manual lathes which was a slow process and orders often piled up causing a bottleneck in the supply chain. “To make the problem
worse,” he adds, “our continual flow of orders would often get put on hold if one of the large digger manufacturers placed a bulk order. These delays had a knock on effect to our customers onsite and we were faced with a classic make versus buy scenario. Ultimately, we knew that in- house CNC machining would reduce leadtimes and increase turnover.”
When a local subcontractor went into receivership the opportunity was too good to miss. “We bought the lathes, relocated to a larger factory site in Rugeley and employed the redundant staff,” Mr Wise advises. “We began manufacturing in-house in 2005
and have gone from strength to strength ever since.”
After a year establishing its new in-house engineering provision, Digbits knew the benefits of onsite manufacturing far outweighed the use of subcontractors. With a large proportion of stock still being made externally, the opportunity to move more engineering in- house was still there. “We wanted to expand our onsite manufacturing arm, but we needed to be sure that it would be financially and logistically viable,” says Mr Wise. “This was going to be a massive leap forward for Digbits and for us to commit to the purchase of new equipment over second hand alternatives the manufacturer needed to be able to prove the power, accuracy and durability of its machines.”
On the back of a record year in 2011 with boosted contracts from existing customers and added business from new companies, including a £400,000 a year machining and assembly contract won from an existing overseas supplier, Unicut Precision is gearing up for 2012 with new turn/mill centre and sliding head lathe orders worth some £650,000.
In addition, the Welwyn Garden City precision turned part subcontractor has laid down budgets to install an additional fully programmable component cleaning centre and a soluble coolant recycling facility. Now employing 34 people, three skilled machine setters and two semi-skilled employees were taken on in the last six months, and now Unicut is already seeking up to three additional people with high levels of CNC setting ability to help produce the influx of new work.
The installation of a second, high specification Miyano ABX-64SYY, fixed head turning centre in January with 64mm bar capacity, two opposed 15kW and 7.5KW spindles, two 12 station all driven 4.5kW high torque driven turrets with ±40mm Y-axis crossfeed will form a new dedicated production cell with an existing Citizen M32 CNC sliding head turn/mill
centre. The around the clock production cell will be managed by two setters able to fully exploit production of the seven initial component types. In addition, electronic links to production schedules, gauging, the quality department and preset tooling will be installed. Two further Tornos Gamma 20/6 combination ‘bush’ and ‘bushless’ sliding head machines are also in the process of final acceptance ready for 2012 at the Welwyn Garden City facility. One machine is installed to meet long running contracts requiring continuous production and the second will provide back up to accommodate any unscheduled demand peaks while helping to provide a general machining capability due to the fast changeover between the bush and bushless spindle assembly that can be achieved within half an hour.
Says managing director Jason Nicholson: “For the type of components being put through, from both these machines we will gain the advantage of not having to always use ground bar stock, while the arrangement of the end working tools with the bonus of a Y-axis crossfeed will give us additional tooling flexibility.”
Tel: 01698 374548 Fax: 01698 359454 Canyon Road Netherton Industrial Estate Wilshaw ML2 0AR
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He continues: “Mazak was recommended to us by an industry contact and their British- built machines fitted with our ethos. We based our decision on three key factors: firstly, the machines offered excellent accuracy and could engineer a number of different components, which meant we could take a large slice of the subbed work in-house immediately. “Secondly, the support Mazak offered us as a new customer was exceptional. From installing and configuring the equipment to training our staff, we are confident that we are getting the very best out of our new machines.
“Lastly and perhaps most importantly, is the flexibility that the machines offer. We no longer have to keep large quantities of stock onsite because we can make to order. Since having this new technology we are
more reactive to our customers’ needs – we can respond to orders straightaway and have eradicated the problematic leadtimes.”
Digbits purchased a Quick Turn Nexus 250-II M and a Vertical Centre Nexus 510C. The Quick Turn Nexus machines steel pivot pins, bushings and metal bosses for excavator buckets, whilst the Vertical Centre Nexus finishes bucket linkages and cutting edges for buckets. Having saved significant sums of money in an initial six month period, Mr Clay is confident that the financial investment is far outweighed by the efficiency, speed and flexibility that the new equipment provides. “Since we invested in the Mazak machines, we have
surpassed our customers’ expectations. Our record turnaround is 40 minutes from receiving an order by phone to having the bucket machined, finished and in the back of the customer’s van.
“Making some of the smaller turned parts used to take 15 minutes each on the manual lathes,” he reveals. “We can now produce nine in a ten minute period. The opportunity for further expansion really is huge and when the time is right, we could look to move into general subcontracting for sectors like aerospace. We have the knowledge and the expertise and now we have the right equipment too.”
When it comes to manufacturing complex turned parts...
...we work harder to make sure our customers are
pleasantly surprised! World class
manufacturers of complex turned components. We are highly competitive and offer our customers total confi dentiality.
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