Product category:
General Machining Subcontracting Services
News Release from: Qualiturn Products | Subject: Mill/turned parts
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 17 August 2007
Turned parts company grows by one-third
A subcontractor operating 16 CNC sliding head and two fixed head CNC automatics has grown its turnover by one-third since its move to a new factory in 2004.
Now producing 7 million components/year, precision turned parts manufacturer, Qualiturn, has enjoyed a one-third increase in annual turnover to GBP 2 million since moving to its new premises in 2004 Located on the Mead Lane Industrial Estate, Hertford, UK, Qualiturn machines simple to highly complex mill-turned parts, for delivery to 250 customers operating in a wide range of industries
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 12 Nov 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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These include aerospace, automotive, surgical and electronics sectors.
They are mainly in the UK but include some in China and Eastern Europe.
Average batch size is 1,000 but can be as low as five-off or up to 100,000.
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In September 2004, Allendale moved into its newly developed and larger UK Engineering and Test areas to keep up with the growing demand for its services.
Tolerances are sometimes very tight; one recent job required +6/-0 micron, to be held on a 5mm turned diameter.
Latest developments include the purchase of a Star sliding-head lathe in July 2007.
In 2006, Qualiturn had added a Miyano fixed-head lathe, metrology equipment from Tesa, an Autocrib tool store and PSL Datatrack production management software.
To be added in 2007 will be a second MecWash aqueous washing machine, this time with ultrasonic cleaning capability, and a high-rise carousel for storing bar.
Space has already been freed up on the shop floor by relocating a manual lathe, mill and press to a mezzanine area, which has been doubled in size.
* 'Lights out' machining - in 1990, Qualiturn's owner and managing director, Bernard Groom, was one of the first contract machinists in the country to start 'lights-out' machining, with no operator attendance during the night shift.
He said, "We have operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year ever since, with only daytime staffing.
The precision and reliability of our bar-fed machines enable us to operate unmanned for approximately 60 per cent of the time, resulting in economies that are passed on to our customers.
In addition, the need for second operations is removed in practically every case, allowing us to reduce staffing levels and making us even more competitive".
Qualiturn's plant list currently includes 16 Star CNC sliding-head mill-turn centres and two Miyano twin-turret fixed-head lathes.
The most recent lathe, a model BNJ-42SY, has a Y-axis to allow more complex, single-hit cycles involving such operations as cross tapping and helical milling.
Qualiturn's move into fixed-head turning was prompted four years ago by customers asking for a full service involving the supply of mill-turned parts up to 42mm diameter.
Maximum capacity of sliding-head lathes is 32mm diameter.
Qualiturn has adopted a principle of exchanging machines at a rate of two per year, or when they are eight years old at the latest.
The reason for exchanging is not based on reliability, but to take advantage of the latest capabilities of the most up-to-date machine tools.
The latest machine tools offer higher cutting speeds, faster rapid traverse, more tooling stations and different attachments, which all lead to faster cycle times.
Qualiturn hardly felt the recession that hit many subcontractors a few years ago, due to its policy of regularly installing the latest, high productivity machines and exploiting them to the full.
* Machining complex parts in shorter cycle times - the new Star SR-10J with FMB Micromag bar magazine, which has just replaced an older SA-12 model, has 35m/min rapid feeds and front-working tools positioned a very short distance from the bar on three sides in a yoke formation.
The machine is capable of faster cycle times on parts smaller than 10mm in diameter, when compared with earlier Star machines.
These advantages allow Qualiturn to keep its prices down.
Smaller diameter work is a growing part of the business, with more contracts being received from the aerospace and electronics industries.
Groom commented, "We are currently competing with China and India for a contract involving a part that takes 16 seconds to produce on a Star SA-12.
The same part comes off the SR-10J in nine seconds.
As a result, we are hoping to win the work." He added: "I noticed when I was in China recently that there were very few machines in operation with more than three CNC axes.
Subcontractors over there tend to rely on an inexhaustible supply of low-paid workers to produce parts economically in two, three and more operations, at the same time avoiding the cost of investing in machines like Stars and Miyanos".
Groom said: "The trouble is that multiple set-ups often increase accumulative tolerance and the components are inaccurate.
As a result, we are finding that some contracts for quite high volumes are starting to come back to the UK, particularly those that need machining to close tolerances".
Some of the more recently installed lathes at the Hertford factory are equipped with attachments for sub-spindle slotting and for milling, drilling and tapping at an angle.
When installing a new lathe, Qualiturn opts to buy most of the optional attachments to provide maximum versatility and productivity when competing for complex, high added value work.
As Groom said, when you offer a subcontract service you have to be able to machine almost everything in one operation to be competitive.
