LYMINGTON PRECISION ENGINEERS and Co Ltd., or LPE, has built its success by living daily by the mantra of quality and delivery. To succeed and grow in the highly competitive environment of contract engineering, the British company has realized the need to become involved with the customer’s design process at the earliest possible stage.

 

So when LPE decided it needed a better and more effective way of making a component for one of its customers, it brought in Sandvik Coromant and Matsuura Machinery PLC, the British arm of the Japanese machining centre builder, to combine expertise to create the optimum manufacturing process for the part.

 

Leon Crouch, who is the founder and managing director of LPE, notes, “To achieve time-to-market deadlines, it was essential that this project be completed in the shortest possible time. I believe that this was only achieved by effective teamwork and communication between LPE, Sandvik and Matsuura personnel.”

 

For Sandvik Coromant’s David Barras, the engineer who has run the LPE account for more than four years, it was an opportunity to put the company’s Original Tooling Services model into practice. This model is based on a close collaboration between the customer, the machine supplier and the tooling specialist at the start of the machining investment cycle.

 

The aim is to reap the benefits of their combined experience to create manufacturing solutions that achieve the objectives set by the customer – from lower cost to higher quality and from faster throughput to less downtime and quicker return on capital.

 

For LPE, the main reason for the investment was “to achieve 24-hour operation with the machine running unmanned through the night,” explains Tony Chalk, the company’s business manager and director. The company wanted to transfer manufacture of a complex casting for an industrial customer from one of its existing FMS (Flexible Manufacturing Systems) to a new Matsuura machine that would be capable of fulfilling the increased demand for the component and would, at the same time, meet its customer’s tight deadline. “The existing machine could not meet the capacity requirements,” says Chalk.

 

In addition to the immediate requirements, LPE was keen to increase its in-house capacity – a driver for the purchase of a two-pallet Matsuura H.Plus-630 machine. There were pressures for all involved. The component needed to be in place as quickly as possible so that the company could start achieving some return on capital. Typical investments for machining centres are around 500,000 GB pounds, a considerable amount for a medium-sized organisation such as LPE. The component mounting on the machine had to be designed in such a way that parts could be processed unmanned during the night. The tooling had to be arranged to meet not only the complex material requirements of the casting but also the performance requirements of all-night operation. The steel casting required two basic operations – an initial machining operation and a second operation following a hardening treatment carried out by an external contractor. The aim was to carry out both operations within the machine, For this, the choice of appropriate tooling as vital.

 

USING THE ORIGINAL TOOLING SERVICES concept, all the relevant issues related to the manufacturing requirements of the component were considered at the outset, Barras says.

 

Barras advised on all aspects of the tooling and was also asked to give his opinion on the capabilities of the H.Plus-630 machine – an indication of the trust that had developed between the two companies. “From studying the specification, it was clear that is was a machine capable of obtaining the best performance from the Sandvik tooling required to produce the component,” Barras says.

 

LPE knew the manufacturing process and how to handle the material, and it understood the expectations of its own customers, so it was able to explain its requirements for the new machine. In addition, LPE’s production engineer, Martin Booker, devised a novel fixture solution incorporating an eight-sided mounting that would solve a problem of parts capacity and allow the operations in the machine to be carried out to match the specification of unmanned working. Another feature of the casting was its complex shape, which involved no straight edges. This compounded the challenge of holding the casting in the machine.

 

MATSUURA WORKED with the machine programming at the same time that Sandvik Coromant advised on the best tooling solution. This involved careful study of the cutting data, matching the data to the material characteristics. Notes Barras, “We looked at the wear in the tooling to optimize the production. To meet the targets of night operation we came up with the concept of sister tools, which automatically replace tools that need to be replaced because of wear.”

 

All three companies worked as quickly as possible. David Barras explains the time scale and steps involved in getting the machine up and running: His initial meeting took place with Tony Chalk on 9 January 2004. Having assessed the machine, Barras alerted Steve Weston at Sandvik Coromant’s Original Tooling Service department to discuss the scope of the project.

