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Sliding Head Gives New Bearing On Productivity
01 Mar 2005
Scot Bennett Engineering, the Northampton-based subcontract precision machinist and bearing component manufacturer, is typical of the growing number of specialised UK subcontractors investing in CNC sliding head technology to reap the benefits that extended capability, quick set-up, flexibility and pure speed of production can offer.
The company purchased a Maier ML 32B ProLine CNC sliding head lathe from StarragHeckert of Brackley to eliminate any secondary operations in the production of a contract for a selection of high-class inner and outer races. The bearings were destined for aerospace and machine tool type applications, such as wing flaps and spindles.
Manufactured from high specification bearing steel, the components were required in varying sizes from 10 to 30mm diameter, in quantities of between 40,000 and 50,000pa.
Prior to buying a new machine, the various sized parts had to be picked up for a second operation and, with the volumes involved, the cost and lead time implications warranted a careful rethink of manufacturing strategy.
Founded some 30 years ago the company has since built a significant customer base from industry sectors such as automotive, aerospace, nuclear, medical, chemical and food processing.
Projects currently in progress at Scot Bennett Engineering range involve batch sizes from pre-production samples and small runs of 50 parts, right up to 50,000 at a time. Materials vary from plastics and aluminium through to stainless steel.
www.scotbennett.co.uk
