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Cutting & Profiling

• Birmingham to Get 100% Shrouded Clean Cutting

  01 Apr 2005

  Do-it-yourself nitrogen generation is the way forward for Rojac Engineering as demand for 'clean cut' profiles is increasing. The Birmingham sheet metal fabricator is investing £50k in a nitrogen generation plant, and will be offering nitrogen shrouded clean cutting on all laser cut work including subcontract cutting. The plant is expected to pay for itself within two years. 

• Job Creating Laser Firm is 'Investment in Leicester' Award Finalist

  01 Apr 2005

  Carlton Laser Services (CLS) has recently created and filled ten new skilled shopfloor jobs, and is increasing the members of its sales team from three to seven. 

• New Cutting Service Launched in Norfolk

  01 Apr 2005

  In February 05, C3 Engineering Ltd installed a 3.5kW Prima Platino laser, which has not only enabled the company to bring all of its laser cutting requirements in-house, but has also enabled them to become a major laser cutting subcontractor in the Norfolk region. The new facility attracted four new customers in the first month. 

• 6kW Laser is First in UK

  01 Apr 2005

  Sheffield-based Mayflower Technology has used its latest investment as an opportunity to steal a march on its competitors. 

• Cutting for Artists and Designers Requires Flexible Approach

  01 Apr 2005

  Settled on the wall of the recently completed luxury housing development in Sheffield, is an enormous emperor dragonfly made from water jet cut stainless steel. It is one of many impressive public sculptures produced by Control Waterjet Cutting, which has become a specialist subcontractor to the architectural and art market after many years cutting precision components. 

• Fabricator's New Laser Increases Throughput of 'Cutting Only ' Service

  01 Apr 2005

  The 'cutting only' service offered by sheet metal fabricators Toolmasters has increased significantly since the delivery of a new Prima 4kW Platino laser cutting machine at the beginning of the year. It now accounts for as much as 50% of throughput on the machine, without prejudice to the cutting operations undertaken as part of the complete 'cut, bend and weld' service, which is the mainstay of the business. 

Industry News

• International Interest Soared at Hannover Fair

  01 Apr 2005

  Despite being a day shorter than in 2004, the Hannover Fair 2005 (11 to 15 April) attracted 20% more visitors, and far more trade visitors from all over the world than the previous year. Numbers of visitors from outside Germany were up by 40%. The biggest growth in international attendance came from the Americas, and Asia. India lead the international field with over 4,300 visitors. Visitor numbers from European countries also swelled. 

• List of Other European Trade Shows Promoting Subcontracting in 2005

  01 Apr 2005

  Subcon, UK, 24-26 May 2005 (see a preview of Subcon on page 11) the UK's only exhibition dedicated to subcontract manufacturing services. 

• Laser Welding Has Arrived as a Key Plastics Processing Tool

  01 Apr 2005

  As the use of plastic materials and other composites continues to increase, bringing valuable benefits of weight reduction, added strength and cost savings, so too does the need for new joining technology. Warwick Laser Systems is using a new welding tool in industrial applications to produce polymer welds that are unachievable by conventional plastics welding techniques. 

• Global Markets Require Strategic Partnerships

  01 Apr 2005

  Engineering Capacity's usual column from SW MAS will continue in the May issue, after the DTI's pre-election press embargo has been lifted. 

Medical Engineering

• Hybrid Metal-Polymer Microstructures Deliver Design Freedom

  01 Apr 2005

  Photo-electro forming (PEF) specialist, Tecan, has developed a process for manufacturing hybrid microstructures that incorporate various material elements, including metals and polymers, to produce cost-effective integrated devices for new generation applications, from life sciences to diverse micro industry needs. 

• Freezers Manufactured for Amphibian Sperm Bank

  01 Apr 2005

  Shearline Precision Engineering has manufactured state-of-the-art temperature controlled freezers used to 'cryo-preserve' frog and toad sperm for biotechnology company, Asymptote Ltd. The freezers, originally designed for the field of human IVF, are set to create the first amphibian 'frozen zoo' in Memphis, USA. 

• Advanced Surgical Tools Need Deep Hole Drilling

  01 Apr 2005

  Perfect Bore Manufacturing (PBM) supplies cannulated billets in titanium and 17/4ph with bores of 2.00mm or less for orthopaedic surgeons employing advanced guide wire techniques. PBM's ability to deep hole drill exotic materials, and expertise in gun-drilling honing and CNC turning, is in demand from many other industry sectors, including aerospace and automotive. 

Subcon 2005

• Strong Seminar Programme Supports Subcon2005 Event

  01 Apr 2005

  The Subcon 2005 conference entitled 'Sourcing and subcontracting in global markets - survival strategies for buyers and suppliers' will be held alongside the Subcon exhibition on 24th to 26th May 2005 at the NEC Birmingham, now to be held as an annual event, rather than every two years. (See more on subcontracting shows on page 5). 

