to make and by our calculations the Timesavers 42-1350-RB is the equivalent of six operators manually deburring, these people are now able to transfer to other elements of the business with upskilling and training.”

“Deburring and component finishing is an important part of the service that we offer as standard to customers. Since the arrival of the Timesavers 42 RB series the quality of finish that we are achieving has been noted and commented on by customers.

More interestingly we are seeing work come back to us as a direct result of the consistent quality that we can now achieve,” concludes Andy Knowles.

8 optimametal.co.uk

Plate benders expand cutting discuss the new machine: "At Barnshaws, our machine capacity is what sets us apart from the competition. The new BySprint Fiber provides us with a winning combination of high precision and large capacity. Our press braking capacity is one of the largest in the world - so adding a flexible, highspeed laser cutting machine to our shop floor greatly enhances our services. We're a leading provider to the construction, marine, architectural and transport sectors – so our processing speed and product quality is very important."

Fiber laser cutting is inherently efficient, ensuring that our

manufactured products can now be delivered on reduced lead times. The increased laser cutting capacity and reduced power usage also translates to increased costeffectiveness, the benefits of which can be passed on as increased value to customers, especially on larger orders.

8 barnshaws.com www.engineeringcapacity.com

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MEASUREMENT, INSPECTION & TESTING SERVICES | Engineering Capacity An optical non-contact approach to in-process inspection has allowed a Cornish subcontractor to improve accuracy, speed throughput and offer more competitive pricing.

Established almost 70 years ago, David Paull (CNC) Engineering has built a strong reputation for delivering quality products. The often-critical components it machines are used across the marine, aerospace, defence, oil and gas, pneumatics, medical, leisure and tourism sectors, meaning form, function and safety cannot be compromised.

One key area identified by DP Engineering as prime for improvement was the quality control side of its operations. Due to the complexity of its products and the materials required to make them, the company has in the past been heavily reliant on manual inspection methods.

The time-consuming nature of this traditional approach was proving a major concern for a business with aspirations to increase its capacity and productivity. In addition, the subjective nature of manual measurement brings with it the risk of inaccuracy, as the process is neither repeatable nor quick enough to be applied to anything other than batch sampling.

To help meet its objectives, DP turned to VICIVISION UK – the leading supplier of optical, noncontact, turned-part measurement machines and quality control 26

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Measuring up for customers

systems across the UK and Ireland.

It installed the M309, a shop-floor ready system with wide measuring fields, impressive load capacities, high-resolution capabilities and intuitive software, designed to measure cylindrical components quickly and with absolute precision in the heart of the production environment.

DP Engineering’s Philip Anthony said: “We’re seeing the benefits on components which have a lot of external features.

Whereas we would use to have to check on different bits of kit – such as external lengths on a shadowgraph, contracer and height gauges – now it can all be done on one machine.

“There are features you can measure on the VICIVISION that you can’t measure on a co-ordinate measuring machine (CMM), so we use them in parallel.

“It’s aided our production. We

make our money from cutting metal, so any down time is a no-go, and the VICIVISION machine has certainly reduced our down time.”

Mr Anthony added: “The biggest thing for us is the in-process inspection – where you could do a sample size before, now you’re not limited as to how long things take.

There’s no issue with running a whole batch, let alone sample parts.

“It enables you to complete things a lot quicker and we’re able to offer a more competitive price as a consequence.

“Nothing can leave this building without being inspected, so as a whole our inspection department has grown, which is key to DP and the quality performance that we try to aim for.

“We asked ourselves how we were going to reduce our set-ups and down time – the VICIVISION machine has enabled us to reduce offsets and first-off inspection reports.”

8 dpengineeringltd.co.uk/ NOVEMBER 2019

Engineering Capacity | MEASUREMENT, INSPECTION & TESTING SERVICES Element Materials Technology has won a contract to provide on and off-site civil testing services for work done on one of the largest maritime industries and shipyard projects in the Arabian Gulf.

The four-year minimum contract is with SEPCO Arabia Company of SEPCO Electric Power Construction Corporation.

