The installation of a vertical machining centre has allowed a well-established sheet metal and fabrication sub-contractor — Seeco (UK) — to add a component-machining service and thereby create a one-stop production facility at its Bedford factory.
Directors Garry Law and George Cunningham have a customer base of about 60 companies — some with a 25-year trading record — and have seen an increasing number of requests for them to provide a single-source supply of sheet metal components, fabrications and assemblies — plus machined components. Mr Law says: “Last year, we decided to check out machining centres capable of meeting our initial needs for milled components, and we talked to other local machinists about their experiences. In most cases, we found the common denominator was XYZ machine tools. Other than the machine specification, most important to us was service and back-up — plus the initial training required to extend our CNC knowledge from a very proficient sheet metal operation to include production machining.”
Seeco subsequently installed a ProtoTrak LPM VMC from Burlescombe-based XYZ Machine Tools Ltd
(www.xyzmachinetools.com). Mr Law, who went on a training course at the Waltham Abbey regional showroom of XYZ, says the installation of the machine and the transition to using it could not have been simpler.
“Although I have knowledge of CNC in punching and laser profiling, and I understand the basics of milling and drilling from my apprenticeship many decades ago, I went with no preconceived ideas about programming and setting a machining centre — or about tool selection and the application of speeds and feeds. It took just 21/2 days to learn to use the machine and familiarise myself with its functions, and I was able to make full use of it as soon as it was installed in January.
“Over the first three months, 70% of the machining required as part of our fabrication work was produced on the ProtoTrak LPM. As a result of not having to sub-contract this out, we have already made savings of around £8,000.”
In addition, Seeco has been able to make a wide range of parts exactly when required, eliminating the need to hold stocks and considerably reducing the time spent on supplier negotiations and purchasing. Moreover, the company has full control over all aspects of quality.
Keen to invest
Optimising processes and gaining the best return on an investment have always been key factors in Seeco’s machine purchases, which recently have included an Amada EML combined laser and punch press and an LVD Strippit PPEB press brake. The company was originally set up in 1986 as a general fabricator producing transformer cases and on-site electrical installations. Some 15 years ago, the two directors moved the business from Kempston to the current 11,500ft2 facility in Bedford; it employs 13 people and supplies mostly local customers.
Mr Cunningham said: “Turnover has increased to £1.2 million — up by a third in the last three years, with 2012-13 being our best ever for sales and profitability. We are continuing to win new business; one new customer alone will contribute a further £250,000 a year to sales, another £80,000 a year.”
Mr Law is now fully up to speed with the ProtoTrak LPM VMC, and the machining cycles he undertakes often involve considerable amounts of pocketing in components such as networking panels, heat sinks, enclosures, guide rails and chassis parts up to 350 x 300 x 6mm. Tolerances tend to be 0.05mm, and the materials machined are mostly aluminium, mild steel and stainless steel.
Particular features of the machine that he highlights include the Jergens Ball Lock system for referenced location of fixtures and parts on the table (this eliminates the need to “play around” with the fixture offsets) and the ability to store jpeg photographs of set-ups alongside the program — plus any job notes — in the ProtoTrak PMX control (this helps to simplify resetting).
Batch sizes tend to range from two or three parts up to 300. However, Mr Law says the ease of machine setting means that prototype development parts can be readily incorporated into the production plan. Seeco uses SolidWorks and SolidCAM across the business, and often the same basic model is used for part machining with the ProtoTrak LPM, which has a work envelope of 785 x 470 x 530mm, a 900 x 500mm table, an 11kW 8,000rev/min BT 40 spindle, and a 16-station tool carousel.
The company also uses the machine in ‘dry run’ mode when quoting; this allows it to be very accurate on pricing — and to minimise the lead time when the parts are subsequently machined. Mr Law also says the ‘on-screen’ set-up check list has proved to be invaluable. “It stops you missing something and gives you total confidence in your set-up procedure.”
The two directors are now set to provide their sub-contract service across both disciplines of sheet metal and machining. “There is more than enough work from existing customers to keep the ProtoTrak LPM fully loaded,” said Mr Cunningham. “Moreover, based on our experience to date, one man can easily run three of these machines, which means we will be progressively increasing the number of installations — and our levels of activity.”