Aggressiveness finds the right CNC lathe

A subcontractor that has taken a more aggressive route on pricing, chose a smaller turning centre that has increased spindle size when compared with lower cost machines.

As a subcontractor, Autocraft Engineering has always aimed to be a forward-thinking company with the skills, experience and equipment to offer its customers high-quality precision components at competitive prices.

Based on these capabilities, the Gwent-based company now plans to secure a reliable long-term business base by manufacturing its own products as well - and it has ordered a new DMG CTX 410 lathe to make them on.

It was about a year ago that Autocraft first started to make and sell a product under its own name.

This was a manually-operated cylinder that forms part of a quick-hitch mechanism for construction equipment such as excavator buckets.

Autocraft's customer, which supplies the quick-hitch systems to OEMs such as Volvo and Komatsu, was so impressed with the way Autocraft approached the task, that it asked if it could also design and make a hydraulic safety switch.

With two products to its name, Autocraft could really start to think as a manufacturer in its own right.

As Autocraft's Managing Director Vince Edwards explains, if you have your own products it brings an element of consistency into the business.

"Working as a subcontractor can be a bit hit and miss," he says.

"Although we are happy to take on subcontracting work when we can, if you don't have a clear idea of what work is going to come in it is difficult to plan and run your business.

The cylinders started to work well for us last year, and together with the hydraulic valves they should provide a substantial and reliable volume of business." The CTX 410 is Autocraft's first DMG lathe, and Edwards says that the decision to change suppliers was made easy by the keen pricing and high productivity of the CTX 410.

DMG has achieved this by refining its manufacturing processes and concentrating on a clearly-defined range of standard machines and options.

"It was always generally recognised that DMG made quality machines, but there was a perception that the cost was a bit off-putting.

Now they have taken a more aggressive route on pricing, the machines have become an extremely good option.

One of the benefits that I saw was that the CTX 410 can offer me an increased spindle size on a smaller machine.

This made it very competitive against some of the lower cost US machines." The company runs a three-shift system which Vince says is 'pretty lean' and keeps the machines running 20 hours a day, four days a week.

He says this means the company doesn't have any overtime issues and can maintain a keen lead-time for its customers.

"The shift scheme works well," says Edwards.

"We can have three guys running six or seven machines twenty hours a day, and the CTX suits that philosophy.

And if we can run it lights-out we will." Autocraft will also be making full use of the CTX 410's live tooling capability to produce the components.

The cylinders, for example, which range from 280mm to 340mm long and measure 75mm in diameter, include an angled face that needs to be milled, a variety of holes and a threaded end.

"We plan to make both the hydraulic valve and the cylinders on the CTX 410, and with a bit of luck we will have enough work to warrant buying another one.

We are already au fait with CNC machining, and we have chosen the Fanuc control on the CTX so that it is compatible with our existing equipment.

We've got a pretty reliable order base with the cylinder and the valve work so we should have the continuity to allow us to run at high efficiencies and, hopefully, good profit levels," says Edwards.

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