Product category:
CNC automatic lathes
News Release from: Citizen Machinery UK | Subject: Citizen CNC sliding head automatic lathes
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 24 August 2004
Sliding head CNC autos win back work for
subby
Sliding head CNC autos have reduced overheads and minimised lead times and so are attracting new business for a machining subcontractor against fierce competition from E Europe and Far East.
David Proctor, general manager of precision subcontractor DP Engineering is a man with a mission: to significantly build an already successful business Backed by managing director David Paull and driven by an investment-led philosophy, David Proctor sits in a brand new 10,000ft2 facility in one of the most picturesque parts of the UK (just outside Redruth in Cornwall) and reflects on how over GBP 650,000 has been invested in the last 12 months, how two more employees have been taken on and how a modern apprentice is due to start after the summer
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 22 Jan 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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In addition, fuelled by a turnover growth in 2003 of eight per cent, David Proctor says this trend is showing every sign of continuing.
The core business, based on single cycle machining of parts up to 32mm diameter using seven Citizen CNC sliding head automatic lathes from NC Engineering of Watford, is now being extended to the machining of larger parts using three mill/turn centres - and a fourth is about to be ordered with 8 inch chuck and 65mm through bore spindles.
As Proctor maintains: "Our whole business was reshaped by NC Engineering-instilled methods with two B12, three L20 and two M32 CNC sliding head machines installed over the last three years.
Further reading
Up to 10 unmanned CNC lathes monitored remotely
Up to 10 Citizen CNC sliding head automatic lathes with Windows based control system software can now be remotely monitored through unmanned production periods with automatic alarm messaging on alert.
Remote contact for Citizens when unmanned
Up to 10 Citizen CNC sliding head automatic lathes with Windows-based control system software can now be remotely monitored through unmanned production periods.
Tallot turns on technology in subcontracting
A fast-growing, high investment led machine shop has eight of the latest Citizen CNC sliding head automatic lathes installed by NC Engineering of Watford.
These machines have enabled overheads and lead times to be kept to the minimum, while attracting new customers and enabling our subcontract operation to undergo a complete change of image." Proctor says that fighting prices with Far East and European competitors is difficult but things are now going full circle as customers find lead time and quality become more significant in the purchase equation.
"We can normally deliver in two weeks or less from order - sometimes even as quick as next day." Customers are also finding that with overseas suppliers, lead times are increasingly surrounded by lots more planning, with 14 to 16 weeks delivery now commonplace.
"There is," he says, "a growing factor of closer customer relationships developing around the DP Engineering business.
We are the helpful neighbour with a new modern workshop full of tools that can do the job." Although based in Cornwall, 90 per cent of the company's turnover comes from 'over-the-fence' supply to local companies, in particular aerospace, MoD, telecoms, medical, leisure, gas appliance, compressor and body jewellery components.
These customers, he maintains, are demanding prompt delivery and batch sizes are getting smaller but more frequent.
"We now average around 3,000 parts a batch, ranging from a handful of parts to runs of 200,000 items." This changing scenario of Kanban supply that has led to some 80 per cent of orders being repeated five to six times a year, has also enabled DP Engineering to adopt a stock supply arrangement where the company produces parts for customers in the most economical quantity.
The company now groups parts that can be produced from the same bar size to rationalise material sizes and reduce changeover times, there are significant added advantages to this, even if extra material has to be removed in-cycle.
Proctor maintains: "This arrangement allows us to smooth out peaks and troughs of production and it largely prevents machine setting panics.
Because of our high quality rating we can now deliver to quite a few customers direct to assembly line within hours of a fax or phone call." However, he is keen to point to the type of equipment installed as enabling him to achieve his targets.
"We buy Citizen sliding head autos based on our experience and the pedigree of the machines which are tremendously versatile for our type of work.
The continuous development by Citizen is also very attractive because if you maintain an investment policy, you can always improve on what you are doing - you are never buying the same basic machine and the resulting additional savings fuel the justification process." Now, five of the seven Citizens tend to be run through the night on materials that range from steel, brass, aluminium, 303 and 316 stainless and S130.
Special steels for aerospace parts and nickel silver for telecoms are also machined.
Central to production are the two latest Citizen M32 13-axis machines with main and subspindles that are able to machine with three tools simultaneously.
For some customers DP is combining the finish hobbing of gear tooth forms and internal thread whirling in-cycle with milled flats and slots, drilled and tapped cross holes all held to tight geometrical relationships that would be a headache for multi-operational machining methods.
"Previously we used platen type machines," Proctor says, "but the Citizens have easily halved those cycle times." But it is the elimination of interoperational handling associated with old methods that has really transformed the business - eliminated the risk of damage and setting problems while parts held in boxes and laying around the workshop are now a thing of the past.
Having recently invested GBP 37,000 in a programmable vision based inspection system, Proctor maintains this goes hand in glove with the CNC small part turning capability he now has.
"When customers come to visit, the look in their eyes and nods of the head confirm that they have confidence in what we can do for them.
It's a great feeling! But we still need to maintain the momentum of being very competitive - we still need to look to the future and train people to think precision and everything that goes to support it." And in looking ahead, Proctor is now considering to add value by providing sub assemblies for direct to line delivery.
"Not only will this give us better control over production and machine loadings, but providing we deliver the quality on time, it will also secure contracts because we have more control and flexibility on the price of parts. Request a free brochure from Citizen Machinery UK ...
Where we may now supply two or three items of an assembly and may be uncompetitive on other parts, we can look to add-value in other areas because we are responsible for complete supply.".
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