Engineering Capacity November 2022 digital edition

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Editor’s View

The answer is T-levels, and if you didn’t know then you aren’t the only one.

T-levels were launched around two years ago by the Government and were backed by hundreds of businesses that help to shape the courses to prepare young people for today’s job market. They combine classroom teaching with a 45-day industry placement.

As well as technical skills, the work experience also allows young people to learn teamwork, communication and understand what is required in the work environment. They are also a good option if a child only has a rough idea of what career they want to follow.

Sixteen different T-level courses are available a schools and colleges around the country. They include: Design and development for engineering and manufacturing, Digital production, design and development, and Engineering, manufacturing, processing and control. What’s not to like? as they say.

Well, you need to know about them before you can like them, which is why recent research by Engineering UK is a bit disheartening.

Only 35% of 14 to 18 year olds had heard of them, and among those aged 11 to 14 it was only 30%. If you haven’t heard of T-levels you are hardly likely to choose to do them. And what about parents? Only 27% of them had heard of the qualification and only 18% said they knew a fair amount about them – so they are hardly likely to encourage their children to take them up.

Employers had a higher level of awareness – 72% – but less than a third had both heard of them and knew what they involve. The target is for 43,500 industry placements by 2024/25, so there is a lot of work still to be done.

Find out more at tlevelinfo.org.uk

What take two years, are the equivalent of three A-levels, combine theoretical knowledge with practical experience and could deliver the young skilled workforce the country needs?

Andy Sandford, Editor

Member of the Engineering Industries Association

NEC, the successor to the Newburgh Engineering Company, has become an Employee Ownership Trust.

Newburgh was founded in 1939 by Isaac Middleton, grandfather to current chairman, Vince Middleton.

Vince Middleton, said “As a third-generation family business our people have always been an important part of our company and the decision to become an Employee Ownership Trust rewards our team and gives them a say in the future development of the business.”

David Greenan, Sales Director said “The move to being an Employee Ownership Trust is part of our succession planning strategy to secure the future of the business. I have been with the business for 48 years, having started as an apprentice in 1974, I am planning to retire in the next couple of years and so we are bringing through people to lead the business.”

As part of the process of becoming an Employee Ownership Trust the company advertised for a member of staff to apply to join the Board of Directors, following an interview process, 25-year-old apprentice trained engineer, Matt Keeley was appointed to the Board in January 2022.

As part of the investment in what NEC sees has the future management team of the business, both Project Manager, Paul Wildgoose and newly qualified Engineer, Matt Keeley have now started an online MBA.

Employees take over at NEC

This will assist both of them in their new roles as Paul is now on the Board of Trustees as part of the new Employee Ownership Trust and, as previously mentioned, Matt has joined the operational board of the business.

Former MP, Richard Caborn is Chair of the Board of Trustees, Richard trained as an engineer, working in Sheffield engineering companies in the 50s and 60s and has maintained an involvement with the sector throughout his time as an MP.

Advisors on the EOT Chris and Samantha Sellars from Hentons Corporate Finance and Hentons Legal said “We were delighted to work with the management team on the transition to employee ownership, the business has an outstanding legacy of engineering

excellence, and we are sure this change to an EOT will support a long and successful future.”

Employee ownership is one of the fastest growing business succession solutions in the UK, where there are now more than 1,000 employee-owned businesses, with the sector more than doubling in the past three years.

The fast pace of growth amongst businesses has taken off with the use of the employee ownership trust (EOT), introduced by the government in 2014 to encourage long-term employee ownership, and one in every 20 private company sales is now to an EOT, with NEC joining a network of EOTs in the South Yorkshire that include Gripple, HLM Architects and Airmaster. 8 nec-ltd.co.uk

PP Control & Automation (PP C & A) will provide complete electrical build services on two plants that will produce protein from fish waste.

The Hedinn HPP-10000 lines are destined for Sildarvinnslan, Iceland’s biggest fishmeal and fish oil producer. This €11m project coincides with the fifth year of PP C & A’s relationship with Hedinn.

Capable of turning 380 tonnes of fish waste and offal into high quality protein meal and oil for animal feed, the plants are the largest ever delivered and will involve PP C&A assembling sensors, prefabricated cables, junction boxes and I/O cabinets, labels for sensors and motor isolator switches.

The technology here utilises significantly less energy than existing traditional methods, is 30% more compact and has 30% fewer components. Importantly, it also offers the dual benefits of increased profitability and greener environmental performance, attributes very much in demand.

Tony Hague, CEO of PP Control & Automation, picked up the story: “Hedinn was our first involvement in the fishing industry and the relationship underlines how a lot of the values of strategic outsourcing transcend all sectors.

“By working with a specialist, we have given it access to skill, capability and capacity, which, in turn, has led to faster builds, improved product quality and the ability to cost-effectively scale.”

He added: “As the partnership

Fish meal deal

has developed, we have also collaborated to look at standardising some of the manufacturing processes across all its different protein plants. This can only be done so far, but we have certainly reached a stage where increases in volumes can be easily met.”

Ragnar Sverrisson, Managing Director of Hedinn, added his support: “The Sildarvinnslan deal is a major project for our business and one we can deliver on time and to budget thanks to our team of experts and the support we receive from PP C&A.

“As a strategic partner, it has access to our whole electrical package, which means it holds a comprehensive understanding of the requirements for each build and any customisation that needs

to be incorporated. The workmanship is second to none and wiring faults are virtually non-existent, which gives us great confidence and a significant commercial advantage.”

Since the first project, PP Control & Automation has helped produce the HPPm-2000, HPP5000, HPPsh-300 and HPP15000, a mixture of land and at sea solutions for using 100% of fish waste and offal to produce high quality protein meal and oil for animal feed.

The partnership has evolved so that Hedinn can importantly focus more of its time and resource on the design and development of its plants, as well as providing a quality service to its growing legion of global customers.

8 ppcanda.com

Automechanika Birmingham has announced a new-look Automotive Supply Chain Forum that will focus on innovation and opportunity

The Forum, run in association with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) will be held alongside Automechanika Birmingham from 6th - 8th June 2023 at the NEC.

The event takes place amid fast-paced changes on the automotive supply chain horizon, and will offer key insights into the opportunities available to help future-proof the industry.

Simon Albert, managing director of event organisers Messe Frankfurt UK, said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with SMMT to bring the supply chain together at this new-look, dedicated trade event. The Forum looks to spark insightful conversations amongst key industry professionals and provide them with a platform to discuss the upcoming challenges and opportunities that the sector faces.”

The Automotive Supply Chain Forum will also explore how UK manufacturing is bringing more global productions back to domestic sites to address supply chain challenges caused by the legacy of the Covid pandemic, logistic pain points, global disruption, and ongoing UK-EU regulation complexities following Brexit.

