CONTENTS
Volume 178 Number 4298 September 2020
10 Lead feature Is the tide turning for reshoring?
’Reshoring’ is a much-mentioned word in the manufacturing industry,
especially amongst engineering component suppliers that took part in
Ventilator Challenge UK. Andrew Allcock takes a look at the history of
such talk and looks at current events. He asks: Is it different this time?
The answer is ‘yes’, but it will still require organisation, direction and
support, he suggests
19 Grinding, honing, surface fi nishing Chaos & order
Cutting tool regrinding that accommodates a chaotic work ow
is being supported by ANCA technology in Germany; laser-cut plate
surface nishing from by Timesavers’ technology wins in the UK
22 Punch, profi le, bend Virtual metalworking news
Andrew Allcock ‘attended’ Trumpf’s recent virtual press call, during
which the company outlined its response to Covid-19 and also
highlighted latest technology developments
25 Tooling Fine prints
3D-printing is playing its part in helping deliver both high performance
metalcutting tools and custom press brake tooling. Machinery has
the details
29 Tool, mould & die making Toolroom investments
XYZ Machine Tools-equipped toolroom becomes money-spinner for
Techgrave; technical trade moulder upgrades in-house toolroom with
Hurco machining centre, plus more
Regular sections
7 Comment
News round-up
8 Next-generation additive
manufacturing production line
8 Labour leader visits Welsh
government’s R&D centre
8 5G industrial testbed set to
open, run by AMRC
8 Advanced Machinery and
Productivity Institute news
8 Nuclear sector: automatic
weld inspection project
8 GTMA’s UK-based
3D-printing businesses survey
8 Engineering Technology
Group supplies Pexion Group
9 Renishaw/Additive
Automation project
9 MSC Industrial Supply wins
three-year Sulzer contract
9 Carfulan expands workforce
by almost 20%
9 Cornwall & Isles of Scilly
manufacturers project success
9 Appointments at: MTC &
GTMA
New products
9 Ceratizit turning inserts
9 Kennametal steel drilling
9 Tornos SwissNano 7
9 Vericut Version 9.1
9 Unmanned wire EDM tech
9 Grob linear pallet system
9 Baty metrology software
9 Esprit supports Smooth AI
9 Mapal composite milling
9 Social distancing tech
48 Classifi ed section
50 This month
25 years ago...
10
19
22
SHUTTER DIN /stock.adobe.com
Five-axis machining
supplement
Case studies: XYZ Machine
Tools/Westin Engineering;
Whitehouse Machine Tools/
Metaltech Precision Engineers;
Mills CNC/Baker Engineering;
Haas Automation/Carbinium
Engineering.
Machine product news:
GF Machining Solutions;
Grob Machine Tools; WH-Lead;
Mills CNC.
www.machinery.co.uk September 2020
OVER A CENTURY OF MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHT
FIVE-AXIS MACHINING
SUPPLEMENT
Machining case studies p34 – XYZ Machine Tools/Westin Engineering; Whitehouse Machine Tools/Metaltech
Precision Engineers; Mills CNC/Baker Engineering; Haas Automation/Carbinium Engineering
Machine product news p45 – GF Machining Solutions; Grob Machine Tools; WH-Lead; Mills CNC
Spinner U-620 5-axis machining centre at Metaltech Precision Engineers, p35 (Whitehouse Machine Tools)
Sponsored by:
033_MACH_SEP20.indd 33 21/08/2020 15:53
British machine tool industry talisman in rude health; new UK fi rm offers CNC multislide
auto tech; artifi cial intelligence for CNC machine process control & CMM probe
path planning; Dah Lih for Ward Hi-Tech; Gate gets into CNC-suppor ted manual tech
september 1995
25years ago
W e kick off the month celebrating a return to form for the
machine tool industry, following a long international
recession, with The 600 Group our focus. Its story is one of
business rationalisation of its business and reduced costs – meaning
the sale of its Startrite business and a more than halving of its
employee headcount, from 2,800 to 1,300. But the group is still a
British machine tool industry talisman, the largest publicly quoted
such company and one of the top rank of machine tool companies in
the UK, measured by turnover. It has introduced new products in
previous years, including the manual/CNC combination style lathe that
is currently popular, so the company is expanding its Mitsui Seiki FMS
system for the manufacture of parts at its Heckmondwike, West
Yorkshire, main plant. With a share price of more than 120p, long
gone are the days when that gure was 30p, we highlight.
