Mazak’s Mark Ireland (left) congratulates NTG group managing director, Mike Hutchinson, on the delivery of the new Variaxis i-800 NEOTyne and Wear-based
NTG has installed the first machine at its new facility in Gateshead. The sub-contract manufacturer remains on the Team Valley Trading Estate in Gateshead, but has moved into a new 45,000ft
2 facility which is significantly larger than its former 18,000ft
2 site.
The decision to invest in a new ‘state of the art’ Mazak Variaxis i-800 NEO will enable NTG to both increase its five-axis machining capacity and enable the company to enter new markets.
Mike Hutchinson, NTG Holdings group managing director, says the investment in both the new facility and the new machining technology opens up opportunities for his company. He said: “Our five-axis capability has experienced a bottleneck due to strong demand from customers for this type of complex work and the new machine will allow us to offer shorter lead times.”
The Variaxis i-800 NEO delivers advanced high-speed multiple-surface machining in an exceptionally large machining area that can produce larger diameter parts. It will be followed by another 50 machines that will be transferred to the new facility in the coming weeks, including a Mazak turning centre, Integrex multi-tasking machines and vertical machining centres.
Mr Hutchinson continued: “We have increasingly diversified the business from its roots as predominantly a supplier to the tooling and oil and gas sectors. We now operate across defence, food production, energy, subsea, electric vehicles and renewables. The new facility will give us the footprint to be able to continue to grow and service all our sectors, while also giving us the space to introduce more capacity and new technologies in the future.”
Mazak has been a long-time partner for NTG helping the manufacturer to make the move into complex five-axis work over a decade ago. He continued: “When we purchased our first five-axis machine, a Mazak Integrex, it was because we wanted to be an early adopter of the latest production technology to maintain the highest levels of quality and productivity for customers.”
Mr Hutchinson concluded: “Bringing in the new Variaxis allows us to take that capability to the next stage, opening up the potential for us to machine larger and even more complex components. We are now operating in a number of sectors, including defence and electronics, where we can now offer another level of capability and quote for work that was previously beyond our available technology.”