As powertrains shift to zero emission, and vehicle designs are constantly required to innovate, the Forum brings suppliers

Forum gears up for change

face-to-face with those at the forefront of developing new technologies, to explore opportunities and to win business.

The Forum will also see the return of the SMMT Meet the Buyer programme, which enables one-to-one meetings between aftermarket suppliers and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and tier-one buyers.

Event themes will focus on

challenges and opportunities presented by electrification and battery technology, light weighting, sustainability and netzero, supply chain logistics, industry 4.0 and digitalisation, skills and talent retention.

The Automotive Supply Chain Forum is co-located with six other engineering events, including M&E week, Subcon and TCT 3Sixty. 8 uk.messefrankfurt.com

4m parts placed a month

Guernsey-based Offshore Electronics has added a fast pick and place machine that will effectively double the number of parts placed each month to four million.

The Yamaha Z:LEX YSM20R modular pick and place machine is said to be the fastest in its class at 95,000 component placements per hour and will allow the company to ship a far greater number of boards to OEMs every day.

Accommodating a wide range of production formats, the YSM20R features two types of new heads, developed to give a one-head solution, allowing compatibility with a wider range of components without the need for head replacement. The wide range of chip and component sizes that the YSM20R can process offers limitless expansion from ultra-tiny chips to large and odd-shaped components – with an improved wide-scan camera on the head, the YSM20R can mount components from 0.2 x 0.1mm up to 12×12mm. The smallest components are roughly the same size as a grain of sand.

Alongside this investment, Offshore Electronics has also added the Yamaha YSM10 mounter and Heller 1707 MKiii reflow oven to its production line. Together these three units replace an older Philips Topaz placement machine, a Blundell forced air reflow soldering unit and a Philips Emerald placement machine.

The upgrades will ultimately improve production time and accuracy as the company seeks to expand its portfolio across consumer electronics, control and instrumentation, and other key markets. Reducing bottlenecks is particularly important in the current climate, with many OEMs facing long delays from supply chain disruption stretching back over two years. The new machines will also make the company more flexible by sharing programs for different products. This in turn will make it easier for operators to move between different assemblies and train up new members of staff. Perhaps most important of all, the new lines will make it more attractive for OEMs to place high-volume orders with Offshore, with

throughput times much lower than before.

Steve Marshall, Managing Director at Offshore Electronics said: “The YSM20R is an impressive surface mounter and, as one of the fastest and most accurate machines of its type, will help us to maintain our competitive edge as a leading site for complex PCB design and assembly. We are always looking for ways to improve our business in terms of productivity and efficiencies, with particular focus on our production facility so that in partnership with our customers we can provide the varied and highquality PCBs they need, on time and on budget. The YSM20R PNP will support the high-level service that our customers demand.”

8 offshore-electronics.co.uk

In the face of rising energy prices, coupled with political and economic uncertainty, the latest Contract Manufacturing Index (CMI) reveals that the UK subcontract manufacturing market held steady in the third quarter of the year.

The CMI for Q3 2022 was 102, compared to 101 in Q2 2022, an increase of 1%.

Compared to the equivalent quarter last year the market was down 13%. Overall the market was marginally up on the average level of activity during 2021.

Within the top line figures the market in September was around 40% lower than July and August, but initial indications are that the market it is picking up again in October.

The CMI is produced by sourcing specialist Qimtek.

Comparing types of subcontracting, there were sharp differences between machining and fabrication.

The machining market dropped sharply throughout the quarter, falling by two thirds from July to September, but was still up 20% on the previous quarter.

In contrast, fabrication held relatively steady across the quarter, but was down 6% on the previous three months.

Machining accounted for 39% of the total market with fabrication accounting for 54%. Other processes, such as moulding and assembly accounted for the remainder.

Commenting on the figures, Qimtek owner Karl Wigart said: “Although the overall

Subcontract market steady

figures suggest that the market has steadied, there is still a lot of turbulence and uncertainty out there.

“The quarter started well but September was very slow across all categories due to a lack of activity in the market. Buyers were obviously waiting to see

what the new government would bring and the market was also disrupted by the sad news of the Queen’s death.

“October is much better but we have many buyers who are still waiting for clarification and are postponing new projects.” 8 qimtek.co.uk

Tin market solders on

The latest research by the International Tin Association shows that use of the refined metal grew 7.6% in 2021, with nearly half used in solder, with solar ribbon emerging as a major new application.

The total usage was 389,500 tonnes with a strong recovery to pre-trade war highs, but inflation is expected to impact on demand in 2022.

Solder still accounts for the largest global share of tin use, increasing slightly to 49% in 2021. Global average growth of refined tin use in this sector was 12.2%. 2022 forecasts reflect the impact of inflation on consumer segments: an average decrease of -3.7% is expected globally, with a larger effect in China.

Solar ribbon now represents 10% of solder production and is emerging as a major new use. Respondents are still optimistic about longer-term prospects for increased use in solar, 5G, electric vehicles, and other new technologies.

The average proportion of lead-free solders in electronics grew to 86% globally in 2021, up from 80% in 2020. 65% of tin use globally in lead-free solders was specified at <100ppm Pb, down from 82%. The trend toward higher-purity, lower-lead specifications in tinplate continued in 2021, as 95% of

refined tin specified by reporting participants was <50ppm Pb, a marked shift from 79% in 2020.

In chemicals, tin use by survey participants increased by 4.0% in 2021 and was forecast to grow by 4.9% in 2022. Market dynamics in this sector have been complex through the pandemic, with both positive and negative effects in different sectors. This data reflects broad recoveries continuing through 2022, with China markets weakened by its ongoing property crisis.

Pandemic-boosted tin use growth in tinplate markets continued through 2021 at 5.2%. Participants forecasted this higher baseline to be maintained with a modest 0.3% growth in 2022. Some turbulence can be expected with both positive and negative effects possible in relation to forecasted food market disruption.

Lead-acid battery tin use markets reflected a significant pandemic boost to e-bike use in China as well as some recovery in

auto markets, growing by 6.9% in 2021 and forecast at 7.6% growth in 2022. Tin intensity increases in start-stop hybrid vehicles and other advanced batteries are also supporting growth. Markets will continue to grow steadily in the medium-term despite ongoing development of lithium-ion and other technologies.

Tin use in tin-copper markets increased significantly in 2021, with global growth of 15.8% reflecting pandemic recovery supported by new technology markets including electric vehicles and new electrical infrastructures. Negative growth forecasts for 2022 at -9.2% are mainly based on the cost-of-living crisis.

