A five year contract to supply titanium and aluminium brackets for the aerospace industry has prompted investment in a second Mori Seiki NV5000 with a 4th axis, at Victoria Production Engineering, UK. As part of the service contract, Mori Seiki engineers spent time on site helping to optimise the tooling, programming, and fixturing for the brackets, with the aim of minimising both the set-up and cycle times for the twelve variations. Sales director Rob Randle emphasises the importance of reliability: 'We can't afford to have a machine down as this will affect the schedule requirements of our customers.' Victoria, part of the Manchester-based Hyde Group, produces components for the aerospace valve, petro-chemical, and mining industries.

About 70% of its work is aerospace, which it wins through competitive tender with the backing of the Group, which itself comprises 36 companies spread across the North West of England.

With Hitachi Seiki machines having proved their reliability, as Victoria production engineering has needed to replace machines and enhance capacity, the spotlight has fallen on Mori Seiki.

Randle explained: 'The first Mori Seiki NV5000 we purchased was to replace a 20 year old Wadkin.

The machine is fitted with a 4th axis and a pallet changer, and is set up to run between 30 and 40 different repeat jobs in batch sizes of 10 to 50.' He said: 'The ability to set and prove jobs on the second pallet during the day makes it possible to run a successful night shift.

Additionally, the machine can run at 12,000 rev/min and features in cycle probing, as well as a tool setter which checks for tool wear and manages tool life.' Within twelve months, this first Mori Seiki has been followed by a NH4000DCG and the latest NV5000.

The NH4000 DCG was installed to meet additional capacity requirements for components which fit within its 0.5m cube operating envelope.

Randle said: 'This machine is compact yet big enough for our parts, and it is fitted with a 120 station automatic tool changer.

The capacity of the ATC has made it possible to manufacture the parts scheduled for the machine without switching tools.

Once programs are loaded via our DNC link, production can start immediately.' The high precision parts manufactured by the company frequently require tolerances of 0.0013mm and surface finishes of 16microns.

In designing the machine, Mori Seiki used dynamic analysis of cutting forces and high quality Japanese manufactured castings to optimise the rigidity of the NH4000DCG, while the Driven at Centre of Gravity technology contributed to its low vibration levels.

Said Randle: 'We can use higher revs and faster feed rates without compromising on quality or repeatability.' Having three very similar machines running 100h/week each has helped productivity through the compatibility of the CNC programs, the setup, and the operation - this has increased operator flexibility and cut setting times.

Should we have any extra capacity on the second NV5000, we can easily transfer jobs to fill it,' commented Randle.

With increasing material prices and the rising cost of the treatments required on some jobs, savings at the machining stage are very important.

Randle concluded: 'The customer wants cost reductions, which means we have to be both smarter and quicker.