 

Next he made contact with Matsuura to ensure that, he says, “personal contacts were in place to ensure the project was going to run smoothly.” Within a month, LPE had provided Sandvik Coromant with component drawings and a skeleton shape of the fixtures to allow tool clearances to be checked. Barras says, “I produced a preliminary package of cutting tool assemblies to manufacture the component using the Sandvik Coromant – based TINA (Tool Investment Analyzer) software.” This was followed by a full presentation of the tooling package. At the same time LPE’s production engineers provided the proposed fixture designs on a CD-ROM as DXF files. This enabled the tool drawings to be checked against the fixtures.

 

Meanwhile the Sandvik Coromant OTS team, including Steve Weston and Steve Tann, was building relations with Matsuura, and its installation engineer agreed to work with Sandvik Coromant to ensure that the machine installation and testing could be completed quickly at the LPE’s Lymington site.

 

On 16 February, the Matsuura machine arrived, and over the next three weeks, the tooling package, fixtures and cutting paths and cutting data were installed on the machine. This culminated in final testing over a two-day period to ensure that cycle times and component tolerances were achieved, including unmanned night operation.

 

In this case the total project time from concept to planned production took three months. Since then, the machine has performed so well that production of the casting was completed ahead of schedule, freeing machine time for other projects.

 

THE JOINT PROJECT has provided valuable lessons. Barras says that despite the good results of the project, better initial planning between the companies involved would have reaped additional benefits. He says that troubleshooting on site was not an ideal situation and that it would be better to complete testing at the machine builders - Matsuura's impressive Leicestershire facility.

 

Then the complete installation – ready to go – could be commissioned more quickly at LPE. The benefits of taking this approach were proven almost immediately. While the first project was under way, LPE decided to purchase a second H.Plus-630 machine from Matsuura. This machine would be dedicated to machining a different stainless steel casting. In this case, the fixtures would be designed with four faces, to allow 16 components to be loaded on each pallet, which would run unmanned through the night.

 

Barras worked alongside Sandvik Coromant’s OTS department, which had dedicated several staff to design and build the tool assemblies and to commission them at the Matsuura site.

 

As a result, the total project time was cut to a month and a half. Says Barras, “The planning prior to final installation at the customer site, with prove-out at Matsuura using cutter paths and cutting data that have been optimized and tooling that is ‘right first time’ can typically save 50 percent of the total cost of the project.”

 

STEVE TANN OF THE OTS TEAM adds: “Early involvement can positively contribute in new manufacturing processes and investment decisions and may save large amounts of time and money. Important metal cutting knowledge can be applied from within the Sandvik OTS department as well as from the Sandvik regional and head-office support teams.”

 

Tann also note that, for customers, “having a machining process of the customer’s components proved before the new investment is delivered helps reduce any concerns about financial expenditure and also helps to speed up the introduction of new machine tools and methods on the shop floor. Plus, for Matsuura and Sandvik Coromant, the closer working relationships that we have with end users and each other increase the three-way-partnership idea. This leads to better profitability for all concerned and also reduces the chance of errors being made.”

 

Ian Michie, Marketing Executive at Matsuura, adds, “We value these relationships because they not only bring in repeat business, but they also give us a chance to grow with our customers and to better serve their aspirations for the future.” Of course, he says, such a partnership can only grow based on a solid foundation of trust and integrity.

 

There have been other rewards as well. As Tann points out, “the excellent working relationship between LPE and Sandvik, which has developed over the years, has been a major factor in the success of the project, since we were invited to be involved right from the start,” Barras spends two days a week at the company and has been involved not only in providing tooling expertise but also in introducing a simple but effective tool management system that supports machine operations and ensures that sufficient parts are always available to keep the machines going.