Other traditional metal product markets averaged a4.4% decline in 2021, largely rebalancing a large 2020 boost from float glass installations in China. Outside of China, markets showed some recovery. Markets are expected to resume a steady 1.2% growth in 2022.

8 internationaltin.org

Automotive turning capacity

Tier 1 automotive supplier Arturn Precision Engineering Ltd has increased capacity and throughput on turned parts with a new sliding head machine.

The Hanwha XD38II turning centre was supplied by Dugard and will be used for high volume production runs.

Myles Rudkin from Arturn Engineering Ltd said: “One of the main reasons we bought this machine is because we can turn up to 38mm diameter on a sliding head machine, which in my opinion is pretty impressive, especially when the sweet spot is from 32 to 38mm - that’s where we have a broad diameter of parts, so it means we can expand the range of components that we can machine for our customers.”

With the machine supplied as a complete package by Dugard, Arturn also received an LNS Alpha 342 bar feeding system with the machine.

Mr Rudkin explained: “We do a full variety of work on the new Hanwha and this can vary from EN18 materials through to mild steel, 316 stainless and more –the machine has an excellent level of power. With one particular component that requires a large bore and two flats milled on the OD, the Hanwha has taken out two operations compared to our previous method. This means the job can go straight out to the customer as a finished part from the Hanwha XD38II machine and this is a massive

saving. The machine also keeps tolerances really well – to within a thou all the way throughout a long production run.”

The machine has X1 and X2 axis strokes of 80mm and 395mm respectively, with Y-axis travel of 422mm and the Z1 and Z2 axis travel of 320 and 280mm.

Mr Rudkin commented: “ The

long-stroke enables me to turn component lengths well over 300mm - this broadens the scope of what we can machine, as some sliding heads will only machine up to 180 to 200mm in bar length. It means we can turn particularly long shafts up to 380mm long with no problem.” 8 arturnengineering.com

Four multi-tasking turning centres are helping Quest Precision win offshore industry machining work from Chinese competitors.

Serving customers in the oil & gas, electronics, automotive and aerospace industries, ISO9001:2015 certified Quest Precision machines everything from simple parts to the most complex of components. It is this requirement for one-hit machining of complex parts from challenging materials that led to the installation of its first Nakamura-Tome multi-tasking turning centre in December 2019, a twin-spindle twin turret WT150II. The impact of the Nakamura-Tome WT150II resulted in a second machine being installed four months later and this has now been followed by two more machines that were delivered at the end of July.

Before Quest installed its first Nakamura-Tome WT150II, it was machining autonomous valves for the oil and gas industry in five operations on four machine tools. The production of the complex 2inch diameter Inconel 718 valves that control the flow of oil from wells was time-consuming and not cost-effective enough to compete with an existing Chinese supplier. To win more of the business from the overseas supplier, Quest needed to increase productivity and reduce costs – the answer was the Nakamura-Tome WT150II.

Discussing the situation, Quest Precision’s Managing Director, Mr Gordon Deuchars says:

Offshore work reshored

“There are 25-30 different valves in the family of parts and for us to win more business, we had to increase throughput and reduce costs to be cost-competitive with China. The first two machines made a huge impact and brought us significantly more business. To support the subsequent growth and do more R&D work, we bought the next two machines.”

Depending upon the valve variant, the majority of valves were processed in 2-4 hours on four machine tools with an additional 25% set-up time across the numerous machines. Running everything from prototypes right through to

production runs of 1000-off, producing such volumes on the existing machine tools was unfeasible. The first twin-turret twin-spindle Nakamura-Tome WT150II immediately alleviated the situation, the second machine solved it and machines 3 and 4 are helping the company cope with its influx of new orders.

One hit machining on the WT150II initially reduced cycle times by 50% to 1.5 hours whilst freeing capacity and labour requirements throughout the shop floor. As Gordon recalls: “The WT150II made such a difference to our production and set-ups that we ordered a second machine within weeks. Instead of using multiple machines and up to five staff on the valves, we have one operator running the two Nakamura’s. With one staff member running the machines on days and another on nights, the first two WT150II machines

increased our productivity by 500%, making us cost-competitive with China. They also reduced our tooling costs considerably due to the machine set-up and rigidity. The latest two machines have immediately mirrored the success of the first two.”

The result of investing in the first two Nakamura machines significantly increased business from this particular offshore customer – and this is why two more WT150II machines have

followed. As Gordon recalls: “The challenge this offshore customer had with supply from China was proximity. Proximity made any R&D work, amendments or part inspection an issue. Now, they can visit our facility to discuss projects, look at our production methods and equipment and investigate opportunities to enhance and develop their product lines with a local supplier and that is exactly what they are doing.”

“We started production on

what they called the Mach 1, 2 and 3 valve designs. Now, we are fully integrated into the customers' R&D infrastructure, and we are working closely with them on the development of the Mach 4 valve. Since investing in the Nakamura machines, we have won much more business from this customer and the Nakamura’s are 95% dedicated to producing and undertaking R&D work on the Inconel valves.”

8 questprecision.co.uk

A new sliding head turning centre gives PES Engineering the capability, productivity and flexibility it needs to serve its customers.

Owner Martin Lock believes that it is difficult to justify using a fixed-headstock CNC lathe on turned and milled components under 38mm diameter.

Underlining this, he recently invested in a Cincom L32-XLFV sliding head machine supplied by Citizen Machinery UK.

He said, "We held off investing in this technology before, as up to about five years ago sliding-head lathes were not as flexible as their fixed-head counterparts in terms of their power or the number of tools in the working area. Consequently they could not produce such a wide variety of components, but that is no longer the case.

"Modern sliding-head lathes are able to produce anything a fixed-head equivalent can, and on average completes the same cycles in two-thirds of the time. It is down to the speed of movement of the gang tooling and the wealth of static and live cutters that can be deployed."

Materials machined include stainless steels, which account for half of throughput and plastics, which make up another 20%. Both tend to generate stringy swarf when machined on the subcontractor's fixed-head lathes.

This can lead to reduced tool life and productivity.

The Cincom slider overcomes these swarf problems by using Citizen’s low frequency vibration

Sliding head productivity

(LFV) software that breaks the swarf into smaller chips.

Mr Lock continued, "LFV has removed much of the aggravation of turning stainless steels, which gives us a much easier life. We can machine efficiently everything from 304, which is billed as free cutting but really is not, through to highly alloyed marine grades.

"We have LFV switched on permanently when machining plastics and it works perfectly, even on nylon. When processing stainless steel, for nine out of 10 components we produce it is

engaged for typically half of the cycle and always for parting-off. "

At the end of last year, two 40 mm capacity fixed-head lathes producing 304 stainless steel medical parts broke down on the same afternoon, prompting Mr Lock to look for a replacement. As sliding-head technology had advanced sufficiently to consider it, he decided to go down this route.

