MTD Audiobook

Quickgrind has a ball with new Orbis.
Quickgrind has now expanded its ‘Infinite Possibilities’ portfolio with the arrival of the new Orbis
Lollipop cutter range.
Unlike some manufacturers, the business model at Tewkesbury based Quickgrind is focused around the supply of products tailored to the demands of the end user, hence the ‘Infinite Possibilities’ branding.

An example of this is the new Orbis series of Lollipop End Mill Cutters.

As part of the ‘Infinite Possibilities’ range, the Orbis Lollipop tools can be designed to the specific dimension demands of the end-user, suiting the specific applications and material types regardless of industry sector.
The ‘Infinite Possibilities’ philosophy at Quickgrind means that the non-standard sizes and geometries are available to manufacturers with very short delivery times and at ‘near standard’ prices.

Designed for 5-axis machining of intricate components with unique features, the solid carbide Orbis range enables access to difficult to reach features and surfaces.

Furthermore, the Orbis series enables manufacturers to use a single tool to follow the most challenging of tool paths and component forms.
The Orbis has been designed to answer many challenging programming concerns where standard tooling is restricted from reaching and machining the most demanding of surfaces.

The Orbis range is available in 2, 3, 4, 6 or 8 flutes with a complete variety of lollipop and shank diameters, overall lengths and a range of reduced neck diameters.

This diversity gives the end user complete access to the workpiece regardless of complexity.
Suitable for fine finishing, the Orbis even achieves ultra-fine surface finishes when targeting difficult-to- reach component features.

This is credit to the carbide composition of the end mills and the UK designed tool geometries that minimise vibration, even when reaching the most difficult to access surfaces.

Also contributing to the reduction in vibration, cutting forces and the tool life and productivity improvements are the three unique geometry styles for alternate material types.

The Orbis ‘A’ Series has been designed for the machining of aluminium whereas the ‘S’ Series is the perfect choice for cutting titanium, nimonics and other high-temperature alloys.

In contrast, steel, hardened steel and other mould & die grade steel materials will achieve the best machining results when being machined by the ‘D’ series of Orbis Lollipop End Mill Cutters.

Boehlerit expands 3d system

Under a joint sales cooperation with Boehlerit, Ringwood-based Horn Cutting Tools has introduced to the UK market an expanded 3D milling programme for the tool and mould making industry.
The ISO 00P is a universal tool system for general mechanical engineering and mould making.

As the inserts are mounted in a neutral position in the tool holder, they ensure a high level of contouring accuracy.

Despite the neutral position, the edge geometry enables a soft cut to be achieved.
With the RHOMBitec system, Boehlerit is presenting a universal finishing tool for all standard materials and applications.

The indexable inserts demonstrate high manufacturing precision and long tool life.

The axial and radial wiper geometry ensures high productivity, outstanding surface quality and vibration-free finishing, even at high depths of cut.
The BALLtec and TORROtec milling systems are multifunctional tools for achieving high productivity.

They allow users to save on tool holders, as the ball nose copying tools are suitable for semi-finishing and finishing.
In addition, Boehlerit offers a wide variety of indexable inserts and tool holders.

The carbide shank with brazed insert seat ensures excellent vibration damping, resulting in exceptional surface quality on the workpiece.

The use of ultrafine carbides for the inserts ensures high wear resistance combined with elevated fracture resistance, which increases process reliability.

All variants have an internal coolant supply.

Boehlerit expands 3d system

Under a joint sales cooperation with Boehlerit, Ringwood-based Horn Cutting Tools has introduced to the UK market an expanded 3D milling programme for the tool and mould making industry.
The ISO 00P is a universal tool system for general mechanical engineering and mould making.

As the inserts are mounted in a neutral position in the tool holder, they ensure a high level of contouring accuracy.

Despite the neutral position, the edge geometry enables a soft cut to be achieved.
With the RHOMBitec system, Boehlerit is presenting a universal finishing tool for all standard materials and applications.

The indexable inserts demonstrate high manufacturing precision and long tool life.

The axial and radial wiper geometry ensures high productivity, outstanding surface quality and vibration-free finishing, even at high depths of cut.
The BALLtec and TORROtec milling systems are multifunctional tools for achieving high productivity.

They allow users to save on tool holders, as the ball nose copying tools are suitable for semi-finishing and finishing.
In addition, Boehlerit offers a wide variety of indexable inserts and tool holders.

The carbide shank with brazed insert seat ensures excellent vibration damping, resulting in exceptional surface quality on the workpiece.

The use of ultrafine carbides for the inserts ensures high wear resistance combined with elevated fracture resistance, which increases process reliability.

All variants have an internal coolant supply.

No Setup, No Downtime for Smart Factories.

Manufacturing is on the eve of comprehensive digitisation that will impact product design, process planning, machining, assembly and more.

