CONTENTS
Volume 178 Number 4297 July/August 2020
10 Lead feature Cutting edge tech
While Ceratizit’s reputation is that of a leader in the development and
provision of hard material solutions for metal machining and wear
protection, it is also a pioneer in machining process digitalisation
14 Subcontracting Manufacturing as a service
Machinery has written about a number of online-focused subcontractors,
individual rms with varying levels of ambition, as well as platforms that
offer buyers access to a range of services and companies in one place,
not bounded by geography. Andrew Allcock has news of a similar but
rather different operator
18 Mould tools & moulding 3D-printing journey
Banbury-based Plastic Parts Direct is a company of 17 years standing,
although its personnel boast some 35 years’ experience in the injection
moulding business. Earlier this year, this small company announced it
had entered the world of 3D-printed mould tools. Andrew Allcock called
by, pre-pandemic, to learn more
22 Machining centres Cute cuts completed
A 5-axis Spinner machine slashes set-up times, economic batch sizes
& lead times; XYZ vertical machining centre brings work in house; plus
product news in brief
26 Workholding & accessories Productivity boosted
Axminster Tools & Machinery is using US-manufactured Chick System 5
workholding equipment to help increase productivity and ef ciency in the
machine shop of the Axminster, Devon-based operation
28 CADCAM & production IT Health sector hits
Ventilator production has been the big story across many metalcutting
rms, but those that undertake punching and pro ling have also been
playing their part in the ght against Covid-19, as Machinery reveals
32 Coolants & cutting oils Outside help delivers
Two companies have changed their coolants, bringing in outside help to
investigate and manage that change. Both have discovered a single
product that has the versatility to cope with a broad range of processes
and materials, while delivering consumable cost reductions and
extended tool life
35 Industry 4.0 & automation Data delivers effi ciency
Powder production machine maker Hosokawa Micron uses data to
optimise its own and its customers’ production; Schneider Electric uses
data to drive parts production via additive manufacturing
Regular sections
7 Comment
News round-up
8 Video explains exhibition
safety at The NEC
8 Ventilator Challenge UK
nal shipment
8 First of its kind Industry 4.0
factory at BAE Systems
8 E-bike maker opens new UK
manufacturing facility
8 Training for furloughed
apprentices & employees
8 SMEs get funding boost to
recover from pandemic hit
8 Auto industry gets £73.5m
government investment
8 Scotland’s 5G testbed
facility announced
9 Ficep UK’s 25th UK
anniversary celebrated
9 Engineering Technology
Group reorganises
9 NuMachine is rst UK taker
for Mazak CV5-500 model
9 Appointments: Mazak;
Close Bros Asset Finance
New products
9 Cincom A20 boasts LFV
9 CrazyMill Cool drill
9 Fronius welding cells
9 Large-capacity Okuma
9 ANCA software
9 Horn: Y-axis parting off
9 Hypertherm software
9 Coolant ltration
9 Aerospace alloy machining
9 Javelin MRP new version
38 Classifi ed section
41/42 This month
25 years ago...
10
14
18
22
26
28
32
BS EN ISO 9000 benefi ts revealed; Heller Machine Tools ramps up HMC assembly;
laser profi ling & punch pressing promoted at separate Open Houses; EU Machinery
Directive advice offered as industry gets to grips with new regime
august 1995
wolter /stock.adobe.com
41
Competitiveness initiatives; manual/CNC technology’s benefi ts; Renishaw’s new
july 1995
machine shop impresses; TS Harrison & Sons’ Alpha is claimed unique; UK CNC units
get support; 3D printing association; CAD-based parts catalogue
In July 1995, we nd resonance with the current calls for reshoring
25252agoyears approach compensates for temperature-induced dimensional drift.
The 600 Group’s latest development, the TS Harrison & Sons
Alpha lathe, has been unveiled, with the company heralding it as ‘the
ultimate centre lathe’. Similar to the several manual/CNC
combination machines available at this time, this sits at a level just
below that, and is therefore claimed unique. Manual operation,
parameter-driven CNC cycles and manual+CNC generation of tapers
and radii are possible manners of use. For batch production, CNC
cycles and taught action can be replayed. The Alpha line continues
today.
in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic’s supply chain disruption.
Twenty- ve years ago, Made In UK Group is aiming at a national
effort to encourage local procurement before importing. It is one of a
number of collective activities we highlight at company, sector, region
or national level that can bring bene ts. The government of the day
has just released its second White Paper on ‘Competitiveness,
forging ahead’. It is dismissed by The Economist as a “rag bag of
small policies”. We suggest that a collection of many small
initiatives is not automatically a bad thing, likening this to the many
small efforts that are part of continuous improvement. We go on to
cite a number of small programmes having government backing that
bring bene t to companies or sectors, adding impetus to the normal
With the introduction of BS EN ISO 9000, which now
Economist
standard,
quality management ts of
succeeds the BS5750 that shows the bene we give voice to research accreditation. Surrey University says that accredited companies
outperform their competitors across all the main business ratios,
from pro tability to return on capital. Correlation is not causation,
we admit, as it might just be that the best companies are drawn
to the standard, but we go on to highlight the gures and
encourage companies to use a free advisory service, if cost of
implementation is putting them off.
day-to-day efforts already underway to remain competitive. Outright
cynicism is no answer to our problems, we conclude.
The UK’s attempt at developing a CNC system, via motor drives
specialist Control Techniques, is getting support via machine tool
agent Geo Kingsbury through its MHP Vantage CNC lathe line.
Kingsbury had purchased UK CNC lathe maker MHP in previous
years and this latest machine featuring Control Techniques’ CNC
system sees it enter the market with a cost advantage versus those
using the established CNC brands. First customer for the new range
is Thermocouple Instruments in Wales.