He therefore ordered an L32XLFV with a conversion kit that allows stock up to 38 mm in diameter to be fed from an Iemca three-metre bar magazine.

The speed of the machine means that many parts are coming off more than twice as quickly compared with the output from one of the ageing fixed-head lathes. In one extreme case when turning a plastic part unattended, 400-off were produced in two hours instead of over a full manned shift.

8 pesengineering.co.uk

Aerospace interiors partnership

Donite Plastics has partnered with Queen’s University, Belfast to develop automated assembly processes and introduce a new product for aerospace interiors.

The funding for the project was awarded by the National Aerospace Technology Exploitation Programme (NATEP), co-funded by Innovate UK and the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI).

Stephen Kissick, Donite Plastics’ Business Development Manager, claims that the funding award is testament to the company’s commitment to continuous improvement, adopting new technologies and pioneering in the thermoforming sector.

“On behalf of the entire team at Donite Plastics, we are very proud to have been selected to partner with Queen’s University on this prestigious project,” Stephen said. “We’re very excited to be able to use our knowledge and expertise to help further the aerospace sector, particularly after the challenges posed by the pandemic.”

Patrick Knight, Engineering and R&D Manager at Donite Plastics said; “The aerospace sector is renowned for its innovation, and through continuous improvement in both staff, technologies and machinery, we have the capability to provide quality products in a rapid turnaround time, which stands us in very

good stead for this project.

“As the leading industrial thermoforming company in Ireland, this latest project now cements Donite Plastics as a centre for innovation and pioneering technology with highly skilled staff and a breadth of capabilities.

“Working on a project with a range of partners is something quite new for Donite Plastics, but we are confident that we can deliver and that we will continue to build upon our advanced capabilities.”

Meanwhile, Rory Collins, from the Northern Ireland Technology

Centre at Queen’s University added: “We’re delighted to be partnering with Donite Plastics on what we know will be a very successful project.

“One of our main aims is to put Northern Ireland on the map as a world leader in terms of technology, manufacturing and innovation, which this project will achieve.

“We have a wealth of fantastic companies right on our doorstep, as well as a highly skilled workforce that can make a real difference to the aerospace sector and indeed all other sectors.”

8 donite.com

Advanced etching capacity

Two new high technology machines will expand capacity by 30% and help Advanced Chemical Etching meet growing demand from the aerospace, electric vehicle and fuel cell markets.

The Chemcut Etch machines will help customers bring their designs and prototypes to market quicker, a decisive selling point that the business hopes will help it meet its two-year plan to hit £10m in sales.

Ian Whateley, Managing Director of Advanced Chemical Etching, commented: “We are always looking at ways where we can reduce lead times and have greater control over the tolerances we can offer, and this latest investment reinforces that.

“The two etching machines are currently being installed and should be fully up and running by late summer. When they go live, we’ll have a third more production capability, which means we can go after new opportunities and there’s plenty of those currently, whether its supplying busbars and

lead frames to EV or critical components to the medical sector.”

The company specialises in the development of precision components to customers in more than 25 countries, spanning aerospace, space, general engineering, automotive, electronics, medical, telecoms and renewables.

The scope of its activities is wide ranging and can include anything from safety critical components for aircraft and F1 cars, to meshes and electronic connectors, battery interconnectors, fuel cell

bi-polar plates, cooling plates and heat exchangers.

It works to the most exacting tolerances and can manufacture components in materials, such as stainless steel, nickel alloys, copper, beryllium copper, phosphor bronze, brass and, thanks to new processes, aluminium, molybdenum, titanium, nitinol and Elgiloy.

Chris Ball, Executive Director said: “In addition to our recent investment drive, we have also strengthened our workforce with eight new people joining across our inspection, facility and plant maintenance, and our sales and marketing departments.

“There has been an increase in the number of special operation products we are getting involved in and this would necessitate the need for people to be multi-skilled and internally work across numerous projects. That’s why investment in ongoing training will be so crucial.”

8 ace-uk.net

Manufacturers of High Quality Mill-Turned Parts

Multi-tasking machine tools have allowed a specialist aerospace supplier to mitigate the impact of the recent turbulent business climate.

Prior to the pandemic, Merc Aerospace in Barrowford made a conscious effort to incorporate more ‘one-hit’ machining technology into its facility. The company initially replaced five older machine tools with two Nakamura WT150IIs as part of its commitment to lean manufacturing, reducing lead times for customers that include Airbus, AgustaWestland, BAE Systems and Bombardier. The sustained investment drive increased orders and subsequently turnover with the 50-employee company reducing costs, set-ups, lead times and improved throughput with the Nakamura machines.

Merc Aerospace took delivery of its first Nakamura-Tome WT150 IIF twin-spindle twin turret turning centre in October 2017 and it immediately replaced two existing machines whilst drastically improving productivity. This model was once again adopted when the second WT150 IIF arrived in March 2018.

The company then took delivery of a twin spindle triple turret Nakamura NTY3-150 multi-axis turning centre in April 2019. With the aerospace industry returning to prepandemic levels and Merc being well positioned to support its customers, the company took delivery of a Nakamura

Multi-tasking resilience

AS200LMSY sub-spindle turning centre in 2021 – and another in May 2022.

Merc Aerospace Managing Director, Mr Richard Meade said: “Historically, we had invested ad hoc in our machine shop and the turning centres on our shop floor were a representation of numerous high-end brands. We developed a strategy for investment and we knew the Nakamura brand had an outstanding reputation and are installed at a lot of prestigious businesses. We looked at several Nakamura machines and the WT150 IIF was the perfect fit. Typically, we machine relatively complex parts from exotic materials that range from 5-off to 100s and our set-ups could be an hour to days. The WT150 IIF machines changed all this.

“The twin-spindle, twin-turret configuration has been a game changer. It has increased flexibility and throughput and one Nakamura proved 30% more

productive than the two machines that it replaced. Additionally, we had a range of sliding head machines that are better suited to higher production runs rather than the batches we run in the hundreds. The Nakamura’s wiped out our sliding head machines as the sliders were restricted to diameters well below 50mm and the set-up and changeover times were excessive for our batch sizes.”

With the WT150 IIF machines making such an impact at Merc, the company took the next step and opted for the Nakamura NTY3150 – a twin spindle machine with three tooling turrets that can all be engaged simultaneously. Primarily machining fuel injection and gas turbine components, the ability to engage three tool turrets simultaneously has made a tremendous impact. In one of many instances, the NTY3-150 has reduced cycle times from 1 hour 10 minutes on a previous twinspindle machine to just 35 minutes.