As part of the agreement Element will support SEPCO in the construction of Packages 4, 5, and 6 of the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services project at Ras AlKhair in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Element’s experts in the Middle East will establish an on-site testing facility for a minimum of four years and provide civil testing services for SEPCO’s three Packages.

Work will include soil testing, concrete and concrete aggregate testing, asphalt testing and inspection, construction materials testing, stone testing, and water testing.

Matt Hopkinson, EVP Oil & Gas and Infrastructure, commented: “We are delighted to continue our relationship with SEPCO; over the years, we have built a successful relationship with them and developed a strong presence in Saudi Arabia that continues to grow with this agreement.

“Our on-site experts will ensure that our client’s materials are safe, compliant, and fit for purpose as they embark on this crucial project.”

Nick Zhao, commercial manager at SEPCO, said: “We have been impressed with Element’s performance in the past NOVEMBER 2019

Shipyard testing for Arabian Gulf and are pleased to have signed this agreement.

“They have a proven capacity to handle megaprojects with a strong emphasis on safety and quality that will serve us well for the Complex build.”

Element is the largest global testing provider in the Middle East and the singular best partner for

one-stop-shop testing needs in Saudi Arabia. Engaged experts and specialist centres of excellence in the region deliver an advanced range of services, including civil testing services, non-destructive testing, chemical analysis, failure analysis, and mechanical testing.

8 element.com

www.engineeringcapacity.com

27

AEROSPACE & DEFENCE | Engineering Capacity G&P provides quality management to manufacturing companies across the globe, delivering inspection, rectification, technical and recruitment services. It works alongside OEMs and their tiered suppliers to increase quality levels, efficiency, profitability and to protect their reputations.

Although G&P has historically supported the automotive industry, it has successfully diversified into the aerospace sector to ensure optimum levels of quality are achieved. This is underpinned by G&P’s three guiding principles to reflect the sector’s requirements – protect, define and implement.

Core to this is protecting build-lines from disruption and poor quality, while maximising their production effectiveness.

This is achieved by defining the problem through measurement, analysis, audit and data.

From this, G&P then works with clients to develop a permanent fix, to improve quality levels and drive problems back to root cause to ultimately eradicate them.

In addition to the above, G&P also supports the aerospace sector with supplier capability assessments, technical document vetting, supplier improvement activities, containment services, fault analysis imaging and reverse engineering.

G&P has expanded their service portfolio to adapt to the demands, challenges and legislation surrounding the Aerospace industry to successfully 28

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FAIR support for quality

support clients. This includes assisting in the FAIR (First Article Inspection Report) documentation process used throughout the industry. The FAIR report is generated to confirm a product conforms to the necessary quality standards required.

G&P has a range of FAIR services available and can be tailored to suit customer requirements, these include: vetting customer or supplier FAIRs on an ongoing basis; vetting customer or supplier FAIRs on a price per document basis; compiling FAIR packs on behalf of a customer or supplier; and delivering FAIR training services with aftercare support.

These solutions can be provided on a full or part time basis and can

be based at either the client’s site or at G&P’s Hub based in Derby.

G&P has recently delivered FAIR services on a supplier’s site, who currently produce products for a major aerospace OEM, to help clear their FAIR submission backlog.

Within 2 months G&P improved the RFT (Right First Time) FAIR submission approval from 2.6% to over 80% and completely cleared the backlog. This was a result of actively working with and training problem suppliers to reduce recurring errors and nonconformances so that the first FAIR submission would be approved. As part of the service, G&P provided real-time data analysis of errors, end-to-end process time and iterations to correction.

8 gpqm.com NOVEMBER 2019

Engineering Capacity | AEROSPACE & DEFENCE Precision engineering firm JJ Churchill has announced a six-fold increase in the size of its tool room division to ensure quality and remove bottlenecks.

The factory has a range of state-of-the-art and traditional equipment to design and produce from first principles some of the most complex fixtures in a new, purpose-built facility.

Fixtures are a key bottleneck in the production of many aerospace components. JJ Churchill has invested heavily in this capability in order to have more control and guarantee quality in this highly technically demanding field.

