Feature Production Equipment
Apprentices appreciate versatile lathes C
Investing in high quality personnel and equipment is important to Cheshire Seals: the company employs apprentices to produce engineered parts using robust vertical machining and turning centres from Romi
heshire Seals is growing its busi- ness by employing engineering apprentices so when it comes to investment it needs equipment that is robust and easy to use. It has installed a Romi D 800 vertical machine centre and a GL 280 M turning centre. The Warrington company was set up in 2008 at the start of the recession but despite this it has grown year on year, moving from 1000 sq ft premises five years ago to two adjacent 2500 sq ft premises and increasing its turnover to about £500,000 today.
Its core business started with the production of plastic and rubber seals machined from a large range of billet held in store. It has gone on to produce engineered parts, exploiting the engi- neering skills of founder Paul Wallace.
Specialist products
The company now co-operates in devising engineering solutions for prototype equipment and production runs in a wide range of parts for a broad customer base using a variety of materials including specialist prod- ucts such as rare earth metals. It recently managed a 24-hour turn- around on stoppers for a ship launch which required materials sourced from Austria. In addition to direct business it sells through distributors and handles trade work for competi- tors. The parts can be 6-450mm in diameter and range from the one-off prototypes to thousands of parts. Cheshire Seals had three lathes but
needed more capacity to meet cus- tomer demand. It considered several suppliers before selecting the Romi D 800 vertical machining centre and GL 280 M turning centre. The VDI-40 turret tooling was transferable between existing machines and the package was a perfect fit for the company’s requirements.
“The D 800 offered us a rigid con- struction, ideal for the type of work we are doing and a slightly longer bed length,” comments managing director Paul Wallace. “The standard 30 tool changer and the ease of changeability between tooling was a key advantage.
Jonathan Wallace at the Romi GL 280 M turning centre
Both Romi machines give us great accuracy, good quality and high output. However we don’t run to full speed because we are often dealing in bespoke, one-off work and like to pre- serve the life of our machines and extend tool life. These machines repre- sent good value for money and we will certainly get a return on investment in the next three years.”
Precise tool changing Paul’s son Jonathan - the company’s first apprentice - recently completed his three-year training and qualified as a Level 2 engineer. He is being sup- ported by the company to the next level and started his HNC.
“The D 800 is very straightforward to use and is faster and easier to set up than other equipment,” says Wallace. “The tool changing is so precise.” Simon Stott, an apprentice who works on the GL 280 M turning centre, likes the familiarity of the Fanuc control panel and the driven tooling and the fact the machine has 12 rather than the 10 tools typical of other equipment he has operated.
The machines run flexible days, seven days a week. As the company grows, more apprentices will be taken on so that good engineering disci- plines and sound understanding are instilled right from the start.
Romi UK T: +44 (0)1788-544 221
www.romi.com
Compact quick-change module for automatic handling C
onfined spaces will always be an issue when using pallets and tools for automatic handling with a robot. SCHUNK has developed the slim NSR-A quick- change module with optimised interfering contour. This allows loading very close to the assembly or machine table. Low attachments to the clamping station and pallet are feasible and there is enough space for the components and the axis motion. For supplying the modules, handling and assembly tools, the module can be equipped with a SCHUNK standard media transfer for pneumatics, electric or fluids. At a dead weight of 1.6kg (size 160) the NSR-A has a locking force of 14,000N and is suitable for reliable handling of pallets up to 350kg (measuring 400 x 400mm). Form-fit and self-locking, unlocking can be done with non-oiled air: a pneumatic
system pressure of 3.5bar is sufficient. In order to achieve an optimum ratio between rigidity, robustness and weight, high-strength, hard-coated aluminum has been used for parts outside the power flow. Inside parts are made of hardened stainless steel while the high performance module is completely sealed to prevent ingress of chips and coolant. Magnetic switches control locking/unlocking; the pallet and tool pres- ence is interrogated by inductive proximity switches and repeat accuracy is 0.02mm.
Schunk Intec 18 T: +44 (0)1908 611127
www.gb.schunk.com NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 Factory Equipment
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56