Spromak Ltd — based in Huyton, Merseyside — bought its first CNC machine tool in 1982. A Mazak Quick Turn 15 was chosen because, in the words of Spromak managing director Paul Sproson, “Mazak seemed to be really progressive, particularly in terms of its software for programming, and it had just introduced its Mazatrol control, which our programmers really liked. Within four months, we had ordered a second machine.”
There are now 14 Mazak machines at Spromak — and 35 CNC programmers in a total workforce of 58. The company manufactures branch connections and other pipeline products for the oil, gas and petrochemical industries (both onshore and offshore).
All products are designed in-house and allow end users to reduce the number of welds required to attach fittings to a pipeline from three to two — offering significant savings in terms of time and cost. The flanges and branch fittings are made from a range of materials, including carbon steels, stainless steels and duplex steels, as well as Inconel 625 and titanium. “Moreover, each product is proof-tested to ensure that it can withstand 1.5 times the designated design pressure of the pipeline,” says Mr Sproson. “Quality is therefore a major issue, and we work to very tight tolerances as a result.”
Spromak’s products have approvals from most major oil and gas companies, including BP, Shell, Exxon Mobil and Chevron — and its products are used world-wide. Indeed, Spromak recently won a £5 million contract to supply equipment to Chevron’s new liquified natural gas plant at Barrow Island in Australia.
However, as Spromak’s range of reinforced branch outlet fittings increased in size, production movement at its Huyton factory became increasingly problematic. For example, an insert branch outlet can weigh as much as 142kg and require a series of machining operations that include turning, milling and boring. “Increasingly, we had to move larger and heavier product between two or three machines, which was impacting on our machining times,” says Mr Sproson. “Ideally, we wanted to be able to bring the product off just one machine completely finished, with all turning, milling and boring operations done.
“However, with our products, you can’t just buy a machine and set it to work straight away, so we work with Mazak and our CAM software suppliers to identify the optimum machining solution. In this case, we identified the Integrex e-800V II as offering the optimum solution to our production needs.”
Dramatic improvements
This is a five-axis multi-tasking machine with a 500 x 500mm pallet and a powerful, high-accuracy main table that can turn large-diameter parts while offering rapid-traverse rates up to 50m/min. The machine accommodates workpieces with maximum dimensions of 730mm for diameter and 1,000mm for height. “We are using the machine on some very large workpieces,” says Mr Sproson.
“In fact, we have machined parts weighing as much as 0.5 tonnes. Moreover, the Integrex e-800V has allowed us to cut cycle times by 6-8hr. We are typically cutting machining times by 50% — and sometimes as much as 75%. A large part of these savings is due to the reduction in production movement now that we can complete all operations on the one machine.”
Spromak’s Integrex e-800V also features twin pallets; and with cameras located within the machine for remote monitoring, cycle times as long as 8hr are achieved reliably. “Indeed, we can programme the machine off-site and then monitor the production from a lap-top at home, to ensure that the automatic changes have gone off without a hitch,” adds Mr Sproson.
Spromak’s latest acquisition is an Integrex i-400S, which is being used to machine smaller flanges and branch fittings, performing all operations — including milling, turning and boring — on the one machine.