The facility has a range of equipment, which was recently enhanced with a 3D printer, enabling the division to slash prototype designs and production from weeks to hours. Other capabilities include CNC mills, lathes and EDM wire erosion. As well as milling and turning, the division also puts each jig through a CMM to control quality, with automated part marking.

This initiative has freed up a lot of space which is now being

Massive tooling expansion devoted to the production of aerospace components, including the £70million contract with Rolls Royce announced at last year’s Farnborough Air Show.

JJ Churchill Design Engineer Matthew Smith said: “The most technically challenging problems in machining can be found in the design and production of fixtures for complex aerospace parts. And

that’s what we do at JJ Churchill – we focus on ‘sticky niches’, problems where the first reaction is ‘that can’t be done’. But we do it day in day out, producing fixtures that enable the company to hit our manufacturing schedules. We are continuously ramping up to meet the needs of our growing business.”

8 jjchurchill.com

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AEROSPACE & DEFENCE | Engineering Capacity Causeway Aero has achieved EASA Part 21G accreditation, the internationally recognised approval to manufacture aircraft parts and appliances that will be directly installed onto an aeroplane.

Gaining this aerospace accreditation is evidence of the extensive level of investment that Causeway has made in its business processes.

Michael Rice, CEO of Lisburnbased Causeway Aero, said, “This is fantastic news for Causeway Aero and allows the company to stride forward to the next level.

We’ve invested heavily in our new manufacturing and assembly facility at Lissue in Lisburn, both in people, systems, R&D and innovation and this accreditation means that our Seats & Interiors’ Division, formed to meet the growing demand of the industry, can get on with the work at hand and deliver for our customers.

“This approval enables a massive scale up for our interiors division to deliver galleys, composite closets, wardrobes and overhead bins, as well as wall and roofing panels, and of course, seating. Our Lissue facility is now actively producing seats, closets, class dividers and dog boxes at present and we are currently speaking with multiple customers who have composite interiors requirements. Alongside this we have recently developed a new galley build concept reducing build recycle times, customer lead times and assembly costs. This gives us a very unique selling proposition.

“Northern Ireland is known for 30

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Ready for boarding

Northern Ireland is known for being an aircraft interiors sector supply chain hub and with EASA Part 21G, we have the same necessary accreditation as Thompson Aero Seating, Collins Aerospace and Bombardier

‘‘

being an aircraft interiors sector supply chain hub and with EASA Part 21G, we have the same necessary accreditation as Thompson Aero Seating, Collins Aerospace and Bombardier.”

The company also received AS9100 Rev D multisite accreditation. Causeway is possibly one of very few, if not the only company, in Northern Ireland to have a multisite accreditation, given their sites in Bristol, as well as Lisburn. AS9100 is a quality management standard (QMS)

designed specifically for the aviation, space and defence industries. The accreditation promotes continuous improvement in the aerospace supply chain and ensures processes are accurate and consistent.

Michael continued; “These two approvals cover two different scopes of work and include our recently acquired Race Completions site in Bristol, as well as here in Lisburn. Both sites are now covered with both approvals. We are delighted that Causeway Aero is making its mark in the aircraft interiors market and this bodes very well for the future and our vision to be the best value Tier 2 Aero Integrator Solutions Provider in Europe, with a proven track record of quality, best total cost and on time delivery, every time.”

8 causeway.aero NOVEMBER 2019

Engineering Capacity | AEROSPACE & DEFENCE IPC Mouldings, based in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland, has become only the fifth business in the UK to achieve the SC21 Gold Award in the Aerospace Supply Chain.

The manufacturer which, this month is also celebrating 25 successful years as a supply chain partner in aircraft interiors, offers a range of services including mould tool design and manufacture, CNC machining, injection moulding using high performance engineering polymers and value add assemblies to aerospace, medical and other industries.

