Investment Casting Systems (ICS), which provides a mix of tool-making and injection moulding services, has seen its turnover increase by more than 50% over the past three years; the company is also predicting that it will add a further 40% growth by the end of 2019.

This predicted growth, combined with planned future expansion that will double the existing floor space, has necessitated even greater manufacturing efficiency — hence the purchase of its first five-axis machining centre, a UMC-5X from Burlescombe-based XYZ Machine Tools (www.xyzmachinetools.com).

ICS’s technical director, James Head, said: “We started considering buying a five-axis machining centre about 18 months ago.

Initially, we were looking at machines with a table capacity up to 2m, but our customer profile changed, so we didn’t need such a large capacity.

“This resulted in us buying the UMC-5X, which has a 600mm-diameter trunnion rotary table.”

The move to simultaneous five-axis machining immediately brought the benefit of increased efficiency that ICS was looking for.

The very first job that went on the UMC-5X was a complex bolster for an injection mould tool; it required machining on all six faces.

Using existing three-axis machines would have required six set-ups, but five-axis machining reduced this to two, along with a 60% saving in manufacturing time — and the elimination of potential inconsistencies from multiple set-ups.

Moreover, by making use of a fixture plate, all faces were machined from the same datum point.

Right decision

Mr Head said: “This first experience proved that we had made the right decision in going to five-axis to gain efficiencies in manufacturing.

“We also knew that the move to five-axis machining would entail a steep learning curve, a situation compounded by the fact that the offline programming element of our CAM system didn’t have the appropriate post processor available.

“However, XYZ worked with VISI to develop the one we needed.

“In terms of operating the machine itself, there were no issues.

Indeed, our tool makers took to the Siemens control straight away, with just two days of training at XYZ’s Burlescombe headquarters.

“That said, we recognised that we had to start thinking differently — approaching jobs with a fresh mind-set and accepting the challenges and possibilities that five-axis presented.”

The XYZ UMC-5X was introduced to the UK during 2017, although there are currently over 200 installations throughout Europe; and any concerns ICS had about being one of the first customers in the UK were allayed by the fact that it has previous experience with XYZ’s machine tools.

The company currently has 13 of them, ranging from ProTurn lathes through to a 1060HS high-speed vertical machining centre.

Mr Head said: “Our company policy is to laser-calibrate every machine tool every two years, in order to ensure their accuracy.

“Most recently, we calibrated the 1060HS machine, and the report came back saying it was within 6µm on the Y axis and less than 5µm on the X and Z axes, which is how it came out of the factory 11 years ago.

“This level of performance meant we were confident that the UMC-5X would be no different.

“Indeed, we are finding that the accuracy of the XYZ UMC-5X matches what other machine suppliers were promising — but at a significant cost advantage.”

Standard features on the XYZ UMC-5X include: a direct-drive 90rev/min trunnion table, which when tilted 90deg towards the rear (component facing forward) leaves 500mm of Y-axis travel forward of the table surface; ±120deg of tilt on the A axis (the full movement takes just 2.5sec to complete); a feed rate of 36m/min for the linear axes; plus 600mm of travel for the X and Y axes, and 500mm in Z to maximise the capacity of the 600mm-diameter table.

As standard, the spindle features a 35kW in-line direct drive and a maximum speed of either 12,000 or 15,000rev/min; there is also the option of a 25kW motorised spindle and a choice of 18,000 or 24,000rev/min.

Meanwhile, Traori (transformation orientation)/kinematic functions during five-axis simultaneous machining ensure optimised accuracy, and there are high-accuracy Heidenhain linear scales on the X, Y and Z axes (super-high-specification rotary scales on rotating B and C axes).

Control is by a Siemens 840 DSL ShopMill or Heidenhain iTNC 640 HSCI.