FIVE-AXIS MACHINING SUPPLEMENT
XXXXX
MACHINING CASE STUDIES
This XYZ Machine Tools’ UMC-5X is
supporting gear-cutting at Kenward
Engineering, part of Westin Engineering
XYZ Machine Tools UMC-5X delivers gear-cutting
capability for Westin Engineering
Celebrating its centenary in 2021, Huddersfi eld-based
Westin Drives provides 24/7 service and repair
facilities for electric motors and other electromechanical
equipment. Any machining that it required
was either subcontracted or carried out using the
company’s single manual centre lathe.
Five years ago, the decision was made to bring
machining in house to address logistical issues
associated with its low-volume subcontract requirement.
With no prior machining knowledge, the company has
transformed itself into what today is Westin Engineering.
And the company has just taken delivery of its rst
5-axis machining centre, a XYZ UMC-5X supplied by
XYZ Machine Tools ( www.is.gd/oxorop ). The machine
joins two turning centres and a fourth-axis-equipped
vertical machining centre that boasts turning capability,
all also supplied by XYZ Machine Tools.
Initially, these machine investments were targeted
purely at supporting Westin Drives’ services. However,
things rapidly developed and, with strategic acquisitions,
Westin Engineering has grown to become a full-service
subcontract machinist itself, offering everything from
reverse engineering single components to volume
production for a diverse range of industries.
“Our primary priorities were the milling and turning
capabilities, which saw the arrival of the XYZ 1020 VMC
with an optional fourth-axis, this allowed us to machine
larger bearing housings, while the XYZ SLX 425 ProTurn
lathe was ideal for one-off and low-volume turning work
to support Westin Drives,” explains Fraser Lynch,
director, Westin Engineering.
While these two machines enabled the company to
support its sister company, the next major development
came in 2017, with the purchase of Kenward
Engineering, a gear-cutting specialist, followed by the
acquisition of general subcontractor, Kingsmith
Engineering. These two developments brought with them
a need for further machining investment.
“Much of the machining capability of these two
businesses was either specialist gear cutting equipment
or dated turning and milling machines, so we needed to
invest further; particularly in turning and milling
capacity,” says Lynch. We looked at mill-turn machines,
but after speaking with XYZ Machine Tools we decided
to choose their XYZ CT65 LTY turning centre with LNS
barfeed capability. The Y-axis and live tooling on our two
CT65 LTYs meant we could transfer a lot of work directly
to them and reduce the number of operations required
from four or ve in some cases down to just two
operations maximum. The barfeed allows us to run
unmanned throughout the night. During the day, the two
machines are managed by a single operator, giving us
signi cant ef ciency gains as for a vast majority of work.
These two machines can achieve the work output of two
lathes and two machining centres.”
With the bulk of the turning and milling now
34 September 2020 | www.machinery.co.uk | MachineryMagazine | @MachineryTweets
/oxorop
/www.machinery.co.uk