‘The beast’ is a real beauty

The XYZ TC 320 LTY, dubbed ‘The Beast’ by Vision Precision Engineering

For many sub-contract machine shops, it is a challenge to know which machines to purchase to handle the variety of work that comes through the door. Sometimes, the type of work dictates the products needed, but on other occasions, it is the development of the company to become more efficient and take on new work that are the driving forces behind a purchase.

For Ian Gibson, managing director of Vision Precision Engineering, the latter scenario led to investments in machines supplied by Devon-based XYZ Machine Tools. Starting the business with his uncle, Dennis, after the pair were made redundant, the duo managed to bring the machines they used to their new business and set about finding work — a significant challenge.

Using existing contacts, they began making parts for coffee machines in Costa Coffee stores. Mr Gibson said: “We were approached to make developments and improvements to the machines in the stores so that the Baristas could not make mistakes in loading the cleaning products used in the machines.”

This influx of work prompted the business to seek improvements in its manufacturing processes, leading it to XYZ’s door for a solution to make parts faster than on their existing milling machine. Mr Gibson continued: “Steve Cox, the XYZ area salesman regularly called in and, when the company needed to make an investment in new equipment, he helped us to select the right machine which was an XYZ 710 vertical machining centre complete with a 4th axis.”

Making parts faster
This investment created a new dilemma for Mr Gibson. Now, making parts faster created a bottleneck in the secondary operations needed on the parts. This led to further investment in a smaller machining centre from XYZ to handle the increase in demand.

Pictured left: Vision Precision Engineering’s CNC workshop, showcasing ‘The Beast’ in pride of place

Mr Gibson added: “Even with the two machines and 4th axis fitted to the mill we were still falling behind in supplying parts to our customers so again we contacted XYZ to see how we could improve our manufacturing further,” comments . The answer this time was to invest in an XYZ TC 320 LTY driven tool lathe.

He continued: “The ability to produce milled and drilled features on our turned parts was taking up capacity on the original mill, so it made sense to purchase a machine that could produce our parts in one hit which is why we decided to invest in the TC 320 LTY product.”

Driven tool capability
With the hardened box way built machine with its Y and C axis, along with driven tool capability in place, Vision Precision set about getting the most out of its latest purchase. “Now we have this machine available to us, we have been able to quote for work that previously we could not tackle,” explained Mr Gibson. This is partly due to the maximum turned diameter of 320mm and the maximum turning length of 550mm. With a bar capacity of 78mm, it also means that Vision can produce more parts from bar rather than billets, and with a barfeed purchased for the machine, lights-out machining has now become a regular occurrence.

Pictured right: Vision Precision Engineering is renowned as the home of ‘The Beast’

Mr Gibson said: “The machine just seems to tackle everything we throw at it. Big or small, it does it all, and the material removal rates are phenomenal. From 20mm depths of cut when turning, to drilling a 70mm diameter hole with a modular drill in super duplex material, is proper justification for us giving the machine its nickname of ‘The Beast’.

When you consider we were only running at 200rev/min when performing the drilling and it was only using 25% of the available spindle power it’s a well-built machine with great power and it holds the tolerances we demand of it all day, every day.”

Mr Gibson added: “It is not just the machine that is important to me but the whole package I get from the company I buy my equipment from. From the sales process through to the installation, training and the ongoing support from XYZ’s customer support team, the whole experience was second-to-none and that is why I purchased a CT65 HD to support the work of ‘the Beast’ and, also produce some of the smaller parts we manufacture.”

Like in every fairytale story, the Beast is able to open doors just by its presence. By posting on social media about the work it undertakes, Vision Precision Engineering has generated interest from companies looking to outsource their machining jobs. Business is growing, which has led to a recent move to new premises. From modifications to coffee machines, the sub-contractor is now attracting work from various sectors, including green energy, medical and defence.