County Down-based Doran Precision Engineering Ltd (DPE), a specialist in the manufacture of precision parts, has installed a new Haas UMC-1000 five-axis universal machining centre (www.haas.co.uk) at its 10,000ft² factory in Newcastle, to meet the growing demand for larger components.

The new machine follows the installation of three UMC-750s, which were DPE’s first foray into five-axis machining.

Engineering manager Kieran Poland said (www.doranengineering.com): “Adding the three UMC-750 five-axis universal machines enabled us to produce both small batches and prototype work in a much shorter time-frame.

"Using the latest Mastercam package, along with the UMC’s 12,000rev/min spindle and 40 + 1 side-mounted tool changer, we quickly found cycle times were reduced by around 30%. These were our first five-axis machines, but they were easier to use than I expected.

"We use them for five-sided machining; making multi-option parts, we finish them in much shorter lead times with a higher accuracy and precision.

“Following on from the success of our UMC-750s, we have just installed a new Haas UMC-1000, and we are excited to see what we can do with the larger working envelope.

“We have also just installed our first Haas four-axis rotary table and are looking forward to capitalising on the advantages of ‘lights out’ machining.”

Managing director Kieran Doran installed his first manual lathe in 1993, in a small shed at the side of his house. Today, DPE has 31 CNC machines and employs 22 people.

It offers batch production, rapid-response and re-work services, and 90% of its output goes to the aerospace industry.