Just over four years ago, the entire production of Fluid Research’s metering, mixing and dispensing machines was managed by a sub-contractor. However, when that company closed, Fluid Research purchased its manual machines and brought production in-house.

For over 40 years, the Wellingborough-based company has been designing, developing and manufacturing a range of high-precision resin-mixing systems that are used across a broad spectrum of industry sectors, including aerospace, medical, electronics and ‘green energy’ to accurately mix and dispense epoxies, polyurethanes, silicones and acrylics. The increased use of these materials has seen demand for the dispensing systems and robotic application systems produced by Fluid Research grow, along with the demand for component parts for new machines and for service replacement parts.

While bringing the manual machines in-house was a good starting point, allowing the company to develop its own manufacturing capability, Fluid Research hired Barry Thorne as machine shop manager in 2013. Recognising the need to improve efficiency, he persuaded the company to invest in CNC technology.

This initially involved taking delivery of a second-hand turning centre and an XYZ Mini Mill 560 vertical machining centre. Mr Thorne said: “The benefit of bringing in these machines was immediately apparent, as we quadrupled our productivity on certain jobs. That gave us the impetus to further develop our capabilities, which included replacing our manual milling machines.”

Having had previous experience of machines from Burlescombe-based XYZ Machine Tools (www.xyzmachinetools.com) — and in particular the ProtoTrak range of turret mills — Mr Thorne proposed the purchase of an XYZ SMX 2000 mill, reckoning that this two-axis CNC machine (optionally three-axis) with its 2.25kW 4,200rev/min spindle would be ideal for much of the prototype and small-batch production work undertaken by the machine shop.

Because Fluid Research is owned by the Ellsworth Corporation in the USA, any capital investment must be fully justified and payback detailed.

Mr Thorne said: “When putting forward the justification for the XYZ SMX 2000, I was conservative in my estimation of the productivity increase, stating a 50% improvement. Based on that rate, we calculated that the machine would pay for itself after 12 months; the reality is that we have seen increases in productivity of between 60 and 75% — and we expect that to rise as we uncover more of what can be done using the ProtoTrak control.”

Responsibility for operating the SMX 2000 has been given to 64-year-old Pat Quinlivan, who had previously only operated manual machines. Skills like those possessed by Mr Quinlivan are becoming harder to find, so the ability of the ProtoTrak control to replicate many of those skills — while at the same time simplifying the machining process — is proving invaluable for Fluid Research.

Mr Thorne said: “It was interesting to see the reaction of Mr Quinlivan when the machine was delivered. We have subsequently been able to change our processes and improve both quality and consistency; we have also eliminated much of the ‘knife and forking’ of set-ups that we had to do with manual machines. We are now producing so much more, yet Mr Quinlivan is not working any harder than he has always done. I guess it is a case of working smarter, not harder.”

A typical example of where the SMX 2000 is making significant productivity gains is a flange used on one of Fluid Research’s dispensing systems; this has a series of 12 counterbored holes on a pitch circle. On the manual machine, each hole would have to be individually positioned and centre-drilled, before changing the tool for the drill and then the counterbore.

This process was repeated 12 times, making a total of 36 tool changes. With the ProtoTrak control, each operation is carried out separately, so all of the centre-drilling is completed before the drilling and counterboring operations. As a result, just three tool changes are now required. Positioning of the tools is also done automatically, without the need for any calculations or intervention by the operator.

In conclusion, Mr Thorne says: “It is no exaggeration to say that the SMX 2000 has doubled our machining capacity in this area of the business. Our service to customers has dramatically improved, as we can turn round spare parts much quicker for those items that we make to order — and we have been able to reduce our stock inventory and increase cash flow for the business as a whole. In addition, there are definite improvements to both quality and consistency of the parts we are machining.”

Small batch sizes

Interface Precision Engineering, which was created in 2011 as the precision machining division of the Interface Group, now operates as a stand-alone business specialising in the manufacture of parts for the scientific instrument and motor-sport sectors; it also undertakes general sub-contracting. The company machines a wide range of materials, including aluminium, steels, refractories (such as niobium, tantalum, moly-bdenum and titanium), copper, brass, plastics and ceramics.

Interface Precision’s customers include the Ministry of Defence, CERN and STFC (Science Technologies Facilities Council), so the demands placed on it are varied, with tight-tolerance work being common and batch sizes tending to be relatively small (more-open-tolerance work and larger batch quantities are sometimes required). Consequently, the company is frequently setting machines, so it places much emphasis on easy-to-use machine controls, with the result that it now has seven machining centres and turning centres from XYZ Machine Tools.

One of its recent acquisitions was an XYZ TC 320 LTY turning centre with a Y axis. Technical manager Mel Meader says: “Having the Y axis allows us to be much more competitive, even though we can charge a higher hourly rate for the machine. This is down to being able to reduce work in progress by eliminating set-ups and machine many more features in a single hit. The machine is also well built, which means that we are confident that it will hold size throughout the day on longer batch runs with very few offsets required — from switching it on in the morning to the end of the shift.”

As with all of XYZ turning centres, the TC 320 LTY features the Siemens 828D ShopTurn control, which Interface Precision takes full advantage of by using its ability to mix conversational programming and G-code programming; there is also a wide range of canned cycles available as standard.

Backing up this ease of use is a bar capacity of 78mm, a turning diameter of 320mm and a 45hp 3,300rev/min spindle. The Y axis offers ±50mm of movement, and there is a 6kW 4,000rev/min drive to the turret’s driven tools. On-machine tool probing is also fitted.

Meanwhile, Interface Precision’s most recently acquired machining centres are a pair of XYZ 710 VMCs. Weighing in at 4,000kg, these machines feature a substantial cast base, a 20hp 8,000rev/min spindle, a 24-position tool carousel (with a tool-to-tool exchange time of 2.5sec), hardened box ways and a maximum feed rate of 20m/min for all axes. The work envelope is 710 x 450 x 500mm, and components weighing up to 500kg can be accommodated by the 760 x 430 mm table.

Production director Lee Parnell says: “We are extremely happy with the XYZ machines. They are easy to program and operate, and the Y axis on the turning centres is a major advantage; indeed, our business has grown since we first started using them, and we are looking to extend our operating time from 13 to 16hr per day.”