The driving force behind the changes is a series of technological breakthroughs related to the fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0.
With the use of network communication, new digital technologies combine physical manufacturing systems with virtual worlds of knowledge and 3D modelling.

The target is significantly increased output, but as manufacturing systems improve their intellectual features, they become more complicated and expensive.

Minimizing downtime of such systems is a ‘must’ for the development of every system component such as machine tools, workholding devices and cutting tools.

Cutting tools can not only cut metal but also cut downtime, depending on their design concept.
Cutting tools with exchangeable cutting heads from cemented carbides are very common in metalworking today.

Advances in tool grinding and resharpening machines have simplified production of solid carbide tools and their regrinding.

This in turn has resulted in an increased number of medium and small tool manufacturers and regrinding services.

It might have been expected that the solid carbide design approach would seriously challenge the exchangeable alternative and quickly regain lost ground.

However, this hasn't happened.

In fact, the situation has reversed: progress in machine tool engineering and the current trend towards smart manufacturing hold good promise for the future of assembled cutting tools.
An example can be provided by taking a look at ISCAR.

It introduced the ‘no setup’ principle with exchangeable heads, whereby replacing a worn head would not require additional tool setup or adjustment.

The ‘no setup’ principle was successfully realised in ISCAR’s MULTI-MASTER and SUMOCHAM rotating tool families.

In non-rotating products, the new MULTI-F-GRIP and LOGIQ-5-GRIP parting and grooving tool families represent the fruits of a different approach where the assembled tool comprises a tool block and an indexable multi-pocket adapter carrying replaceable inserts.

The high precision of the assembly components eliminates additional setups from pocket indexing.
Along with the benefits in reducing downtime, these tools feature exceptional versatility.

The MULTI-MASTER head can be mounted in different tool bodies to enable thousands of tool combinations for a broad range of applications.

The MULTI-F-GRIP family integrates both TANG- and DO-GRIP inserts.

Not so long ago, versatility was considered the main advantage of tools with exchangeable heads.

But recent progress in machine tool building and, especially, the trend towards smart manufacturing based on Industry 4.0 concepts, returned ‘no setup’ capabilities to the fore.
A further advantage of using tools with exchangeable heads is their ability to customise tool configurations according to the requirements of a specific part.

Multi-tasking machines that enable various types of cutting in one single-step process have become very popular.

These machines have driven-tool capabilities for combining machining by rotating and no-rotating tools, which can significantly improve productivity.

In addition, machine tool builders offer a range of options to supplement a standard CNC lathe with driven-tool functions, and so transform the lathe to a multi-tasking machine.

The MULTI-MASTER line features a wide variety of tool bodies with different adaptations, reducers and extensions that can minimise tool overhang.

This greatly contributes to reducing bending load on the driven tool unit mechanism to improve performance and tool life.
Implementing Industry 4.0 concepts into the metalworking industry is exemplified by the integration of the ‘no setup’ principle in assembled tools with exchangeable heads.

And it is not only about saving cemented carbide; the new developments have generated important capabilities to maximize machining output and decrease production costs.

How Gühring and Chiron are together milling their way into the HPC record books

As machine manufacturer and cutting tool specialist, Chiron and Gühring share common development goals and the aspirations.

Both aim to deliver outstanding products and to further increase their respective efficiency through symbiosis.

Together, the Swabian manufacturers have now set a ground-breaking record: machining 1,000cm3 of steel in 60 seconds.

That’s eight kilograms of steel per minute!

Common development goal
With an extreme metal removal volume and a massive feed rate, both companies were pursuing the same goal, namely launching a product that excels in both dynamics and performance.

The companies both had a new product in development at the same time – Chiron had the new FZ16 five-axis and Gühring had a variant of the Speed Ratio milling cutter.

Thanks to many years of cooperation in the project business, Gühring and Chiron are always in close contact and sharing ideas. 

It was only in the summer that they carried out joint initial tests with prototypes.

Once both products, the Ratio milling cutter and the 5-axis machining centre, were market-ready, the experts came together to prove their performance under real conditions.

Milling specialist Rolf Ehrler from Gühring says “Due to the ever-increasing performance requirements of our customers, we jointly devised the idea for a record attempt, and the result was an incredible 1,000cm3 of steel per minute”.

The interplay of machine dynamics and milling stability is what makes such high metal removal rates possible and is bound to set pulses racing in the mould making, aerospace and automotive industries. 

Two products, one aspiration: top performance
The Gühring RF 100 Speed P tool is a roughing cutter specially adapted for machining steel, high-tensile steel and cast iron.

Its 48° helix angle with unequal cutting-edge partitioning ensures a soft, quiet cut and great running smoothness.

This reduces the load on the machine and increases the volume performance.

The optimised chip gullet with a deep flute in the front cutting-edge area, ensures improved chip evacuation when ramping and helical plunging. 

This allows swarf to be transported reliably out of the machine.

