Product category:
General Machining Subcontracting Services
News Release from: Premier Deep Hole Drilling | Subject: Deep-hole drilling and honing
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 29 July 2005
Deep-hole drilling is subcontracted out
Power tools manufacturer normally does most of its machining in-house, but does not try to emulate expert sub-contractors in operations like deep-hole drilling and honing.
Component cost, not price, should be the sole criteria for every buyer of outsourced machined parts, according to Ralph Steers As one of three senior buyers for CP Operations at world renowned power tool and systems engineering giant, Desoutter, he knows more than anybody about the folly of buying purely on price alone
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 13 May 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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"Rarely does the best price also equate to the best quality component and the best service," he declares.
"The gist of outsourcing - wherever you are in the world and whatever your industry - rests with cost order variance, rather than purchase price variance".
"For example, by spending more per metre on having certain bar stock supplied to us precision ground, the savings in material waste and added machining time could mean I save, say, GBP 1 on each machined part".
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"So, an initial negative purchase price variance then becomes a positive cost order variance - and obtaining the highest quality component at a competitive price is what outsourcing is all about".
"If you work with the right suppliers then sub-contracting should never be a price war." 'Time-served' engineer Steers is responsible for the supply of raw materials, bearings, seals and electric motors, as well as all sub-contracted machining work to the company's Hemel Hempstead (Herts) site.
His role is to establish partnerships with suppliers and work closely with them to formulate the correct level of product quality and supply - involving about 120 companies worldwide - and thereafter 'hand' the contact over to a team of order planners who liaise with the suppliers regularly.
Only if there is a problem - perhaps a peak in demand for, or quality issue with, a certain component - does Steers usually become involved again with a supplier, otherwise involving himself with the company's continual reviews of vendors and visits to potential new sub-contractors.
Being an incumbent supplier to Desoutter does not, however, mean that sub-contractors have a free rein, since the company is constantly scrutinising its supply base and 'targets' its top ten suppliers every six months with in-depth reviews.
With three senior buyers responsible in total for 45,000 articles at CP Operations, coupled with 10,000 core items manufactured in-house, Hemel Hempstead is Desoutter's UK manufacturing base for a wide range of industrial tools under the Desoutter (air tools), Chicago (pneumatic tools) and Georges Renault (power tools), as well as other badged tools under various brands within parent Atlas Copco's portfolio.
Sub-contracted machined parts are joined in the company's product type-dedicated assembly and test cells with components fed from an adjacent production area organised on flow line principles.
Finished products are shipped directly to the company's central warehouse in Belgium, from where they are distributed to the global customer base.
The shopfloor is characterised by a plethora of high-tech machine tools, including multi-axis machining centres and sophisticated turning centres, complemented by 'front-end' 3D design and development teams, and an inspection room that includes a pair of co-ordinate measuring machines.
These generate component inspection data from the same 3D design/machining program generation data used for production.
Core component manufacture remains in-house, stresses Ralph Steers, for obvious quality reasons.
But certain critical processes do break this 'rule', such as the series of deep hole-drilled sleeves used in the Desoutter and Renault AFD (auto feed drill) series".
""While we do produce what we consider 'deep holes' (around 110mm) as part our continued quest for economic one-hit machining - the more multi-operations we can achieve in a single set-up the better".
"It is a fact that for some components we cannot compete with the experts in terms of both capability and cost," he continues".
""We single source all our deep hole drilling to Premier Deep Hole Drilling of St Albans, and in all the years we have dealt with Premier I have never been given a reason to look for an alternative supplier".
"They are competitive, produce quality parts to schedule and they react well to any spikes in demand".
"" Equipped with 26 gun drilling machines for producing holes from 2.5mm diameter by 3000mm deep, three ejector drilling machines for holes up to 75mm diameter by 1500mm deep and 13 honing machines for honing bores from 2.5mm to 150mm diameter, BS EN ISO 9002-accredited Premier Deep Hole Drilling produces 12 part numbers for CP Operations.
Included are extension tubes and sleeves, machined from both aluminium and steel billets.
In all cases, Premier operates on a total supply basis, beginning with material sourcing and purchase, through machining and surface finishing (where appropriate managing shot peening, chemical blacking and electroless-nickel plating) and supplying finished parts straight to line.
Premier operates a kanban-style system for Desoutter, holding stocks of parts for call-off to suit the manufacturer's production scheduling.
In one example, aluminium sleeves up to 500mm long by 60mm diameter are turned from 515mm billet then deep hole drilled with a 40mm through hole, and at one end opened up to 50mm then finished honed.
Various slots of different widths and sizes are then machined into the 'hollow' cylindrical component.
In another example, steel extension tubes of 222mm long and 22mm diameter at one end, and with a 32mm collar at the other, feature a 16mm diameter deep drilled through hole.
All components are produced in regular batches and, depending on specification, are finished honed to <0.1 micron Ra".
""Our contract with CP Operations has been ongoing for a number of years," confirms Premier's managing director Stuart Grant, "And there is no room for complacency; Desoutter's established sub-contract strategy enforces strict disciplines on its suppliers in terms of consistency of supply and, obviously, we constantly ensure we meet those requirements".
"Premier's leading position in sub-contract deep hole drilling has been based on a policy of continual improvement and communication and, of course, we must have the production technology and systems in place to meet customers' quality demands." "In the case of CP Operations, in particular, we also keep in touch regularly with the company's order planners to discuss current throughput as well as forecast requirements." Grant adds: "It is a philosophy that not only secures our continual supply to companies like Desoutter, but it is also now increasingly seeing us extend our services into providing value-added machining of parts containing deep holes." Steers concurs: "Another good thing about Premier is that they let us know whenever new plant is installed - for example, their recent investment of over GBP 250,000 in a six-axis mill/turn centre and vertical machining centre".
"The fact that their capabilities have been extended could come in very useful for us in the future.".
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