Product category:
EDM wire cutting
News Release from: Sodi-Tech edm | Subject: Sodick EDM machine AQ325L
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 08 December 2003
EDM versatility sharpens blade output
A novel company, run on co-operative principles and owned by its 250-strong workforce, is making a capital success of manufacturing surgical blades with the help of the latest EDM technology.
A unique company, run on co-operative principles and owned by its 250-strong workforce, is making a capital success of manufacturing surgical blades with the help of Sodick EDM machines Swann-Morton, based in Sheffield - naturally - was established in 1932 to manufacturer and sell razor blades and by 1957 the company was manufacturing over 38 million blades a year
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 27 Sep 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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In the 1960s market opportunities led the company to turn its attention to sterilised surgical blades and it developed one of the first commercial sterilisation plants in the world.
Never content to stand still, Swann-Morton is marking the new millennium with an extensive expansion programme to increase both production and productivity, of which its investment in a new Sodick EDM machine AQ325L is just one part.
The company purchased its first Sodick EDM machine in 1994, as Works Manager, Mike Nicholson, explains, "We needed the machine to complete some specific tasks and, frankly, we wondered what we would use it for when that work was done.
However, once it was installed, we realised how flexible it was, and, far from standing idle, it was in operation all the time - so much so that 18 months later we installed a second machine." As Swann-Morton builds its own production machines, including packaging machines, press tools and grinding machines, the Sodick equipment was kept busy all day every day.
By the beginning of 2003 the company realised that it would be beneficial to replace the older machine with a new model, to gain the productivity benefits of recent advances in technology.
The new machine is now installed in an air conditioned environment to ensure that they work to optimum accuracy at all times.
"We use these machines as work-horses," explains Nicholson, "They are not over-complex, they are easy to use and routinely produce a good product cutting carbide and tool steel.
Over the years we have had plenty of training at the Sodi-Tech EDM in Coventry, and we are very self-sufficient." Very important for a company that is the acknowledged world-leader in its field, producing 200 million blades a year and supplying approximately 90% of UK healthcare requirements while also managing to export over 60% of its products.
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