Hartlepool-based
JJ Hardy is investing in a new Mazak QTE-200 SG turning centre as it looks to introduce an unmanned shift to meet demand for its machining services.
Andrew Pailor, JJ Hardy managing director, said that the new machine will boost turning capacity at the company’s Hartlepool site: “Our plan is to get more out of what we have. We will use technology, including new machines and, in time, additional automation, to increase our machining capacity with one manned shift and one unmanned shift each day.”
He added: “We have an older Mazak turning centre machine that up until now has been a good solution for us and has outperformed some of our more expensive competitor machines. However, it doesn’t run unmanned.
“The new QTE machine is an affordable solution that will be equipped with a Hydrafeed bar feeder, a parts racking system for finished components and an automatic tool eye for inspecting the tooling. Importantly, we will also have the ability to monitor its work online, while it is running unmanned.”
JJ Hardy was founded in 1856 with the Pailor family taking control in 1929. Andrew Pailor took over from his father — the third generation of Pailors to run the company — in 2002.
The company now has an eight-strong machine tool shop, concentrating on automotive and energy work, with a particular specialism in the rail sector, manufacturing a wide range of components, including bogie parts, hangar bolts, shackles, suspension links and impellers.
Mr Pailor continued: “My mother and father who ran the company before me were committed Mazak users. One of the key reasons for their loyalty was that the Mazak conversational programming CNC control has always been very easy for operators to learn.
“The new QTE-200 SG turning centre is equipped with Mazak’s latest Mazatrol innovation, SmoothEz, a touchscreen CNC that takes programming to another level. It is now so easy to program that we can put CNC operators with much less experience onto the machine and they can be running it, unsupervised, very quickly. SmoothEz will help us address the chronic skills gap for CNC machinists in the North East.”
Described as a simple and compact machine design, the machine is equipped with a high-torque spindle and 12-position drum turret, along with capacity for 12 different tools.
He concluded: “The QTE is the latest stage of our journey. We started 165 years ago as a foundry, then became a machine shop before developing into a CNC machine shop. Now we are upskilling again with the latest technology to give us a competitive edge.”