Home & away A two-year payback
Sliding-head turning technology is boosting output and competitiveness at a UK pump-making OEM and
in Russia at precision component maker, Citizen and Tornos technology respectively are providing the
service. Plus, industry & product news in brief
One of the UK’s largest pump
manufacturers shipping more than
200,000 units per year, Charles
Austen Pumps, has invested in its rst
sliding-headstock bar auto, a Cincom L20-X
from Citizen Machinery UK (https://is.gd/
hexase). Installed in the OEM’s By eet
factory in June 2019, it has taken over the
turn-milling of parts up to 25 mm diameter,
the vast majority of which are brass, with
aluminium, stainless steel and plastic
components also produced. Importantly, the
company is anticipating a two-year payback.
Growth over the last six years for the
75-year-old company has been an amazing
30% per annum, driven by strong home
sales and a buoyant export market. This has
put a strain on all areas of the operation,
not least the machine shop. While prismatic
metalcutting, including the milling and
drilling of parts for pumps, as well as
TURNING NEW INVESTMENTS SLIDE INTO ACTION
injection mould manufacture, is largely
carried out in-house, the two xed-head,
57 mm bar capacity CNC lathes on site
struggled to cope with the production
volumes of rotational parts. As a result, as
much as two-thirds of the turning
requirement was subcontracted out at a cost
of more than £100,000 per year.
By eet machine shop manager Matt
Wright explains: “More than 80% of our
turned components is between 16 and
19 mm in diameter, so we needed a lathe of
relatively small bar capacity to start bringing
work back to our factory. Our bigger lathes
are not so ef cient when machining these
smaller workpieces, due to their longer tool
movements and slower axis travels.
“We considered xed-head as well as
sliding-head technology, as our parts are
generally short compared to their diameter.
We concluded that sliding-head turn-milling
would be more productive, because the tools
are mounted on gang posts rather than
turrets, so are quicker into the cuts as they
have less distance to move. Also, as we do
not need to use the guide bush, the bar
remnants are shorter, saving money on
material.
“Should we ever need it, we also have
the exibility of quickly installing the guide
bush for true Swiss-type turning of shaft-type
workpieces over 2.5D.”
In casting his eye across the market for
sliding-head technology, the company says
that its choice of Citizen was primarily down
its reputation for quality machines and for
providing good applications support, training
and after-sales service, which since the
L20-X was installed Wright describes as
“brilliant”.
A selection of turn-milled components for
the OEM’s pumps was taken to the machine
is expected for this
Cincom L20-X at Charles
Austin Pumps
www.machinery.co.uk | MachineryMagazine | @MachineryTweets | April 2020 35
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