Managing Director of IPC Mouldings, Joanne Liddle, spoke of her delight at receiving the Gold Award. Joanne said, “We are thrilled to receive the SC21 Gold Award. This is an amazing achievement from an extraordinary team in IPC and reinforces our dedication to UK aerospace component surface finishing specialist, Fintek, has taken delivery of a second high speed, high accuracy stream finishing machine.

The OTEC Präzisionsfinish machine uses ‘Pulsfinish’ patented pulse drive technology and follows on from the delivery of a new generation OTEC stream finishing machine in July.

Fintek operations manager, Jamie Phillips explained, “The difference ‘Pulsfinish’ makes to mass finishing is substantial.

Pulse finishing produces rapid

NOVEMBER 2019

Joining the gold standard

quality and delivery, ensuring that the products and services we provide to customers are of the highest standard.

“We have exceeded expectations going from an SC21 Bronze in 2015 to a Gold Award in 2019. To reach this pinnacle of excellence within the space of four years is an incredible accomplishment. Our team has worked effortlessly to create a culture of continuous improvement in line with our values

and future vision for the company.

All processes and standards are met and continue to meet the required Gold framework.”

Joanne continued, “We would like to thank our sponsor, Collins Aerospace for their commitment throughout the SC21 journey. We would not have achieved the Gold Award without the continued support of this global leader in aircraft interiors.”

8 ipcmouldings.com

Fast accurate mass finishing relative motion between the media and workpiece by quickly changing the direction of rotation of the work holding heads in a programmed and controlled way. High speed acceleration and deceleration increases the finishing forces exerted on the workpiece making it possible to accurately and evenly deburr, round and smooth surfaces from Rpk 0.2μm to 0.1μm in under a minute.”

As with all OTEC equipment, precise process repeatability assures consistent component

surface finishing quality. A vital consideration for aerospace parts manufacturers.

Another important aerospace sector where ‘Pulsfinish’ is set to make a difference is the mass finishing of additively manufactured components.

Recently, Fintek used the system as part of a Innovate UK sponsored research project that brought together a team of experts under the leadership of Croft Additive Manufacturing.

8 fintek.co.uk

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AEROSPACE & DEFENCE | Engineering Capacity New independent testing has proven that Hardide-A tungsten carbide/tungsten metal matrix composite coating improves the fatigue life of metal components by 4.5% when compared to uncoated substrates.

Hardide-A also eliminates the need for costly secondary shot peening making the coating a significant advancement in materials optimisation for the aerospace and other industries where fatigue debit of surface coated metals is a problem.

The tests were conducted by Westmoreland Mechanical Testing and Research Ltd (WMTR), a leading aerospace qualified testing laboratory in the UK and USA. WMTR used the Rotating Bend Fatigue test method complying to BS ISO 1143:2010. This test is considered to be the most sensitive to the effects of surface treatment on fatigue properties. Samples of S99 steel were coated with Hardide-A to a thickness of 63-70 microns and hardness of ~950 Vickers, which are mid-value thickness and hardness properties for this coating type. The test was discontinued after 15 million cycles.

Traditionally, the fatigue debit after hard coatings such as hard chrome plating (HCP) and HVOF coatings have been applied can be as much as 60% and only following shot peening of the coated surface can this be reduced to around a 20% debit. The Hardide-A coating recorded a fatigue life increase of +4.5% after coating without any need for shot peening. The Wöhler S-N curve for the coated samples is clearly positioned above the 32

www.engineeringcapacity.com

Carbide coating improves fatigue

uncoated control samples’ curve by ~40 MPa throughout the whole range of the N cycles to failure.

Fatigue debit of surface-coated metals has been a long-standing problem for the aerospace industry - Hardide-A was developed specifically to meet the needs of the sector. This environmentally compliant and technically superior replacement for HCP and HVOF coatings provides enhanced protection against corrosion and chemically aggressive media, wear, galling, fretting and fatigue.

Dr Yuri Zhuk, technical director at Hardide Coatings commented: “Metal fatigue is an enduring problem in aerospace as well as for the steam, and industrial gas turbines industries and we recognised the value in commissioning independent testing to verify the fatigue advantages of Hardide-A.

