Chester eld-based Nacom Automation
and its range of Flexopress printers
emerged from the ashes of liquidation
when current owner Nick Cadby, who was a
creditor to the original owner of the printing
machine company, realised the only way to
get his money back was to buy the
intellectual property and turn the business
around. Part of that transformation was
establishing its own machining facility, in
partnership with XYZ Machine Tools (https://
is.gd/oxorop).
Nacom’s Flexopress printers are designed
and built to order, meaning parts must be
manufactured quickly, but the company’s
reliance on subcontract machining was
causing unnecessary delays. The solution
was to bring machining in house, a daunting
task, given Cadby’s limited machining
experience. However, the challenge was
overcome with the XYZ ProtoTRAK control
system.
“During a visit to a friend’s business,
I saw an XYZ 2-OP machine 355 by 305 by
455 in X, Y and Z and my curiosity was
stirred,” he says. “The compact nature of the
machine was perfect for our situation, so I
gathered up a few drawings, visited XYZ’s
showroom and asked the question: how hard
can it be to make these? The answers
highlighted just how easy it was with the XYZ
ProtoTRAK control, which lls the gap
between an experienced CNC programmer
and someone with basic machining skills, like
myself.”
Duly reassured, the XYZ 2-OP portable
vertical machining centre became Nacom’s
rst step along the road to self-suf ciency.
It was quickly followed by an XYZ SMX 5000
bed-mill with 1,524 by 596 by 540 mm
capacity, then an XYZ SLX 355 ProTURN lathe
(360 mm swing and 1,000 mm between
centres) and an XYZ LPM vertical machining
centre (785 by 470 by 530 mm), with the
common thread that all were controlled by a
version of ProtoTRAK.
“Cutting our reliance on subcontracting
has reduced lead times by at least 50%, and
we are in total control of costs and quality,”
says the business owner.
SUBCONTRACTING SUPPLY & DEMAND
An unexpected bene t of moving to inhouse
machining is the fact that Nacom is
now picking up subcontract work as word
spreads about its new capability. So much so
that a further machine, this time an XYZ
CT52 turning centre (400 mm swing, 200
mm turning diameter), has recently arrived to
bolster the company’s turning capability. The
XYZ CT52, which features the Siemens 828D
ShopTurn conversational control, is the
company’s rst non-ProtoTRAK machine.
The story is similar at the Bagshot facility
of Delavale Engineering, which has recently
installed two MACH 710MM+ vertical
machining centres from MACH Machine Tools
Nacom invests in XYZ machines; Delavale turns to MACH Machine
Tools; Qualiturn selects Mills CNC. Steed Webzell has the details
A change for the
better at Delavale,
following investment
in manufacturing kit
supplied by MACH
Machine Tools
Delivering
the goods
Nacom’s XYZ SLX 355 ProTURN lathe
www.machinery.co.uk | MachineryMagazine | @MachineryTweets | April 2020 47
/www.machinery.co.uk
/oxorop