Since 2007, Helander Precision Engineering (www.helander.co.uk) has been a member of the Calder Group — a pan-European business with nine operating subsidiaries in five countries, focused on delivering mission-critical engineering solutions.

Business development manager Malcolm Humphries explains that these solutions provide individual challenges: “We tend to specialise in producing difficult components in horrible materials, such as Inconel and other high-strength alloys, with some components being composites of two materials — such as carbide embedded in high-alloy steel.

“Due to the difficulty of machining these parts, and the demand from customers for improved lead times, we have developed a programme of investment over the years that has seen us producing more and more in-house.”

“In recent years, Helander has invested in 30 CNC machining centres and multi-tasking machine tools in order to reduce lead times. However, the company always sub-contracted any grinding work until the recent purchase of two second-hand grinders, which were purchased to fulfil customer requirements in the oil and gas sector for components with carbide embedded segments.

Helander opted for the Robbi Omicron 3000GE T5 semi-automatic external grinder, which was supplied by Dartford-based RK International Machine Tools (www.rk-int.com).

This machine has a maximum distance between centres of 3,450mm (giving a grind length of up to 3,100mm) and a maximum swing of 595mm over the table. It can grind up to eight diameters in a single automatic grinding cycle and features automatic compensation after wheel dressing.

By bringing this grinding capacity in-house, Helander now has greater control of the process, plus the flexibility to meet changing volumes and delivery demands by directly controlling its labour resources.

Another unexpected benefit of the additional capacity is that the company can now look for new grinding work.