“The positive 4.5% improvement to fatigue life provides the detailed analysis and assurance that our solution is an improved alternative to traditional HCP and HVOF coatings. Unlike these other coatings, Hardide-A has no through micro-porosity, so creating an excellent barrier against corrosion as well as improving fatigue performance.”

Hardide nanostructured coatings have been approved by Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo Helicopters. Applied by low temperature chemical vapour deposition (CVD), they can coat both internal and external surfaces, and complex geometries.

Hardide coatings can be applied to a wide range of metallic substrates including ferrous and nickel-based alloys, and most grades of stainless and carbon steels.

8 hardide.com NOVEMBER 2019

Engineering Capacity | AEROSPACE & DEFENCE Aerospace and defence engineers looking to reduce weight and improve efficiency, whilst maintaining reliability and lowering whole-life ownership costs, should consider the many benefits of aluminium matrix composites (AMCs).

AMCs offer enhanced product capability around performance, mobility, sustainability and reliability, and are ideal for specific applications, such as struts, linkages, panels and tubes for use in land, sea and air systems. AMCs also offer superior properties over traditional metals and polymer matrix composites, such as carbon fibre.

A recent aerospace study found that AMCs have a higher specific strength and stiffness (weight to strength and stiffness ratio) than aluminium, steel and titanium.

These traditional materials are typically used in linkages and structures that are highly loaded and require low weight for efficiency, while being safety critical.

AMC manufacturer, Alvant, recently completed the study, facilitated by Innovate UK, and lead

by Safran Landing Systems, which enabled the design, manufacture and testing of an AMC brake rod.

Current landing gear systems are typically stronger and heavier than necessary, accounting for approximately three per cent of aircraft weight, with a corresponding effect on fuel consumption. The materials used need to provide high strength, high stiffness and low weight with the potential for enhanced damage tolerance while NOVEMBER 2019

Composite metal solution maintaining specific thermal and electrical properties.

The project, titled ‘Large Landing Gear of the Future’ saw a brake rod created from an AMC variant known as ‘AlXal’, which offered: 5 Enhanced capability replacement of titanium break rod reduced weight by 40 per cent whilst retaining strength 5 Raw materials cost savings - a sample large aircraft landing gear component made using titanium has a raw material cost of £50k, selectively using AMC material can reduce this to £10k (vs £40k for carbon composites) 5 Operating cost savings - the AlXal brake rod achieved a 0.6% reduction in aircraft weight (a 1% weight reduction equates to 1% per annum fuel reduction, yielding around £10m per annum cost savings for a large airline) 5 Maintenance/ repair cost savings – if a large airline operates three flights per day per aircraft with average airfare per trip of £270, the cost for one day’s maintenance across the

fleet is approximately £23m in lost revenue. AlXal has an x4 increase in fatigue strength vs aerospace grade aluminium.

Compared to an aerospace grade aluminium Alvant’s AlXal material has been customer tested and increased in fatigue life to failure from 100k cycles, to 4.7million cycles during a back to back test.

Beyond landing gear, Alvant’s AMCs can be precisely tailored for stiffness, strength and density as well as thermal and electrical properties. It is also possible, by using the manufacturers unique Advanced Liquid Pressure Forming (ALPF) method, to selectively reinforce areas of a mechanical component with these high-performance materials in a near net shape manufacturing approach. Alternatively, Alvant’s materials can be cost-effectively applied as discrete inserts into a component where an array of similar inserts meets the performance requirements.

8 alvant.com www.engineeringcapacity.com

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Qualiturn are a very modern subcontract machining service. We offer CNC precision Turned and Milled components to your specifications and quantities. We work with all sizes of customers, offering the same service to all. Supplying various market sectors across the world.

