Benham Precision Engineering has been a leading supplier of complex components and sub-assemblies to the aerospace and defence sectors for many years, operating 22 machine tools to create a range of components including manifolds, bodies, castings and casings, each to exacting standards.
Based across two sites in Southampton, the company’s ethos has always been one of constant improvement in terms of its technology, people and processes, particularly when it comes to driving efficiency.
That dedication to being the best of the best has helped to steer the business’s continued success, and played a major role in the decision to invest in a Zoller tool presetting solution that continues to work seamlessly and help maximise Benham’s productivity, more than a decade after the Smile 600 machine was first installed.
Benham’s engineering manager Neil Griggs said: “We have got some 76-tool change machines in our factory. It was taking us up to 3hr to find the tools, put them in the machine and measure them. That’s dead time.
“We have had the Zoller for about 12 years. We wanted to reduce cycle times on the shopfloor – our tool setter builds the tools from our set-up sheet, he then puts them onto the Zoller and measures the lengths, diameters and so on.
“All the information is stored on the back of the chip and that is then put to the machine. Consequently, what that does is it saves time on initial set-up and probably reduces our set-up on long-running jobs with multiple tools by two hours.”
Zoller - the only company in the UK dedicated exclusively to supplying tool presetting and inspection equipment – specialises in delivering process efficiency without compromising quality, helping companies to unlock the door to sustainable and long-term profitability.
Traditional tool setting, even with advanced laser technology on a CNC machine, is unreliable as it cannot validate critical tool features such as diameters, corner radii, step lengths and run-out prior to machining, increasing the risk of costly crashes and failures.
Legacy methods are also highly inefficient. While a CNC machine is setting tools, the spindle is idle and is not doing the job that it was intended to do – making parts. Such inefficiency is immediately eradicated by a Zoller offline tool setting solution, which brings with it a wealth of other benefits, from increased machining capacity to quality right-first-time products and extended tool life.
Mr Griggs said: “It’s about speed and efficiency. It means we have got more capacity on the machines and more productivity. The Zoller basically takes out about 3hr at the front where someone else has found and built the tools and measured them. So rather than finding the tools, building them, putting them into the machine and then measuring them, all of that is taken care of.”
Zoller’s ‘best-in-class’ Smile range guarantees high-level accuracy and repeatability in pre-setting and measuring cutting tools prior to machining work, thanks to unique power-clamping spindle and auto-focus capabilities.
Manufactured exclusively from industry-leading components and boasting telecentric optics for enhanced performance alongside seamless data transfer options, the system’s robust and ergonomic design makes it suitable for use in the heart of the production environment, right beside CNC machines.
Mr Griggs added: “We are tied in with Mazak and basically that is how we came across Zoller — its products are also in Mazak’s showroom. We have had no reliability issues with the Smile 600 and it is serviced once a year.”
Today, Benham Precision Engineering simply cannot imagine life without Zoller, and Mr Griggs has a very clear message for any business yet to take the plunge into off-line tool setting due to perceived barriers such as cost, process upheaval, employee training requirements and uncertainty around return on investment.
He said: “Do it — you will gain the profit back within six months. Benham would never be without a Zoller because it keeps the spindle running, which in turn is more profitable for us.”