Machining cell investment encourages exports

Investment in a machining cell has given Arrell Engineering the confidence and capability to start exporting for the first time in the company's 50 year history.

Investment in a cell of DMG machine tools has given Arrell Engineering the confidence and capability to start exporting for the first time in the company's 50 year history.

The machines include two vertical machining centres, a CTX 400 Series Two turning centre with driven tooling and, most recently, a MF Sprint 65 CNC production machine.

As well as their productivity the DMG machines have also proven to be incredibly reliable, with no breakdowns or service call outs required since their installation two years ago.

Arrell was established in 1952 supplying traditional heavy industries, but as these declined it invested in CNC equipment to give it the competitive edge.

Managing Director, Vincent Walker, joined the company in 1994 and since then has increased the investment to 18 CNC machines - spending ?1 million in the last five years.

The benefits, he says, have been tremendous, leading to a dramatic growth in turnover and an increased customer base.

Arrell focuses on turned parts manufactured from stainless steel and thick-walled mild steel tube from 6mm to 650mm diameter.

Its customers include the largest supplier of hydraulics to the North Sea oil and gas industry, valve manufacturers, refrigeration specialists and the construction industry.

The DMG machines are Arrell's most recent investments.

The CTX 400 Series 2 turning centre has driven tooling that allows milling and turning in the same operation while the MF Sprint 65 has two turrets, both with live tooling and a sub-chuck that allow complete component machining in one cycle.

The two machines together provide a flexible, responsive and productive resource for a wide range of parts and volumes.

Two vertical machining centres, a DMC 63V and a DMC 103V with fourth axis, cover milling requirements that cannot efficiently be accommodated within the production cycles of the turning centres.

According to Vincent Walker, "75% of our work is turning and we try to integrate a lot of second and third ops into the turning operation.

But at the same time we couldn't do without the machining centres." He says that the CTX 400 Series speeds up the manufacturing process quite considerably and is more flexible and easy to set up than the MF Sprint 65 for medium volume work.

On batches over around 10,000 the MF Sprint really comes into its own, producing parts around 25% faster overall compared to a single turret CNC machine.

With the acquisition of the MF Sprint 65 Arrell is aiming for high volume production of complex parts in the 20mm - 65mm range that is beyond the scope of a typical sliding head machine.

"When I started here," says Walker, "I remember manually handling batches of 20,000 parts.

With the CTX we load it with bar and run it lights off.

The MF Sprint will complete all 20,000 parts in one operation from start to finish, lights off and in a third of the time.

Looking to the future, Arrell has employed five recently qualified SVQ (Scottish Vocational Qualification) graduates from East Kilbride College.

Arrell is a preferred company for work placements from the college and the five had previously had six to eight weeks work experience at the company.

"We see the MF Sprint 65 as one of the most advanced CNC turning centres currently available, and have taken the bold step of training three of these young engineers to run it.

From a technical perspective the MF Sprint is a complex machine but you don't need a lifetime's experience of turning to learn how to use it.

We will let youth drive forward Arrell's growth." And that growth will increasingly come through exports.

Arrell's customers are mostly based in Scotland and the North of England, but it is now expanding into the rest of the UK and Europe.

Says Vincent Walker, "We had to invest in productivity to fight overseas competition, but the result is that we now have the confidence and capability to become an exporter ourselves.

Around 75% of what we make ends up overseas in our customers' products.

Now, for the first time in the company's history we are exporting directly." Arrell's expansion will require further investment and Walker expects DMG to be the main source of new machinery as a result of its proven performance.

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