Engineering firm invests in a trio of Doosan multi-tasking machines

The new Doosan DNM 6700 vertical machining centre installed at Oxford Engineering

Oxford Engineering Ltd, a specialist in lean manufacturing, supply chain management and precision engineering, has invested in three Doosan high-performance, ultra-productive multi-tasking supplied by Leamington Spa-based Mills CNC.

The machines, all DNC linked and equipped with the latest Fanuc controls, comprise a DNM 6700 vertical machining centre, an SMX 2600S mill-turn machine with 10/12in chuck, and a large-capacity Puma 5100MB lathe with 21in chuck.

The investment comprises of an advanced vertical machining centre with a 4th-axis unit, a multi-axis mill-turn machine with an integrated bar feeder and a large-capacity turning centre with large bore capabilities and driven tooling.

They were delivered and installed at the company’s impressive and well-resourced machine shop facility over a six-month period, from October 2021 to April 2022, and have taken their place alongside the company’s first Doosan machine tool investment — a DNM 750L II vertical machining centre that was acquired in June 2019.

Oxford Engineering Group CEO Karim Sekkat said: “Doosan machine tools, supplied and supported by Mills CNC, are technically excellent machines. They are flexible and reliable, deliver outstanding accuracies and repeatabilities and help us keep our quality, delivery and cost promises to our customers.

“We now have four Doosan machines installed at Oxford Engineering’s facility in Abingdon but, across the whole Group, the number is considerably higher, with our two Hutton engineering facilities, in Bicester and Abingdon, having a total of over 20 Doosan machines between them.”

Mr Sekkat continued: “Doosan machines are reliable but, if and when, any issues arise that affect their performance or cause downtime, we know that Mills’ after-sales and support services will help keep any disruption to our production schedules to a minimum.”

Oxford Engineering is a vertically integrated contract manufacturing specialist that provides a range of high integrity services and solutions, that includes technical consultancy, precision machining, welding and fabrication, assembly and testing, to a growing number of global, market-leading customers operating in a range of industry sectors including medical, nuclear, semi-conductor, aerospace, defence and scientific instrumentation.

Like all other companies in the Group (Hutton Precision Engineering and Oxford Engineering, Estonia), Oxford Engineering is characterised by its data-driven approach — acting and making decisions based on facts and manufacturing KPIs, as opposed to ones based on guesses, anecdotal evidence or ‘gut’ reactions.

Process optimisation
As such, this approach, focused on the collection, processing and interpretation of real time data, gained from a variety of sources that include the company’s shopfloor equipment and MRP/ERP systems, enables senior managers to continuously monitor and benchmark performance against KPIs; identify issues and factors that affect/impact upon productivity; spot emerging trends and opportunities; and make strategic and timely interventions to ensure process optimisation.

Mr Sekkat added: “We operate in highly regulated markets where there is an emphasis on continuous improvement, innovation, traceability, process reliability and cost reduction. To ensure we are able to always provide our customers with the best possible service and solutions, we adopt a holistic approach that covers all aspects of production including their supply chain management and logistics issues, lean manufacturing methods and imperatives etc.

“In this way we are able to build, and cutomise, our manufacturing operations and processes around individual customer’s needs and requirements. As such, our customers have come to expect, and now rely on us, to have advanced manufacturing technologies and optimised processes in place to help them outperform their competitors and delight their customers.”

To ensure that this can occur Oxford Engineering has implemented a company-wide continuous improvement programme and, as such, makes regular investment in its people, in its plant and equipment, and in it processes and systems.

For example, in addition to the recent investment made in the three new Doosan machine tools, the company has significantly strengthened it metrology/inspection credentials with the acquisition of an advanced, ‘state of the art’ laser-driven Global S Chrome Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM).

The machines provide Oxford Engineering with excellent and reliable cutting performance and significant machining flexibility and, irrespective of the materials being machined — stainless steels, aluminium, titanium, inconel, plastics etc — or the part accuracies or surface finishes required, these new additions are more than up to the task.

The latest machine tool investments also highlight and encapsulate Oxford Engineering’s technology preferences and imperatives – namely to invest in Fanuc-controlled Doosan multi-axis
and multi-tasking machines with integrated automation.

Mr Sekkat concluded: “We know from our Group experience that multi-tasking Doosan machines supplied with integrated automation are proven performers and help us reduce job set up and part cycle times, avoid production bottlenecks, ensure improved asset utilisation and meet ever-stringent customer delivery deadlines.

“We work in partnership with customers to create strong, mutually profitable and long-term strategic alliances with them. Our investment in Doosan machines tools from Mills CNC represent an important cornerstone in establishing and maintaining these relationships.”