Leamington Spa-based Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of Doosan machine tools in the UK and Ireland, has posted exceptional sales results for 2021. At the year end, the company had taken orders for well over 400 new Doosan machines and had experienced a 100% increase in sales of its SYNERGi automated manufacturing cells and Doosan collaborative robot (cobot) systems.

Mills CNC CEO Tony Dale said: “Despite the obvious challenges and turbulence experienced throughout the year — 2021 remained incredibly positive for Mills CNC. with machine tool sales up almost 40% on 2020. It represents our best ever-year for machine tool orders.

“Similarly record-breaking results were achieved by our Automation Division with sales of our SYNERGI automated manufacturing cells and Doosan cobots doubling in the same 12-month period.”

Meanwhile, sales of the company’s ever-popular and best-selling Lynx and Puma lathe series, as well as its three-axis DNM and five-axis DVF machining centres, remained buoyant.

Leading the pack were sales of the company’s DNM 6700 vertical machining centres (VMCs), Puma 2600SY II multi-tasking lathes and five-axis DVF 5000 machining centres.

Mr Dale said: “Puma lathes and DNM vertical machining centres have become technology ‘staples’ for UK and Irish component manufacturers and they have been joined by our DVF five-axis machining centre range. It seemed that virtually every other order taken during 2021 was for one these machines.”

The Doosan range was also increased and improved throughout the year with the launch of a number of new machine tool models, including the Lynx 2600Y/SY series of 10in chuck lathes with integrated Y-axis and sub-spindles and the SVM 4100 fast-processing three-axis VMCs that customers were advance ordering some three months before the machines even arrived in the UK.

Mr Dale explained: “Machine tool sales began picking up in the last quarter of 2020 and continued throughout 2021. All of our customers, across most sectors and industries, were busy and due to our progressive machine tool stocking policy, we were able to quickly meet and satisfy their demand for advanced, high-performance machine tools.”

Automation solutions
The trend towards manufacturers investing in high-productivity and high-efficiency automation systems also gathered pace in 2021. Mills CNC Automation’s SYNERGi automated manufacturing cells ‚ SYNERGi Premier and SYNERGi Sprint — proved popular with a growing number of manufacturers operating in many sectors including rail, automotive and the leisure industries.

A SYNERGi Premier system was also supplied to Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) - a leading independent and not-for-profit research and training organisation (RTO) based in Mullinger, County Westmeath.

Mr Dale said: “Following an aggressive marketing campaign at the beginning of 2021, orders for our SYNERGi systems began to roll in.“

The pandemic and its impact on work practices, as well as the ongoing skills shortages experienced across many manufacturing sectors, helped catapult automation systems and their benefits into the limelight — and keep them there.

Mr Dale continued: “Our SYNERGi systems captured the hearts and minds of many manufacturers - and this translated into strong sales. Furthermore, in previous years cobot sales were mainly confined to machine tool tending applications, but this changed in 2021 with customers investing in our cobots for inspection, testing, assembly, and polishing applications.

“From a standing start a couple of years ago we are now an established and recognised supplier of high-performance cobot technology solutions to many sectors.”

As well as supplying machine tools, Mills CNC has a rich pedigree and extensive experience in designing and developing advanced turnkey and process improvement solutions for UK and Irish component manufacturers. As a result, the company was approached by a significant number of manufacturers throughout the year to design, develop and install innovative, high-productivity and high-efficiency turnkey solutions.

Mr Dale explained: “We have reputation in the market for delivering best-in-class turnkey solutions to customers, many of which have class-leading automation systems at their core. These helped to revolutionise the performance and competitiveness of customers operating in the automotive, food, energy, rail and leisure sectors.”

CNC Training Academy

Although the pandemic affected the Mills CNC Training Academy’s normal operations and its ability to host CNC operator and programmer courses at its Campus facility — the disruption was offset by the Academy providing training on-site at individual customer’s premises and facilities.

The Training Academy also supplemented and strengthened its business portfolio by expanding its software reseller operations. Particularly successful during 2021 was the sale of BobCAD-CAM software packages.

Mr Dale concluded: “2021 was a good year for Mills because, despite supply chain disruptions, machine tool and automation system sales remained strong.

“A big thank you goes out to all of our customers — for their business and for their loyalty. It is much appreciated. Great credit also goes to everyone at Mills CNC who made it happen.

“With 2022 now well underway I am sure there are bound to be more uncertainties and challenges that lie ahead in the future — but there are also significant opportunities too.

“Here at Mills CNC, we are busy planning for MACH 2022 in April and look forward to welcoming visitors onto the largest stand at the event. This exhibition, plus a number of new machine tool and automation system introductions will, I am sure, help make 2022 a year to remember.”