Hampshire-based Wilson Manufacturing — a complex machining specialist — has completed a £310,000 investment programme to help it improve lead times.

The company, which supplies precision parts to the aerospace, marine, medial and oil and gas sectors, has installed a Quaser MF400UH five-axis CNC machine at its Ringwood facility to complement a mill-turn centre acquired earlier last year.

Supplied by Engineering Technology Group (ETG) (www.engtechgroup.com), the new Quaser machine was ‘the icing on the cake’ of a successful 2018 that saw Wilson Manufacturing create two news jobs and increase its sales by 25%.

Company director Andy Wilson (www.wilsonmfg.com) said: “Our customer base is spread across a number of demanding sectors, and there is an increasing need for more-complex components — a trend that we knew we had to meet head on with the purchase of a five-axis CNC machine.

"We discussed our requirements with ETG and the machine tool supplier spent a lot of time getting to understand our processes and the parts we make.

"This was crucial in providing a complete picture of where we wanted to go and led to it suggesting the precision control and speed of the Quaser MF400UH.

“It has been running for a few months, and we have been really impressed with the performance — in some instances, we have improved cycle times by 30%. This makes us a lot more competitive, and at a time when speed to market is crucial, it gives us another USP when exploring new business opportunities.”

As part of the machine installation, ETG identified the need for a full simultaneous five-axis seat from Mastercam, to give Wilson Manufacturing the best possible foundation for fast and efficient milling.

Steve Brown, sales director for ETG, said: “The addition of Mastercam software gives the company complete control of the manufacturing process and will help it deliver the complex components it is fast becoming renowned for.”