8 mercaerospace.co.uk

Tube anniversary in Plymouth

AMETEK Fine Tubes is marking 60 years since moving to purpose-built premises in Plymouth, Devon, in 1962. The business was originally founded in Surbiton in Surrey in 1943.

The company manufactures high-performance tubes in a range of specialty alloys for critical applications. As well as a large number of business milestones, Fine Tubes employees have raised an impressive £17,000 for local charities over the past four years.

In 1965, the business manufactured AM350 tubes for the Concorde program, while

1977 saw Fine Tubes make major strides in the nuclear field by developing 20/25 Nb nuclear fuel cladding tubes.

Over the years that followed, Fine Tubes expanded into new and ambitious projects, including seamless titanium 3AI/2.5V tubes for aircraft hydraulic systems, clean bore tubing for semiconductors, and data logging tubes for the downhole oil and gas markets. The manufacturer also pioneered several innovations within the medical sector, including titanium tubing for femur and tibia bone nail implants.

Fine Tubes was involved in several high-profile aerospace programs during the late 1990s and 2000s. Projects included supplying high pressure titanium tubing for the hydraulic systems of the Eurofighter, Airbus A380, and Airbus A350.

Other prestigious projects including developing 130 kilometres of cooling tubes for the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in 2008 and, more recently, specialist titanium tubing for the Chemical Propulsion System of the Solar Orbiter project.

Dave Cawse, Operations Director at Fine Tubes, says: “Fine Tubes has been operating successfully for almost 80 years and much of our success is attributed to the dedicated, loyal, and talented teams we have working at our production base in Plymouth. We are proud to have been manufacturing in Britain’s beautiful ocean city for 60 years and will be celebrating our diamond anniversary over the course of the year.”

8 finetubes.com

New tube bending equipment

at Lander Group’s Malvern facility will increase capacity, eliminate production steps and improve quality.

The BLM ELECT 150 AllElectric CNC Tube Bender can bend tube up to 152 mm (6”) diameter, with added efficiency delivered by the multi-stack tooling system where up to eight tool sets can be mounted simultaneously, the BLM ELECT 150 will add to the group’s overall capability and allow further expansion of its growing customer base.

David Alexander, Sales and Marketing Manager, Lander Tubular Products, said: “This new machine will add to our lower volume, high complexity work at Malvern through consistent quality, reduced potential leak paths by eliminating the need to fabricate, cut and weld larger diameter tubes, reduced process times and the confidence we have from our experience of BLM.”

Lander acquired Malvern Tubular Products and Maxpower Automotive from Tricorn UK in 2021 to extend its capabilities as a single source of supply for tube-based assemblies. Now, under the branding of Lander Tubular Products, and with the latest investment in BLM tube bending equipment, the group has the capability to provide automated tubular solutions from 4 mm through to 152 mm diameter in a range of materials, including steel, stainless steel and aluminium.

“When Lander Group acquired

New bending opportunities

Malvern Tubular Products and Maxpower Automotive, it was evident that they had suffered from a significant lack of investment in capital equipment over recent years. Our vision is to update all of our facilities, within the constraints of the current economic climate,” said David Alexander.

“At Malvern we focus on lower volume production of larger tube diameters, often with higher complexity of bends, mainly for the off highway, construction and power generation industries, with the new BLM machine we can look to expand into new market segments with our fully finished tubular products.”

Given the scale of the BLM

ELECT 150, some 18,000 kgs, this puts Lander Tubular Products in a strong position to win new work by combining its now extended bending capabilities with its existing customer support for design, prototype development through to full production. While large scale, the machine is extremely versatile and brings greater control to production through its control system.

The machine’s variable torque system allows torque to vary between 2 and 6 metric ton to eliminate part deformation, even on tight radius bends and, the surface finish of the tube is maintained to the highest levels.

8 lander.co.uk

Since launching as a new company earlier this year, Lesjöfors Heavy Springs UK has invested £1.1m in new machinery.

Following a 60% growth in their industrial sales in 2021 and further growth of 20% for 2022, the Cornwall based spring manufacturer, with sites in Penryn and Redruth, is significantly increasing capacity, expanding production capabilities and advancing its supply chain processes with a suite of new state-of-the-art machinery.

Michael Gibbs, Managing Director of the UK factories says: “This is a big investment and this year has seen a number of big changes, showing confidence in our market position. Our strategy for growth has enabled us to expand our capacity in the UK, to separate our automotive and industrial sector work across two industry specific dedicated sites and to expand our industrial business even further.”

The industrial divisions expansion in Penryn includes investment in a new CNC coiler which extends the wire coiling capabilities in the UK to 20mm wire diameter, in line with larger spring wire requirements from a growing global customer base. Weighing in at 30 tonnes, the new CNC coiler is integrated with a new 10m long in-line heat treatment oven, doubling heat treatment efficiencies.

Rounding off a grinding equipment investment programme of a further £1m since 2017, a new spring grinder

Investing in heavy springs

doubles the grinding capacity in the industrial division. There has also been further investment in new lifting equipment.

Luke Smith, Operations Manager for Lesjöfors Heavy Springs UK confirms: “Peak production efficiency is challenging when manufacturing is across two sites. These latest investments allow us to separate our automotive and industrial work so that each location is dedicated to its sector, which will significantly improve output and increase our efficiencies.

It also allows us to further develop our in-house expertise specific to these sectors and to continue delivering the quality, accuracy and performance our springs are recognised for.

Michael Gibbs concludes:

“We have been at our second site, in Penryn, for three years and have always aimed to strengthen our site-specific dedicated expertise and machinery bespoke to each location.

Achieving this with our recent investment in new machinery and a restructured team, drives these efficiencies, reduces costs and allows us to pass those cost reductions on to our customers.

We’re committed to investing in the future and predict, working on current projections, a payback on the capex investment of approximately five years.”

Concluding the investments is an additional shot peener for the newly dedicated automotive sector manufacturing site in Redruth.

8 lesjoforssprings.com

The Laser Cutting Co (TLCC) has installed a new flat-bed fibre laser system that can also bevel part edges and cut countersinks, eliminating time-consuming second operations.

“We’ve been growing significantly since the pandemic, both in terms of our customer base and month-on-month revenue,” said Sales Director Charlie Day. “This prompted investment in the Trumpf TruLaser 5040 fiber 10kW flat-bed laser, which positions us for further growth as we can now process a significant volume of work in comparison with our competitors.”

The new machine arrived at the end of February 2022. It is the second Trumpf model on site, where it joins a TruLaser Tube 7000 CO2 machine, installed in 2020.