18 Merchant Drive Mead Lane Industrial Estate Hertford, Hertfordshire SG13 7AY Tel. +44 (0) 1992 584499 www.qualiturn.co.uk

LATHES.CO.UK Lathes.co.uk store.lathes.co.uk - where Manuals, Catalogues Drive Belts Books Accessories & Spares are listed The world’s largest machine tool reference archive. Manuals, Catalogues, Books, Pictures Specifications, Technical Guides Wardlow, Tideswell, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 8RP Tel. 01298-871633 (from overseas: +44-1298-871633) from 09:00 to 23:00 UK time www.lathes.co.uk

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MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS 8

Qualiturn Products Limited

PRECISION ENGINEERING 8

Mini Gears is a subcontract manufacturer of machined components, gears and racks.

Winner of 17 Industry Awards, it has a global customer base, 35,000 sq. ft. facility and over 100 machines.

Top Gear House, Bletchley Road Heaton Mersey Industrial Estate Stockport SK4 3ED Tel: 0161 432 0222 www.minigears.co.uk

PSL Datatrack PSL Datatrack is an affordable, modular production control system.

The software streamlines the entire production process from quotation to invoice encompassing sales orders, purchasing, planning, shop floor, quality, financial and management.

Lily Hill House, Lily Hill Road, Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 2SJ Tel: 08456 345931 www.psldatatrack.com

PRECISION ENGINEERING 8

MACHINE TOOL MANUALS 8

CNC PRECISION COMPONENTS 8

Unit 2, Deethe Farm Industrial Est, Cranfield Rd, Woburn Sands, Milton Keynes, Bucks MK17 8UR Tel: 01908 585103 www.jflbroaches.co.uk

Mini Gears (Stockport) Ltd

PRECISION ENGINEERING 8

JFL are broach and broaching specialists with amost 40 years personal experience. We offer a comprehensive broaching service covering keyways, squares, hexagons and special forms.

DAWSON PRECISION COMPONENTS Manufacturing precision machined components since 1965 Services include: CNC milling, CNC turning, turn/mill machining, sub contracted services, finishing and project management.

Greenfield Lane, Shaw, Oldham, Lancashire, OL2 8QP Tel: 01706 842311

dpc.co.uk

PRECISION ENGINEERING 8

JFL Broaches and Broaching

MACHINING (5 AXIS) 8

BROACHING 8

DIRECTORY | Engineering Capacity

5 High quality precision machined components 5 Trusted technical support service 5 Complete and bespoke service from conception to completion 5 AS9100D & ISO 9001:2015 approved Oldfield Street, Crosland Moor Huddersfield HD4 5AJ T: 01484 548903 www.thomas-brown-engineering.co.uk

Wealdpark Ltd CNC mill-turn facility using Star sliding head lathes with bar capacity up to 32mm diameter.

Miyano and Doosan fixed head lathes with bar capacity up to 65mm.

Hurco vertical machining centre.

Sutton Road, St. Helens Merseyside WA9 3DJ Tel: 01744 22567 www.wealdpark.co.uk

NOVEMBER 2019

APT Leicester, Leicester, the ar artt of precision precision..

Precision Turned Turned P Parts arts

WATERJET CUTTING 8

13 - CNC Sliding Heads up to 1”; 14 CNC Twin Turret Fixed Heads up to 65mm; 5 - Twin Turret Twin Spindle; 5 - Twin Turret with Sub-Spindle and 4 - Twin Turret; 4 - CNC Single Turret Fixed Heads up to 6” Billet.

Centreless Grinding & T/rolling. All materials - Stainless Steel; Nickel Alloys and other exotics a speciality.

Prestwood Place, East Pimbo, Skelmersdale, Lancashire WN8 9QE Tel: 01695 727401 www.kirkhamengineering.co.uk

SUBCONTRACT CNC TURNING 8

Kirkham Engineering Co Ltd

ICEE Comprehensive fabrication facilities offering complete turnkey solution.

Design, Precision Engineering, Sheet Metal Fabrication and Welding.

Prototypes, one off or batch work.

Waterjet Capacity: 4m x 2.25m & dash; materials up to 230mm depth.

Aluminium Alloy Specialists.

20 Arnside Road, Waterlooville, Hampshire PO7 7UP Tel: 023 9223 0604 www.icee.co.uk

CNC Milled Components Parts Assembly Parts Subcontract Machining

Grenville Engineering (Stoke-on-Trent) Ltd

AS AS 9100 & ISO 9001

With more than three decades of experience and dedication in producing the highest quality products, Grenville maintains its position as the leading precision sheet metal fabrication company.

