With a vision of establishing a highly efficient tool-manufacturing business offering the highest levels of precision and quality standards, Andrew Millard set-up Rotherham-based Go Tools Ltd in 2012 and soon established an ‘impressive customer base’; in addition to producing tooling for foundries die casting zinc, aluminium and magnesium, the company manufactures mould tools for the medical, automotive, packaging, electronics and consumer goods industries.

The company’s investment policy involves purchasing highly efficient machine tools that deliver high standards of precision, and thereby help the business maintain its hard-won reputation. This policy is illustrated by the recent installation of two Okamoto ACC450AV surface and profile grinding machines that were purchased from Lutterworth-based DF Precision Machinery Ltd, Okamoto’s UK distributor.

Steven Barrowcliff, Go Tools’ technical director, said: “Although we had enjoyed excellent service from two older Jones and Shipman machines we decided that, because of their increasing maintenance costs and the growing pressure on our grinding department, we would search for two new surface and profile grinders.

“Having considered several alternative machines, after seeing an impressive demonstration of the ACC450AV performing a wide range of demanding grinding tasks, we concluded that it best met our long list of requirements and placed an order for two machines.

“High standards of surface and profile grinding are critical to the quality of the tools that we manufacture, and these qualities are exactly what our Okamoto machines deliver. Indeed, to help satisfy ever growing demand for our tools, we are now planning to soon install a further two ACC450AVs.”

The Okamoto ACC450AV features a substantial Meehanite casting which, in addition to providing high levels of both static and dynamic stiffness, provides ‘excellent damping qualities’.

Furthermore, a combination of scraped V-V slideways, the use of low-friction Turcite material and the provision of an automatic gravity-fed lubrication system ensures accurate grinding across the machine’s life — and minimum maintenance needs.