“One of our older flat-bed laser cutting machines was a 6 kW model from a Trumpf competitor, which was proving slower than the general market demand,” said Mr Day. “The faster TruLaser 5040 fiber has provided a lot more capacity and is generally a much better machine.”

The EdgeLine Bevel function automatically inserts chamfers up to 45° and countersinks of various sizes, eliminating the need for secondary processes.

Mr Day added: “We want EdgeLine Bevel because many of our customers request countersinking and weld preps. Whilst we can provide this

Cutting on the edge

service manually EdgeLine Bevel will prove to be much more efficient, accurate and productive. As a large proportion of our customer base is essentially fabrication, engineering and welding oriented, the ability to offer countersinks and bevels on all parts will provide us with an even stronger proposition.”

The company also offers its ‘Smart Design Production’ to support customers by redesigning parts in a way that reduces subsequent fabrication and assembly times and associated costs.

“Customers achieve

approximately 50% time and cost savings on average through Smart Design Production” continued Mr Day, “and EdgeLine Bevel will have a similar positive impact on our customers. If they need to weld the part after laser cutting and require a bevelled edge, it will simply arrive at their premises ready to process. If they combine that with tube from our TruLaser Tube machines then suddenly they can have a whole kit of products from us, complete with all countersinking and weld prep work already completed.”

8 lasercutting.co.uk

‘‘We want EdgeLine Bevel because many of our customers request countersinking and weld preps. Whilst we can provide this service manually EdgeLine Bevel will prove to be much more efficient, accurate and productive

Adding to additive capabilities

A second high power laser solid-state laser will allow Laser Additive Solutions Ltd (LAS) to add 3D laser cutting to its processing portfolio.

The system is a Trumpf TruDisk high-power solid-state laser with two fibre heads.

“We undertake a lot of R&D projects where we develop a repair process before taking it into serial production,” said Managing Director Peter Brown. “However, while our background is in repair we’re moving more into laser-based manufacturing.”

LAS typically handles highintegrity, high-value parts, including many for the aeroengine sector. Power generation turbine repairs are another key revenue stream, along with the repair and welding of nuclear industry parts made from exotic metals. The oil and gas market is also strong. LAS recently had a large industrial pump component on one of its machines that measured 6.5m long and weighed around 1 tonne. The machine rotates the part at a speed suitable for cladding application using a laser.

“In addition, we undertake collaborative research projects within the UK and Europe,” said Mr Brown. “That’s the reason for our acquisition of a new Trumpf TruDisk laser: we won a project from BEIS [Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy], the part-funding from which allowed us to invest.”

LAS already had a 2kW Trumpf TruDisk solid-state laser with adaptive spot technology since 2015.

“I’ve been involved with lasers for various companies since 2004, in which time I’ve bought four or five Trumpf systems,” said Mr Brown. “You get what you pay for with lasers. I like the fact that we arrive in the morning and get a consistent laser beam rather than errors. In my experience that’s not the case with all lasers. TruDisk technology is very reliable, which is key for us.”

The TruDisk 3kW laser is at the heart of a new system that can perform a variety of different tasks: laser additive manufacturing/cladding to build/repair parts using powder or wire; laser welding; and laser hardening. In addition, the presence of a second fibre head will allow LAS to enter the 3D laser cutting market, where the

precision and consistency of the Trumpf laser will prove particularly beneficial.

“After reliability, beam size consistency is the key attribute we need from our laser technology,” said Mr Brown. “We’ve measured the TruDisk laser beam profile over a number of years and know that it’s consistent, as is the output power, which gives us great confidence. We’ve been doing a laser welding job for an aerospace sensor specialist over a number of years where we have to measure the weld down to micron level. In fact, the accuracy of the weld is unbelievable in terms of both depth and width.”

LAS has integrated the new laser with a high-specification KUKA robot to provide a fully automated, multi-purpose laser processing system and has retained its original 2kW TruDisk. 8 laseradditivesolutions.co.uk

Welded steel mesh manufacturer Siddall & Hilton Products has invested in advanced automation to streamline its processes.

The Yorkshire-based business, which says it is the UK’s largest manufacturer of industrial welded mesh and perimeter fencing panels, partnered with Sewtec to develop a robot to automate the process of packaging and banding its finished product – it is believed to be the only robot of its type in the UK.

The innovation follows the commissioning of Siddall and Hilton Products’ EVG-LGR102 welding machine in August 2021 which has a significantly faster throughput than other production lines on site, causing subsequent bottlenecks in the process as conventional product handling methods were simply not quick enough, resulting in inefficiency and unnecessary downtime of around 10%. Sewtec was identified as an automation partner and, together, the two businesses developed a technical solution to the issue with a fully integrated pallet de-stacking device introducing pallets into the production line automatically.

A five axis robot has also been integrated into the production line to ‘pick & place’ and rotate if necessary the mesh after welding and automatically stack on to a pallet; once the pallet is fully assembled, it is automatically transferred to an in-line automatic banding machine where edge protection is applied and the product banded,

Mesh makers automate

presenting a complete pallet/package at the end of the production line for either warehouse and or dispatch.

Andy Dawson, operations director at Siddall & Hilton Products, explained: “We’re well aware that automation will play an important role in helping us realise our determination to be a world-class business with these projects marking our first significant step into robotics.

Following the commissioning of our newest £2m welding machine last year, the need for a swifter, automated stack and wrap palletiser came into stark relief –in some instances the line is 90% faster than conventional mesh welding machines when producing standard panels, and our operators have needed to keep stopping the line whilst they unload and pack the products.” 8 sandhp.com

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

Addmore Engineering has streamlined its inspection process and eliminated human error on critical braking products with a Bowers air gauging system.

As a family run business which has supplied precision CNC turned and milled components for over 40 years, Addmore Engineering supplies precision components and sub-assemblies into the aerospace, automotive, hydraulic, autosport, fastener, instrumentation, oil & gas, and medical sectors.

As part of its inspection process, Addmore Engineering need to measure bolts, which are critical components on braking systems. It is, therefore, imperative that 100% of the parts produced are within tolerance. The air gauging system from Bowers Group ensures that the performance critical parts manufactured by Addmore Engineering satisfy customers’ requirement to 100% inspect safety critical characteristics and meet tight tolerances.

Ben Vasquez, Managing Director at Addmore Engineering Ltd said: “The Bowers air gauging system is the perfect solution for us because it standardises the measurement process and eliminates the potential for human error. The system allows multiple operators to accurately check the diameter of the components in minimal time, and the modern control panel gives a quick yes/no output that allows each bolt to be

Streamlined gauging

customisable display interface is easy to read and interpret results. Using air flow volumes and pressures to measure parts, air gauging is a reliable, repeatable technology well suited for applications that demand sub-micron precision tolerancing.

checked with guaranteed high precision results in a matter of seconds.”

