Faced with producing evermore complex components, tighter delivery times and having a shopfloor with 24 single spindle cam autos, a number of multi-spindle autos and second operation machines, Bryncrug-based TTP found its production capability and response to its customers was becoming almost impossible to maintain. Roy Crawford, Works Director explains: 'Many of the components for the security, high-class plumbing, hydraulics, gas and electrical industries had up to six operations and critical dimensions. In order to improve on our capacity problems we introduced double shift working and then faced offers of even more work which again made matters worse.

It got to such a point that we really could not meet the demands of our customers giving us just one to two weeks to respond.

The number of machine setups could not be performed because there was just not enough hours.' TTP is located in a small Welsh village surrounded by unspoilt mountains and lakes and the staff were unfamiliar with the benefits of CNC machine tools.

'We literally had to start from scratch,' says Roy Crawford, 'we were introduced to other manufacturing companies involved in the lock industry producing similar components to ours and they were operating Traub lathes.

Also from what we saw, the machines displayed tremendous benefits against other CNC lathes they had installed.' He continues: 'We put our ideas to our managing director, David Gardner, who was fully committed to the idea.

It was a very expensive decision for us at the time and, in all honesty, we could not be positive on what the true benefits would be.

All we did know for certain, was that if we did not invest we would lose most of the work: if we did, we should be able to meet our customer demands.' Traub Heckert's sales engineer explained the capabilities of the TNM 28 multi-slide automatic lathe, as well as the back up and support that would be available.

Roy Crawford smiles as he remembers back to 1995: 'The engineer said to me '12 months after the first machine you will be knocking on my door for another'.

I laughed and said at GBP100,000 you must be joking.

In fact, I have to bite my tongue and say that every year since, we have reinvested in an additional machine.

We are now on our fourth and providing we have the room and maintain the demand from our customers we will, no doubt, require still more!' TTP has been established in Bryncrug for three decades, just two miles from the coastal resort of Tywyn which is not really an ideal location for a busy engineering company.

Roy Crawford explains: 'The company originally chose the site because the then managing director of the group based in the West Midlands, visited the area for game and rough shooting.

He developed a bond with some of the local businesses and decided to relocate a part of the business as the company was at full capacity both in terms of the floor space and skill.' Set up as a satellite support company, TTP took on surplus plant and machinery from the parent company, but as Roy Crawford says: 'It was not the best equipped machine shop in the world but many of the staff given the opportunity to relocate have stayed with us.

Growth was steady and in 1985 the company become autonomous from the West Midlands but is still owned by the same family.

From the original staff of 12, 50 are now employed.

TTP now operates two Traub TNM 28 multi-slide autos, a TNC 42 mill-turning centre, and its latest investment, a larger capacity Traub TNM 65 multi-slide automatic lathe.

The latter was purchased to widen the production capability and relieve the production pressures on the 42 mm machine.

This decision has already paid dividends, because the customer base is now pushing even more work towards TTP.

Each of the Traub lathes has replaced approximately three of the original single spindle lathe and provides a vast improvement in the quality and consistency of production, lower cycle times and surface finishes.

However, floor space is again a restriction and the storage of extra work generated by the new lathes adds to the problem.

This will be addressed this year by expanding the 12,500 ft2 floor area with an additional 5,000 ft2 side wing to house the Traub lathes and goods inwards.

TTP still runs the old cam autos, but, says Roy Crawford: 'It is a declining market and it is difficult to live with the setting times involved when compared to the Traub machines which have had such a dramatic impact on our efficiency.

We are really proud of the fact that we get 23 hours per day, seven days a week production and are able to run beyond the normal shifts unmanned.' Over the weekend, the company will produce the more simple brass components and the machine operators work a rota keeping the lathes in production by barring up, stacking finished parts and changing any worn tooling.

'We have never had a problem with the lathes,' he continues, 'and the benefits are easy to deduce.' Of course, the machines are serviced regularly which keeps them running at optimum levels.

In-house maintenance is carried out religiously with scheduled maintenance provided by Traub Heckert engineers.

The TNM 28 and 65 multi-slide automatics each have four plunge slides, an eight station turret with X-axis crossfeed for which tool position eight carries a collet operated workpiece pick-up unit.

This unit presents the parted-off component taken from the main spindle to two driven tool positions for secondary operation work.

The TNM 28 has a 200 mm turning length, 4.6 kW drive and 6,300 revs/min spindle while the larger TNM 65 has 250 mm turning length and 6.9 kW spindle giving 3,150 revs/min.

The TNC 42 has an 18.5 kW main spindle with 11 kW secondary spindle and two 20 tool turrets.

The maximum spindle speed is 5,600 revs/min.

As all the lathes feature driven tooling and back end working, all components are manufactured in 'one hit'.

As well as the improvement in part quality and geometry between features, substantial time savings have been realised.

For example, a stainless steel location bush, which used to be produced in 210 seconds, is now produced solely on the TNC 42 in just 90 seconds.

'We machine a wide variety of materials from brass through to stainless steel, and the machines have proven equally capable for them all,' insists Roy Crawford.

Trevor Hinton, works manager adds: 'Some of the lock components we produce have size and positional tolerances of less than 0.025 mm, with milled slots and flats all tied in.

Geometric tolerances and surface finish requirements for our hydraulic valve components are so tight that we just would not have been able to achieve them on our old plant.

We now quote jobs with 100 per cent confidence knowing that we can make it to specification,' he says.

Although volumes have increased, batch sizes have been significantly decreasing making the old machines really unprofitable, due to their lengthy set up times.

As Trevor Hinton says: 'Currently, batches range between 300 and 20,000.

Once a program is proven, the short changeover time is regarded as phenomenal, we are able to do a full reset in less than one hour, which we would have taken up to eight hours on the cam autos.' Roy Crawford concludes: 'We are members of the BTMA, which help us to keep a abreast of the market and helps us benchmark our performance against other members.

Our investment in the Traub CNC machines has really brought us up to the sharp end, and gives us so much confidence.

Without these machines, I believe we would not be nearly as successful.'