Groom emphasised that simultaneous machining using the sub-spindle in conjunction with backworking tools is important to effect one-hit machining strategies and minimise cycle times.
It can even be used to reduce overall cycle time for relatively simple components that could be machined in the main spindle alone.
By allocating some operations to the sub-spindle, the main spindle is relieved to start producing the next part earlier.
Every strategy is designed to keep the cost down while maintaining accuracy and delivery.
* Production control - overseeing the entire operation at Hertford is the PSL Datatrack production control system from Prospec Systems that provides full job traceability.
"We wouldn't be competitive without it," said Groom.
"We are probably doing 100 set-ups a week, which would be difficult to track without a system like this." Driven by a unique works order number for each job, the package comprises integrated modules for producing quotations, sales order processing, purchasing, stock control, workshop scheduling, quality, non-conformance and finance.
Qualiturn now uses nearly all of the modules available and was instrumental in Prospec developing a new one for tooling management, which has now been incorporated into the system.
It enables savings to be made by controlling tooling stocks, monitoring remaining cutter life and ensuring quick turnaround by maintaining tool kits ready for frequently recurring jobs.
It is linked to the Autocrib tool store, which is automatically restocked as required, there being some 3,000 individual items of tooling in the store.
* More demand for stainless steel parts - Qualiturn machines a wide range of materials, from 'exotic' alloys through to engineering plastics.
One notable development has been a marked increase in contracts for stainless steel components over the past year or so.
This has been due to the latest stringent regulations governing the use of electroplating equipment.
Some electroplaters have closed down, while prices quoted by those that remain have risen dramatically.
It is therefore often more cost effective to machine a part out of stainless steel, rather than brass or mild steel which then needs to be sent for plating.
For this reason, around half of Qualiturn's work is now produced from stainless steel bar.
* In-house training - Qualiturn employs 24 and is a firm believer in the adage that a 'business is only as good as its employees'.
Groom said, "We make a point of training our own setter / operators in-house, whereas all too often, manufacturing industry in the UK neglects this and tries to recruit from a diminishing pool of qualified engineers.
However, a little investment in training results in people wanting to join your company, and in their being productive very quickly because they are familiar with your machines and procedures.
Excellent training is also provided by Star, Miyano and others.
Groom said: "Staff morale is high here and turnover low, partly due to the better working environment in our new premises, and also because people are trained well and able to use the latest production technologies.
We give the machine operators responsibility not only for producing parts but also for first-off and in-process inspection".
Quality control many manufacturers with a shop full of CNC machines check parts using manual metrology equipment.
Qualiturn, which has achieved ISO 9001:2000 registration for the quality management of its contract machining service, has moved away from this anomalous position by installing CNC inspection equipment from Tesa.
Second generation director, Nick Groom, pointed out that eliminating the chance of human error is the only way to ensure repeatability and consistency of inspection.
Furthermore, having CNC measurement is faster, so first-off inspection is completed and the part is back into production more quickly, maximising productivity from the machines.
A Tesa-Scan non-contact system is used for round part inspection.
It uses high-resolution, CCD linear sensors, allowing accurate analysis of geometry and features when the part is illuminated.
Straightness and circularity is checked by combining rotation with axial movement.
A touch probe version of the Tesa Visio 300 DCC vision measuring system running under the PC-DMIS operating system performs 2D and 3D dimensional measurement, which is becoming the standard in the metrology environment.
Co-ordinate stages along the vertical axis are displaced by means of DC servomotors and are controlled by a joystick.
This allows the operator to locate geometric features and provides for automatic, motor-driven execution of application programs.
Explained Nick Groom, "This equipment and our CNC co-ordinate measuring machine have real prestige value with customers, because they know we are able not only to manufacture parts repeatably, but to prove it as well.
We offer the same high level of quality control to everyone, from one-man operations right up to multinational companies.
It is becoming increasingly important to do so, as many firms are shutting their metrology departments to save costs and are relying on supplier companies to inspect the parts they deliver".
* Summary - Bernard Groom's view of British subcontracting is that the prospects are bright provided that firms invest in the best CNC machine tools and do not try to compete for orders involving large batches of simple, open-tolerance components.
Manufacture of complex parts costing pounds rather than pence is the future.
He also said that he puts his company's success in part down to its membership of the BTMA (British Turned Parts Manufacturers Association).
"I don't think we would have achieved our current position without their ongoing initiatives," he said.
"Particularly useful are the organised trips to visit subcontractors overseas to see how they operate, and to meet the people running them.
The visits certainly opened my eyes in the early days to the potential of CNC sliding-head lathes and still provide a useful source of reference.".
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