 

For Sandvik Coromant, the project has helped the company build strong relationships with Matsuura, and that has led to new opportunities and partnerships. The company has recently purchased a total of four machines from Matsuura.

 

For LPE, the collaboration has helped the company continue to deliver high-quality products competitively. In the fast-moving world of contract engineering, speed, quality and delivery at the right price are vital for survival. 

 

Matsuura Machinery Corporation has a track record that goes back to 1935, when its first production facilities were opened in Fukui, Japan. Initially its business was focused on the production of lathes. In the 1960s, it began to develop numerically controlled milling machines. Matsuura pioneered the concept of high-speed machining and was the original developer of high-speed spindles and CNC machine tools. Today the company employs 450 people worldwide and produces a wide range of high-speed machining centres, horizontal and vertical, configured with 3- to 5-axis, single tables, twin and multi-pallet systems, twin spindles and tool changers, cells systems and a range of ultra high speed linear motor machines.

 

It is recognized as a technology leader in the world of high performance machinery, with a customer base that spans the aerospace, automotive, electronics, medical research, die and mould industries. It is still a family-run business. Says marketing executive Ian Michie, “Matsuura prides itself on being a progressive meritocracy, where hard work and dedication are rewarded.” This allows employees to work their way up through the company.

 

Matsuura Machinery thrives on innovation, and in 2003 it began manufacture of its metal laser sintering hybrid milling machines, which in 2004 won Japan’s prestigious Industrial Technology Grand Prize. In recent years, it has invested in the UK market in terms of expertise and support infrastructure to maintain the products it installs. Its UK company, Matsuura Machinery PLC, based in Coalville, Leicestershire, provides engineering design and services support. It has a Class 1000 clean room facility for spindle build and refurbishment and an automated warehouse system for parts supply to the whole of Europe.

 

 

Thanks to a hands-on approach by senior management, Lymington Precision Engineers (LPE), part of the Fullers group, is a company that is dedicated to excellence in engineering. Its manufacturing facilities are not only approved to ISO 9001, but it is equipped to tackle an impressive range of engineering processes from welding and fabrication to final assembly and testing. Its facilities are maintained to the highest standards of cleanliness and organization, and all employees are urged to play their part in making sure the company stays in front of the competition.

 

At a time when many British engineering companies are struggling against growing international competition, LPE is winning new orders because of its commitment to the application of the latest techniques and processes.

 

In 2004 alone it completed a 6.4 million GB pound capital investment programme, and in 2005 it purchased additional machine tools to enhance its already impressive production capacity. By giving itself the tools – the latest machine tool technology, computer programs that support design and development quality certification – the company can offer its customers a sophisticated service that has won itself markets in telecommunications, defence, medical, aerospace and offshore engineering applications. The company’s engineers have a broad knowledge of many different types of materials and processes. LPE’s capabilities allow it to manufacture everything from single components to complete assemblies through to final testing. “We are able to compete by being proactive and flexible,” says Tony Chalk, business manager and director at LPE.

 

Chalk says that much of the company’s work begins by making prototypes of products. This, he says, means that it is important to be involved “as early as possible in the design process.” While clients are finalizing their designs, LPE is working out the manufacturing process. For much of its projects, time is of the essence. Customers want to have completed designs ready for market in as short as time as possible. Chalk says that investments in sophisticated engineering software programs allow a faster exchange of information in most formats. For its production, the company has invested in an advanced networked database system that tracks each production job, supports planning and is fully integrated throughout the shop floor.

 

The company has about 150 employees and a turnover in excess of 30 million GB pounds. In addition to its continual investment in machines, LPE supports its staff with training programmes and runs its own craft apprenticeship schemes.

 

For more information on Lymington Precision, please visit their website at www.lymingtonprecision.co.uk

 

For more information about Matsuura multi pallet & FMS compatible Horizontal Machining Centre's please call 01530 511400 or alternativelt email sales@matsuura.co.uk