In our second comment this month, we herald the arrival of
combination manual/CNC lathe technology, also similarly but less
evident for the milling machine area. Able to be operated by those
having manual skills, so not requiring CNC programming knowledge,
we suggest that these machines will provide a useful weapon in low
quantity manufacture for companies, offering a step up from manual
machinery without a commensurate skills hurdle to clear, or make
possible the production of medium volume quantities, but on lower
cost than, albeit faster, full CNC machinery.
We report the setting up of the International Rapid Prototyping
Association, which takes over from the Warwick Rapid Prototyping
and Tooling Club, while in another sign of modern times and the
importance of computer-held and used data, workholding and
xturing rm Wixroyd has released its product catalogue in AutoCAD
format.
In news, we report that Heller Machine Tools is ramping up the
manufacture of horizontal machining centres, its Redditch base
being the main site for the assembly of new horizontal models
MCP 150, 160 and soon the larger 250 model. Indeed, the MCP
is only built in Redditch. The existing BEA 07 horizontal had
kicked off the venture in 1993, but these latest models launched
in the previous year now bolster that. Underpinning this latest
production addition is the origination of a Total Quality Policy that
makes an explicit link between employees and nished product,
and is based on continuous improvement. This is considered
more important then the ISO 9001 accreditation, which Heller
In news, we have a report from Renishaw’s new machine shop at
New Mills, Wotton-under-Edge. A clinically clean environment and
ef cient unattended production on its machining centres supported
by in-house xturing (the precursor to the RAMTIC system that
continues to be used today) and on-machine measuring processes
were key features. Tolerances of 20 micron are held, courtesy of
what is known as artefact measurement – a calibrated component
with similar features and of similar material to that being cut that is
held within the working envelope – which is regularly measured by
the in-machine probe used to measure production parts. This
six-legged hexapod
gearmaking
month, we have: how articles this the UK’s In feature an analysis of already in use in Russia; developments; an
machines are metalforming machinery sector; EMO explanation of the ner points
of BS5750 quality standard
successor BS EN ISO
9000; plus our regular
subcontracting
supplement.
july 95▼
Key Events
has found disappointing, as re ected by the quality of work it has
com com
adobe.stock./pavlofox Restoration of US–Vietnam
relations, 20 years after
25years ago
Bill Gates is
world’s richest
▼
Website
▼
New football fee
set: Stan Collymore
leaves Nottingham
Forest for Liverpool
– £8.4m
Srebrenica,
Bosnia, massacre
of 7,000 Bosnian
▼
volmon /stock.adobe.com
ATX PC
rcfotostock /stock.adobe.com
Vietnam War ends
superstore Amazon.com
of cially opens
elmirex2009 /stock.adobe.comelmirex2009 com
Muslim men by
Serbian army
comrcfotostock motherboard
form factor
launched by
Intel
▼ ▼
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FOUR BRANDS –
A COMPLETE
PRODUCT SPECTRUM cuttingtools.ceratizit.com
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42
show one of its new 1.5 kW laser pro lers in action. We don’t
need to say it’s a CO2 laser source because today’s bre laser
technology is nowhere to be seen. This new machine is expected
by its user to bring in signi cant business, Machinery is told.
But punch press machinery is still very much alive in these
times of low-ish laser power, and Press & Shear has also held an
Open House to show off what it has to offer. The company gave
visitors their rst opportunity to view the Wilson Wheel in action
on Finn-Power technology – the Wheel had been developed in
conjunction with Finn-Power, in fact. It was being used alongside a
Wilson ribbing tool that was producing strengthening details in
sheets, with the Wheel employed to produce apertures. The
ribbing and cutting of almost any shape required were also
highlighted messages at the event.
The EU Machinery Directive came into force on 1 January this
year and companies are still getting to grips with its requirements
that outline safety requirements for machines placed on the
market in the EU.
Helping them get up to speed with the Directive’s details are
companies offering advice. One such is Assessment Services,
which has created a free Q&A booklet that details the steps
necessary to demonstrate that a machine meets the
requirements. The booklet also covers Essential Health & Safety
Requirements and the creation of a Technical File. In similar vein
is Telemecanique’s safety guide publication.
In feature articles this month, we have: how latest
developments in horizontal machining centres are ghting back
against the increasingly dominant vertical machines; BAE
Samlesbury’s Advanced Machining Facility’s Hard Metal Cell, the
hardware and software elements of note; a report on still young
but fast growing Haas Automation of Oxnard, California, where the
company has invested $10m since 1992; and how tooling
supplier Komet is working with Formula One out t Benetton
Formula.
Key Events
Brian Lara, West
Indies, 7th Test
Cricket century,
179, at The
Oval, London
25years ago
▼
▼
English pubs
open throughout
Sunday
afternoon for
the rst time
TenWit/stock.adobe.com merly69 /stock.adobe.com
lukszczepanski /stock.adobe.com
Laser pro ling
and punch press
company LVD
Shape of Marlow,
Bucks, impressed
visitors to a recent
Open House event
by whisking them
off a few minutes
down the road to
aug 95
Microsoft’s
Windows 95 on sale; 1m
copies sold in four days
▼ Hiroshima
bombing 50th
anniversary
gathering in
city, Aug 6
received from companies that hold the
acceditation, the company tells us.
ebay.com
domain comes online
▼
Roland Magnusson/stock.adobe.com
The International
Rugby Football
Board says
rugby union
players may be
professional
master1305/stock.adobe.com
monticellllo /stock.adobe.com
chrisdorney /stock.adobe.com
041_25yrpages_MACH_AUG20.indd 42 16/07/2020 14:25
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