Unit 3 Newfield Industrial Estate, High Street,Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent ST6 5PD Tel: 01782 577 929 www.grenville-engineering.co.uk

Simpson Springs & Pressings Ltd Precision manufacturers of a wide range of compression tension and torsion springs. Also circlips, wireforms, contacts, antennas and light pressings. Quality approved to BS EN ISO 9001:2000.

Unit 1, Latimer Road Industrial Est, Latimer Road, Wokingham, Berkshire RG41 2YD Tel: 0118 978 6573 www.simpsonsprings.co.uk

NOVEMBER 2019

Design & Engineering Support Service

ity eering Capac TS | Engin COMPONEN MACHINED

ts g suppor Mill-turnin oach lean appr

year half of this In the first has committed to ing Roscomatic investment, includ More than Engineering of 1000 latest Capacity | £750,000 medium-size small to INDUSTRY ation of the axis NEWS the install (SMEs) have d manufacturers 1MSY multibeen given Miyano BNE-5 . business a centre boost turn-mill ing-based months thanks over the last ten company The Worth to a new £9.7m business machinist suppor million parts subcontract The Manufa t initiative. some 1.5 eted ches dispat Programme cturing Growth g from compl lies (MGP), funded ssemb a year – rangin European and sub-a Regional Develo by the assemblies ned castings and Fund (ERDF) pment to large machiparts – and is Economic and delivered by Growth Solutio small turned ing a record has helped achiev companies ns (EGS), 98%. currently the UK to across 13 mins to just ry rate of grow, Martello from on-time delive products and develop been cut new r complex director Joe is driven overcomemins. A furthe nent which ny Managing Keet says: the compa r Seanproduc tion ity 2.5 issues steel compo taking flexibil explains that of constant Cell Leade that ional sly previou weress stainle g ions phy of operat d us them holding by a philoso of lean manufacturin three operat reduced to a “The levels o BNE has hadback.

