Nottingham-based
Caunton Engineering, one of the UK’s largest single-site steelwork contractors, has completed a major multi-million-pound upgrade with the installation of two ‘state of the art’ machines with robotic automation.
The family-owned company, located on the site of the former Moorgreen Colliery in Newthorpe, is bringing this latest ‘intelligent’ technology to its on-site Cut Shack components plant. It is the first time that one of the machines, a Mazak FG-400 NEO supplied in the UK by Worcester-based
Yamazaki Mazak UK Ltd, has been installed in a structural steelwork company anywhere in the UK. The purchase of the machine , an automatic and continuous 3-D laser-cutting machine, follows the installation of a PeddiBot-1250 robotic structural steel fabrication machine with the aim of enhancing and streamlining the company’s production process.
Simon Bingham, Caunton Engineering chairman, said: “This investment in the very best of new and emerging industry technology is a significant statement of intent by Caunton Engineering as we strive to improve both the quality and efficiency of our production process. We are especially pleased to be working with Mazak to bring the UK’s first FG-400 Neo laser cutting machine to the Cut Shack, designed for ultra-high-speed 3-D cutting of long tube, pipe and structural material. This, together with the PeddiBot-1250, will provide us with the very latest in robotic technology available anywhere in the world today.
He added: “The higher levels of both speed and accuracy that laser cutting and associated robotic technology brings to our production process will transform our capabilities in delivering larger and more complex steelwork projects. This new technology is changing the way we operate and the way we train and upskill our employees - and our investment re-affirms our commitment to be at the forefront of new and emerging technologies in the UK, which will improve efficiency and quality of components while accelerating production of the company’s structural steelwork.”
Advanced technologiesCaunton Engineering’s new Mazak FG-400 NEO features a range of advanced technologies and is designed for high-speed 3-D continuous and automatic laser cutting of long tube, pipe and structural material. It uses an energy-efficient fibre laser for high-speed cutting and can deliver 3-D laser head cuts and complex joints and shapes with high accuracy. The machine’s specification is focused more on items below a profile of 300mm and up to 20mm thickness, processing a range of sections including universal beams, universal columns, channels, tubes, box, flats and angle sections.
The machine will operate alongside a new US-manufactured PeddiBot-1250, a robotic structural steel fabrication machine which is the first of its kind to feature individual capabilities for plasma cutting, oxy-fuel cutting and layout marking all within one machine. Designed specifically for the structural steel market, the machine is equipped with an intelligent plasma cutting system designed to maximise productivity with faster cutting speeds and is capable of processing material up to 80mm thick.
Both machines will operate within Caunton Engineering’s Cut Shack, a 45,000ft
2 purpose-built facility opened in 2014. The company, which employs 250 people, is currently one of the UK’s leading steel manufacturing companies with an annual turnover of around £100 million. It has supplied high quality steelwork for major UK projects including retailer TJ Morris’s £118 million distribution warehouse near Warrington, the major Energy Recovery Centre at the Edmonton EcoPark site in Enfield, London, and the North Stand of Leicester Tigers’ stadium.