Our comment in the second issue of the month celebrates an
addition to the UK machine tool industry, a not too familiar event. The
company is Swiftlevel, the founder is Philip Wilkinson, who has
returned to a previous area of interest – CNC multi-slide automatics.
He set up Winchester machine tools around 1988 to do the same
thing, but that company’s products passed to BSA Tools, which at
this time is still making them. Swiftlevel’s product is SuperSwift. It is
aimed at the up-to-22 mm bar diameter, Brown & Sharpe 00B and
CVA 8 area, and is priced at £38,000 (£76,000 today). Production
rate will be one a month for 1995, then two a month in 1996, with
three a month the following year. A cautious approach is being
taken so as not to repeat the mistakes of his Winchester
experience, but we suggest if larger competitors see unsatis ed
demand here, they will not hesitate to join the party.
In news, we continue the machine tool avour with a report
on the regular MATADOR conference, which is concerned with
machine tool design. Multi-role or modular machine design is
under the spotlight, with these intended to cope with frequent
changes of product or process. Arti cial Intelligence (AI) is
also getting a look in, with an AI system for estimating and
▼ ▼ ▼
The BBC begins
regular Digital
Audio Broadcasting,
Crystal Palace
transmitter
Drilling In XXL-Format
With the KUB Centron you can create large holes
High length-diameter ratio with safety and economy.
compensating for process errors in CNC machines plus an AI probe
path planning system for multi-task CMM inspection.
Elsewhere, Ward Hi-Tech says it is now the UK agent for Dah Lih,
a Taiwanese maker of, at that time, vertical machining centres. The
association between the rms continues today. Gate Machinery
International has joined the current vogue, adding a turning-only lathe
that boasts both CNC-supported manual use and CNC automatic
is priced at £30,000 (£60,000 today). The company will
application. It the same CNC to one of its turret mills and also offers it as a
t retro t for manual lathes and turret mills. Also treading the CNC
retro t path for turret mills is Acu-Rite, and once again this
development supports intermediate CNC-assisted manual operation,
axis CNC contouring. A retro t of a different kind is being
plus 2-offered rollgrinding
by Ajax Machine Tools, a belt-head that adds tube or capability to any lathe.
In cutting tool news, specialists Microbore Tooling Systems and
Sumitomo Electric Hardmetal partner, with the latter’s inserts used in
a new range of the former’s cartridges, while Dormer has launched a
series of technical machining guides for all major material
classi cations. The company has created its Application Material
Group (AMG), developed to make tool selection easier by linking the
correct cutting tool to the material being cut.
A partnership between two UK companies sees T Bowers & Co
(Toolmakers) gain global sales and service rights for Magneti Systems’
magnetic chucking products. Con dence is underpinned by an
analysis of competing products, with the Magnetic Systems’ products
coming out on top.
In feature articles this month we have: centreless grinding, taking
in Sweden’s Lidköping, plus case studies; British Aerospace replaces
computer system for scheduling with a manual system; preventative
maintenance service; a Tooling ‘95 preview; automated video
measurement technology in action; inverted spindle, or self-loading
VTLs; and an investigation into subcontracting/customer partnerships
as part of one of our regular subcontracting supplements. ■
For more information:
cutting.tools/en/kub-centron
Key Events
▼
BBC One premieres
Jane Austen’s ‘Pride
and Prejudice’,
starring Jennifer
Ehle and Colin Firth
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Africa Studio /stock.adobe.com
Alexey Novikov /stock.adobe.com
Georgios Kollidas/stock.adobe.com
Luca Lorenzelli /stock.adobe.com
sep 95
Sam
McCluskie,
trade unionist,
dies at 63
▼
Hewlett Packard:
the rst sub
$1,000
recordable CD
disc drive
Sony enters the
video game market
with the release of
its PlayStation
Boxer Frank Bruno wins
the heavyweight
WBC world championship,
beats Oliver McCall
▼
050_25yrpages_MACH_AUG20.indd 50 24/08/2020 10:59
Science
behind
Lapping, Polishing, Grinding and Honing
Engis UK Ltd. The European division of Engis Corporation. Tel +44 (0) 1491- 411117 www.engis.com
The
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