Turning & Milling

• Component Supplier Turns Down the Volume and Raises the Value

  01 Apr 2005

  MSP Ltd, known for its high volume multi spindle operation based in Coleshill, has seen a number of its customers moving their component sourcing to low cost countries. In response, the company has invested £0.75m over the last 18 months in new plant to produce lower volume, higher value parts. This new plant has enabled MSP to gain significant orders, from new customers, in 316 and S320 stainless steel. 

• BTMA Members Set Up to Lead in Complex Parts

  01 Apr 2005

  Roger Innes, president of the BTMA (the UK Trade Association for Precision Turned Parts and Machined Component Manufactures), provides Engineering Capacity with a round up of news and concerns from the Association. 

• 10 Years of Operation in India Leads to Expansion

  01 Apr 2005

  Rose Precision Components is celebrating its 10th year of manufacturing in India. Due to further expansion it was necessary to re-locate to larger premises. The new 30,000 sq. ft factory on the outskirts of Bangalore will house Rose's machining and assembly departments for their sub-contract component manufacture and machine building business. 

• Modernisation Sustains Consistent High Quality

  01 Apr 2005

  CNC precision turning specialist, Qualiturn Products, Hertfordshire, produces customer parts 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The company moved in to new premises last year and aims for consistently higher levels of quality through investment in state-of-the-art CNC bar-fed lathes and inspection equipment. 

• Difficult to Machine Parts Set Up for 24hr Machining

  01 Apr 2005

  Precision Products (Brighton) Ltd has recently purchased two Citizen M32 13-axis sliding heads for the manufacture of difficult to machine stainless steel parts. With over 60 automatic metal cutting machines across the whole range of machine types, the company's investment policy is driven by the need to work lights-out running and to eliminate secondary operations. 

• Turning & Milling Service Kept Out-Growing Sites

  01 Apr 2005

  Every five to seven years, since 1961, Ultra Precision Ltd has moved into bigger premises. Then, 18 months ago, when the company's growth forced yet another move, managing director, Geoff Quick bought a larger site and built a factory with two acres to spare. 

• The Wait Was Worth It For Faster More Flexible Work

  01 Apr 2005

  After waiting for nearly five years for Star to bring out a new 32mm, platen, sliding head 7-axis CNC machine, this month Inro Turned Parts of Chingford, North East London, is expecting delivery of a SR32J, which is the first of its kind in the UK. It is exactly the type of robust machine that suits the company's work on larger components. 

• Reliability of CNC Boosts Precision Shaft Specialist

  01 Apr 2005

  Centreless grinding and precision shaft specialist Wharf Engineering produces components from 3 to 20mm diameter, and 20 to 450mm in length. The company's recent CNC investments have opened up new opportunities for the company with its existing customer base. The latest purchase was a new Myford MG12 CNC grinding machine in November 2004. 

• 28th Sliding Head Installed

  01 Apr 2005

  Ever since its foundation in 1989, Dundee-based subcontractor, Bonspiel Engineering, has specialised in manufacture using CNC sliding headstock lathes. Sales director Steve Bruce says: "Right from the start we elected to concentrate on sliding head work. 

• Safety Standard Shows Commitment Towards Continuous Improvement

  01 Apr 2005

  An important step for Sabre Repetition in 2005 will be incorporating the health and safety standard OHSAS 18001, which it hopes to gain through working with the BSI later this year. General manager and director, Mike Stott, explains: "We firmly believe that major companies will increasingly prefer to deal with suppliers who can demonstrate commitment to continuous improvement and compliance with internationally recognised standards." 

• Special Purpose Tooling Helps Win Major Contract

  01 Apr 2005

  The design and development of special purpose tooling for maintaining close tolerances on critical tooth profiles has enabled APT Leicester Ltd to win a major contract to supply conduit connectors for a leading aerospace customer. 

• Object Oriented Approach Leads Turning Trends

  01 Apr 2005

  WML Engineering, Swansea, began the year investing heavily once again; this time in two new pieces of technology and an object-oriented programming (OOP) model applied to turning, which the company believes represent the future in terms of turned component manufacturing. 

• Investment Policy Adjusts as Batch Sizes Reduce

  01 Apr 2005

  Machining specialist GW Martin & Co Ltd, Hampshire has always had a strong investment policy and over £2m has been invested in the last five years in one-hit machining. 

• Valve Contract Pulled Away from Chinese

  01 Apr 2005

  Unicut Precision of Welwyn Garden City has captured a £180,000 contract for producing valve components that was due to be placed on export supply from China by the customer. The contract, to produce three key components in quantities of 1,000 a week, as part of a valve assembly, was being produced in-house by the customer and to reduce costs, was due to be machined in China and shipped back to the UK for assembly. 

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