Addmore Engineering manufactures in excess of 10,000 of the bolts every month, therefore a fast, repeatable, and user-friendly solution was key. The business had previously experienced some difficulties whereby operators were achieving differing readings with micrometers; a significant problem when trying to measure 7-micron tolerances. The Bowers air gauging system allows many members of the team to check component diameters in a short space of time, and the touchscreen display with its

Air gauging technology is very flexible, enabling measurement of not only dimensions, but geometric and relational characteristics, such as squareness, parallelism, ovality, taper and straightness. Bowers air gauging systems provide a simple yet robust method of measurement with a myriad of measurement capability, and its small footprint means it’s perfect for the busy shop floor. The Bowers air gauging system at Addmore Engineering is used by inspectors and machine operators on a daily basis.

Ben continues: “Personally, I have always been aware of the benefits of air gauging. During my apprenticeship I regularly used the older dial/clock-based systems. The advantage of the modern digital display is that anybody can see if the component is correct just by looking at the colour.”

Addmore Engineering machines a wide range of components ranging from 0.5mm diameter to over 350mm in diameter which are supplied into a variety of markets.

8 addmoreengineering.co.uk

‘‘

The Bowers air gauging system is the perfect solution for us because it standardises the measurement process and eliminates the potential for human error

Aerospace supplier Velocity Composites has launched a new digital manufacturing cell designed to help improve traceability and efficiency for customers.

The cell, located at Velocity Composites’ headquarters in Burnley, Lancashire, creates a process where all composite plies can be scanned, logged and sequenced efficiently to improve traceability and reduce costs.

Matthew Fisher, Product and Process Manager at Velocity Composites, said: “We aim to be at the forefront of Industry 4.0 technologies to improve the aerospace supply chain, helping customers to cut waste, become more efficient and save money.

“Our Digital Manufacturing Cell is the next step in our journey to improve even further. Our bespoke AVISoCS technology can help customers to fully trace each individual piece of ply within a job, as it is nested, cut and sequenced ready to be delivered.

“Within our own processes, we pride ourselves on minimal waste and ultimate efficiency, and the Digital Manufacturing Cell allows us to optimise our workflow so each job is managed flexibly and can provide greater value to the customer.”

The cell is the latest in a range of data-driven technology advances at Velocity Composites, aimed at fully tracking and tracing the aerospace supply chain for customers, improving efficiencies and making savings on material and operational costs.

Velocity’s own VRP technology

Digital composite cell

has been designed to manage the entire value stream, from customer demand management, raw material management, batch traceability, complex nesting, kit

manufacture and kit logistics, with all areas being connected and sharing real time data to drive maximum efficiencies.

8 velocity-composites.com

Four times composites capacity

Components manufacturer Rockwood Composites is to quadruple its capacity with a new UK factory and new subsidiary in Morocco.

Over the next five years it will increase its factory floor space from 5,000 to over 30,000 square feet, which will be supported by a commensurate increase in sales and recruiting more highly skilled engineers.

This growth has already started with the recent relocation to a new, bigger factory in Paignton. Rockwood has also invested in new machinery, such as a Hexagon Absolute Arm, which has been instrumental in developing novel business class seats for aircraft, and a HURCO CNC. The growth is also being provided with a new Moroccan subsidiary, which will have a footprint of 2,000m2, specifically for the aerospace industry.

The company is a specialist in design for manufacture and offers long run, small volume production runs. It has already built a solid reputation in

CompoTech has proprietary AFP (automated fibre placement) production, 3D printed tooling and CNC machining facilities, along with in-house process development and design engineering expertise.

These allow CompoTech to create and manufacture a wide

aerospace and defence and is expanding into automotive and leisure. For example, it is manufacturing cycle frames for two leading bike producers.

Mark Crouchen, Rockwood Composite’s managing director, said: “Our customers want more of our design skills and manufacturing capability, and this demand is coming from new industries as well as existing markets. This is a pivotal time for the company as we have moved to much bigger premises and with our new Moroccan subsidiary.

“We are planning for huge growth and myself and my team are relishing the challenges that our customers will bring, whether that is producing seats for an aeroplane, developing struts able to withstand the largest temperature range you can imagine, designing a manufacturing process for a rotor or manufacturing a hockey stick or ice skate – it doesn’t matter, we will turn our experience and expertise and deliver efficient and effective solutions in composites manufacture.”

8 rockwoodcomposites.com

Automated composite processing

variety of standard and bespoke lightweight, vibration-damped, carbon fibre epoxy composite components.

Examples of successful projects include a carbon composite-metal hybrid milling disc tool, which improves machining time by 78%

and a composite telescopic mast system. This versatile, high strength telescopic design is currently used in a marine mast for a concept ‘inflatable’ wing sail and for mobile police surveillance vehicles.

8 compotech.com

Klöckner & Co group has launched its Nexigen brand, which brings together its entire portfolio of sustainable products and services.

Under the new brand it will be able to provide transparent, carbon reduced solutions in the three categories of materials, processing and logistics.

Nexigen offers a categorisation for transparent carbon emissions and can assist customers with the reliable procurement of CO2 reduced steel and metal products, providing full transparency about their carbon footprint from raw

Sustainable material brand

material to production. This is combined with a range of logistics and circularity solutions and Sustainability Advisory Services.

Nexigen categories range from START (with a physical footprint from 1,750 to 1,400 kg CO2 per metric ton) to PRIME (400 to 0 kg CO2 per metric ton). ‘Balanced Steel’ is a separate category for ‘re-balanced’ green steel. This means that for different steel categories originating from the same production facility,

manufacturers may use a calculated ‘re-balanced’ carbon footprint resulting from the overall volume of emissions generated in the entire facility.

Peter Whiting CEO of Kloeckner Metals UK said: “As pioneers of a sustainable steel industry we have taken an important step forward with introduction of Nexigen and placed sustainability at the core of Klöckner & Co’s growth strategy.” 8 www.kloeckner.com

Individuals and businesses are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of sustainability, in turn making it a bigger part of our daily lives. This now extends to the production sector, driven forward by end customer demands, and new industry regulations. In this feature, Max Siebert, CEO of Replique, discusses how additive manufacturing (AM) can offer an efficient and environmentally friendly solution for production and supply chains.

Sustainable design

AM offers a whole new way of designing products which allows the creation of topology optimised designs. By redesigning, the 3D printed part can accomplish the same task, and even improve the performance compared to the original part, while using less material. Companies can therefore also improve a part consisting of several pieces and print it in only one unit (part consolidation). This results in less material and energy consumption during production compared with traditional methods. In turn, this reduces time spent as less parts need manufacturing and assembling. Additionally, part consolidation can offer better performing parts with increased durability.