Thisenable has ning now developmentsupported by machialready led tominutes is in the Miyan reduce jobs, with new inute cycle. ent an additio 11 400, four-m cantly ing £1 techniques, signifi tant, nal to vestm exceed positio 359 ’ often most impornstivity.” expected to single return-on-in setters to investment and an ‘open-liaison times and be Further once -up l produc ongoinne year has s createdfrom freeing g project keeps the million a from the improve overalcomple machi are which comes y new tasks and ted.machi By thenes people strategto date on the He says the£1.6m end July, m other time for each up of grant ium of perfor existing 3-axis arising. ion of lost reducing the workforce replaced beenofmade, utions 10 alumincontrib reduct have and any issuesin tion, four family withedmoney errors We’ve company requir so that a to suppor first-off inspec reloca gottion “We invest ass. te in place andstill previouslyt anothe lot of grants He says: deliver a separa r 2200 firms parts that betwee to and we want risk of setting and the latest n and leadership nownow work in progre g operations beMarch 1MSY and which manuf automation cutting and manag logy turnin and Lorrain ion can techno of the BNE-5 s to come ge of ement, R&D, lean ityacturer le e Holmes, cycle.2019. operat and see production manufacturin it is capabforward The flexibil Chiefe me the shorta er, milling Execut how turn-milling s asthey productivity g, can take ed in oneive Officer its succes toadvant helps to overco require. Howev ofaverag that EGS, produc and capacit key is with three age explain is of would cuttingthe ed: “We are has systems and ve bonus at y, quality assista cycle pped we still need offer. nce skills we A massi part way above of single It’s never on targets tant that sly overla the we per times beenateasier, development.supply chain have set for the as the procesaneou it is so imporown engineers total cycle s isworkp proving that ourselves,tools simult quickiece and the Martin Coats, there is a rt and by to grow our ends oftacan bar up toscope of real appetit both suppor from SMEs nt suppo Operations be tailored our Director at and using e exact for time, to the through consta to maximise EGS, continu needs ofter. support that targeted business same in order the busine firms come so ed: “When diame can bar and training, help The main ss.” to them grow. 51 mm Manufa “The differen 15 kW vestment what eadcturing strategic reviewus they receive a Progra return-on-in we support and kW The fixed-h mme programme ce with our is 7.5Growth from one of was set MGMs that two-ax is that it is upwith our the void e and improve how customers.” to fill determ spindl by deliver both left manufacturin e, Manufa ines what by the o r to ed barriers are spindl Advicedary g experts we delive n to the new Miyan d in the way secon Service (MAS) understand s of 5,000 cturing support is and what the challen who y ordere In additio by tage of um speed advan providi needed to maximng companies ges access to ny has alread help them reach their are facing. specia in, have the assista the compa CNC sliding head listed potenti impos revs/m nce They understand to d / super “Since Octobe al. manufacturer the langua nes. The to synch ronisehelp two Citizen grow and ge improv12-station, s centre machi L20-VIII MDs are talking highest barrier r 2016, the l for both e. Ideal for turn-mill and can guide This contro is being with 15% . nes, a Citizenfrequency them on making was ‘Contin achieve ven turrets an 18-stro d through two machi low uous Improv of clients all-dring adecisions, before the right featuring network of followed by ement’, logy) and experie LFV (LFV bringin ‘Enviro techno 2017 specialists nced manuf BER ‘Marke nment cutting on specific g in acturin SEPTEM ting and Market al’ and growth manag vibration ange M16-V will bring g issues are facing 14. ers (MGM) Knowledge’ ations to they’re or opportunities they to industr top-of-the-r (12% each). y specialists , access Citizen install looking initial stage Once the and the opportunity the total has She continu to explore.” to we then bring been completed, ed: “1000 m average grant apply for an acity.co benefic ringcap of £1400, rising iaries is just works with in an expert who maximum the manag the start. www.enginee to a to £3,500 14 ement team address these Support can . be used for 8 manufacturin issues.”

SEPTEM BER 2017 programme.c ggrowth o.uk

Growth su helps 1000pport SMEs

www.engineerin gcapacity.com

TURNED PARTS 8

SPRING MAKING 8

SHEET METAL WORKING 8

REPETITION TURNED PARTS 8

Engineering Capacity | DIRECTORY

5

Get your company noticed with an Engineering Capacity classified profile advert FOR MANUFACTURERS ABOUT SUBCONTRACTORS

September 2017

INDUSTRY NEWS | MACHINING | AUTOMOTIVE | SHOW PREVIEWS

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FREE SEMINARS FREE PARKING

FARNBOROUGH | Hants | GU14 6XL

11th | 12th | 13th FEBRUARY

9.30am – 4pm (3.30pm close Thurs)

Where Industry and Innovation converge Meet over 800 national and international suppliers at the Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre this February at Southern Manufacturing & Electronics (inc AutoAero) 2020. See live demonstrations and new product launches of machine tools & tooling, electronics, factory & process automation, packaging & handling, labeling & marking, test & measurement, materials & adhesives, rapid prototyping, ICT, drives & controls and laboratory equipment.

Free industry seminar programme online @ www.industrysouth.co.uk

O I L & G AS DEFENCE F O O D & D RI N K AU T O SPO RT MARI N E A E R O S PAC E PAC KAG I N G L O G I ST I C S E L E C T RO N I C S AU T O MAT I O N RO BO T I C S ME D I C AL C O MPO SI T E S

The exhibition is free to attend, free to park and easy to get to. Doors open at 9.30am on Tuesday 11th February.

PRE-REGISTER TODAY for your Fast Track Entry Badge, Preview Magazine and Event Catalogue at

www.industrysouth.co.uk Supported by:

SPAC E E N G I N E E RI N G RAI L T RAN SPO RTAT I O N

SOUTHERN MANUFACTURING & ELECTRONICS is an ETES event organised by European Trade & Exhibition Services Ltd

Tel 01784 880890 · email philv@etes.co.uk