Reduced material consumption

In production, manufacturers look at two essential factors: material consumption and energy efficiency. In traditional manufacturing methods there is

AM supply chain sustainability

Max Siebert is CEO and CoFounder of BASF-owned, Replique, which offers an industrial 3D printing platform that enables OEMs to provide parts on-demand anytime and anywhere to their customers through a global, decentralised and secured 3D printing network

always material waste. For example, in subtractive manufacturing, like CNC, manufacturers start with a block of solid material and remove material to achieve a final shape. In AM however, the material usage is much more efficient.

Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) provides a good example;

parts are built layer by layer, adding only the material that is needed, so other than support structures there is no wasted material. Other AM technology using powders or resins works differently. In powder and resinbased AM a full layer of material is built, which is then processed by a laser or fusing agent, dependent on the used technology. After the first material layer is processed, a new full layer is added until the part is finished. As any unprocessed powder or resin can be reused for the next print, it is possible to achieve no material wastage.

Conversely, support structures and failed prints are often needed, especially for more complicated parts. It is common

8 Replique offers OEMs a secure and sustainable means of providing parts on demand, anywhere, anytime to customers

8

for test parts to be wasted before finding the right printing parameters and build orientation. However, developments in simulation now allow us to predict potential printing issues beforehand, therefore reducing waste in production.

Energy consumption: is AM really sustainable?

Due to very individual use cases, the answer for this is not simple. Differences in machine, product and process characteristics make comparability of traditional methods and AM difficult. Compared with subtractive methods, AM can be more energy efficient, especially when considering the lesser material consumption. However, compared to injection molding, energy consumption of AM is generally acknowledged to be higher due to a much longer production time per part. However, other factors such as energy consumption in producing the mold, production volume and material efficiency must be considered. When looking into lower volumes, AM is a more energy efficient option.

Reduced warehousing waste

As well as during production, AM also delivers sustainability benefits in the supply chain. Other manufacturing methods often require a minimum lot size to make production cost efficient, often leading to overproduction and parts stored as inventory. This not only increases storage costs, but also potential wastage if the

parts are not sold. For companies offering spare parts, this can be a huge problem. Companies are usually bound to suppliers, who often stipulate huge minimum order quantities, even if only a few spare parts are needed.

With AM it is possible and affordable to produce only the number of parts that are needed. No huge inventories need creating because the parts can be produced on demand. Replique’s 3D4U project with Miele demonstrates this well, where Miele’s end-customers can order parts via Miele’s online shop which are then printed and shipped straight to the customer. All within a promised total lead time of five working days, including shipping, it shows that AM can offer fast and affordable parts while avoiding waste.

Minimised transport routes

The introduction of AM has produced a shift from linear manufacturing, with centralised distribution, to a decentralised network of suppliers, production

8 Using 3D printing technology, Replique enables OEMs to offer parts to customers – on demand, when needed, where needed

partners and customers. This is enabled by low investment costs, as one machine can produce a variety of parts. Minimising transport movements of course comes with a positive impact for the environment, as the carbon footprint of each part is reduced. Parts are then shipped to wherever they are needed, which could be on the other side of the world. This also reduces lead time, especially beneficial in times of supply chain disruptions.

So, in summary, incorporated as part of a print on-demand model, AM can reduce a company’s energy consumption, material waste and carbon footprint. This also comes with benefits to supply chain operability. Traditional supply chains require several steps, each prone to disruption, whereas AM shortens the supply chain and makes it more resilient.

8 replique.io

Machining capabilities doubled

WES Engineering Solutions, based in Redruth, has invested over £420k in a new top of the range Matsuura CNC milling machine as a consequence of new market growth, expanding its 24/7 machine running capabilities by 200%.

James Gazzard, Group Commercial Director said: “2021 was a huge success for us. We grew our client base by 20%, developed new products and expanded our order book by 50%. With a forecasted 43% growth across the group for 2022/23, this latest investment is in direct response to customer demand.”

In the last year, the precision engineering firm has fought against the weakening automotive sector - which has historically been a core marketand strategically focused on expansions in the subsea, nuclear, oil and gas markets. This vision has not only delivered greater sector penetration in these markets but also led to an evolvement of the company’s manufacturing strategy as it migrates more into the ‘big batch’ engineering field.

Mr Gazzard continued: “We’ve worked so hard to achieve our new high volume order books but despite a fleet of advanced machinery and a brilliant, highly skilled and experienced workforce, we simply couldn’t keep up with demand. This is where the new CNC machining centre steps in - solving

production volumes, shortening on time delivery and opening up new opportunities. This latest investment allows us to manufacture on a constant cycle as the Matsuura CNC H-Plus 300 enables us to double our lights out running capabilities, halves our running times and significantly enhances our commercial and production efficiencies.”

Reducing the reliance on skilled personnel, through advanced machinery automation is an ongoing solution to the limited skilled recruitment pool the manufacturing sector so commonly experiences.

Mr Gazzard concluded: “We’re huge ambassadors of skills training and apprenticeships. In fact, the new cell leader for the expanded milling section was one of our former apprentices.

We really value our staff and have a number of skilled mechanical engineer positions

available. However, accessing the talent is a key concern for the industry. So, we grow our people from the ground up. Our apprentice programme thrives in our low to medium volume, precision engineering manufacturing departments and we’re looking forward to expanding with at least a further three new apprentices this year.”

With WES’s sister company, British Classic Cars (BCC) having also grown, achieving new routes to market across Europe as well as the development of new brake caliper products for Land Rover, Porsche, Mercedes and Datsun, WES Engineering Solutions has streamlined its group’s structure to improve efficiencies across all its businesses.

8 wesltd.com

8 L-R James Gazzard & Daniel Hutchings featured with their recent investment - the Matsuura CNC H-Plus 300

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DIRECTORY |Engineering Capacity

Star Micronics GB Ltd sales@stargb.com www.stargb.com

Wickman Coventry Ltd o.coyne@wickman.co.uk www.wickman-group.com

Wieland-Nemco Ltd. sales@wieland-nemco.com www.wieland-nemco.com

JFL Broaches and Broaching

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

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

CNC PRECISION COMPONENTS 8

Qualiturn Products Limited

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.

7 Fountain Drive, Hertford, Herts, UK, SG13 7UB Tel. +44 (0) 1992 584499 www.qualiturn.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

13 - CNC Sliding Heads up to 1”; 14CNC 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

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

Unit 2 Brookside Avenue, Rustington, West Sussex BN16 3LF Telephone: +44 (0) 1903 776 171 www.precisonproducts.co.uk