Thanks to a corner protection chamfer and face correction, a stable cutting-edge corner was ensured.

Chip breakers and the extreme cutting-edge length on the milling tool ensure a soft cut and great running smoothness.

This reduces the load on the machine and increases the volume performance. 

This all culminates to provide perfect conditions for the FZ16S five-axis single-spindle machine from Chiron.

This machining centre is designed for the particular demands of accuracy when it comes to 5-axis machining.

At the same time, it really stands out with its optimum dynamics, ensuring high productivity.

The right tool is essential here. 

Michael Eble is Head of Machine Development at Chiron.

He says: “We have significantly increased the drive power as well as the dynamics and cutting performance of the 16 series.

But the real fun begins when the tool manufacturer is then obliged to deliver an even more efficient tool because the machine can do even more.

That’s when you know you’ve done things right.”

Milling strategy: HPC roughing
The specialists at Gühring applied the modern HPC strategy.

Controlling the cutter path with low radial feed that allows for comparatively gentle edging of the workpiece.

HPC roughing is ideal for machining large cutting depths, as the roughing cutter machines the entire depth of the workpiece with the whole length of the cutting edge.

The cutting forces are reduced and evenly distributed over the entire length of the cutting edge.

This allows for high processing speeds and long service lives.

High-performance cutting is the first choice for applications with enormous material removal rates.

The components to be machined are usually made of high-tensile steels, which place increased demands on the machining process.

In order to achieve appropriate results, higher cutting speeds, higher feed rates per tooth and greater cutting depths are used.

The high cutting speeds are achieved with the help of high revolution frequencies, as long as the milling machine allows for this.

By using the entire length, the load placed on the cutting edges of the milling cutter at the perimeter is significantly less and wear is reduced. 

The milling process isn't new, but the basis of the performance of today’s machining centres such as the FZ16S five-axis, geometry adjustments and the wear resistance of milling tools, that HPC reveals itself as an advancement in machining when it comes to enormous metal removal rates.

The major goal was to set a benchmark in this respect, while ensuring absolute process reliability.

Rolf Ehrler says “Thanks to the 48° helix angle, we can create an extremely soft cut.

This means that the tool literally peels the chip out. And the best part is the great running smoothness, which protects the machine.” 

This was also recorded and verified by appropriate vibration analyses – integrated in the machine.

This vibration analyses and the dynamics of the machine combined with the efficient Ratio milling cutter and the HPC milling strategy guarantee process stability and therefore more parts with the highest precision. 

Unprecedented cutting parameters
Under HPC conditions, the entire length of the cutting edge is used with a small cutting width, just 5-15% radial engagement (otherwise known as 'width of cut').

This allows for incredibly high feed rates.

The feed per tooth was 0.5mm during the record attempt.

With four teeth, this means two millimetres feed per revolution.

This is of interest to all companies that have large quantities of steel to cut.

This includes machine components, and the classic tool and mould-making industry, where mainly high-tensile steels are found.

Primarily, though it's in aerospace, where lightweight components made of solid material with a material removal rate of up to 96% are produced.

Of course, the special cutting-edge geometry can also be used optimally in the automotive and supplier industries and is very popular due to the large cutting-edge length.
Michael Eble from Chiron is satisfied, he says: “We have succeeded in significantly increasing the milling stability and dynamics of a new machine series.

In conjunction with the new Gühring RF 100 Speed P milling cutters, things are possible which have never before been achieved.”

Mouldmaker rises to new challenges

Injection mould manufacturer Alpha Precision welcomes new challenges, believing it can push the boundaries of what is possible in precision engineering through its state-of-the-art software.

Based at Tubbercurry in County Sligo in Ireland, Alpha Precision operates an almost full suite of VISI modules, which Director Brendan Feely describes as a seamless communication tool.
The 16-employee company produces an average of around 40 tools a year, ranging in size from 100mm by 100mm, up to 600mm by 1-metre, mainly for the automotive, medical, packaging and electronics industry sectors.
Brendan says “Several years ago, Ireland experienced an exodus of toolmaking contracts as work went overseas.

At the same time, VISI CAD/CAM software for the mould and die industry was rapidly developing and adding new features.

Even companies that weren’t computer literate were investing in the technology to survive.

This had a huge effect on the toolmaking industry, giving us a competitive advantage.”
Alpha Precision is now building high end mould tools with high end software.

He says “The technology promotes a more automated process, and means our staff need a different skillset to use VISI to its full potential.

We have a variety of machines doing different jobs, so our operators have different skills.

The software’s applied on the back of the machining, and because there are several disciplines, such as design, milling, wire and spark eroding, the software fits naturally into its given area.

The operator in that area is just trained on the one particular VISI module.”
He compares the toolroom to a group of people from different countries, with none of them speaking a language other than their own.

Brendan says “One language is design; others include flow analysis, milling, wire eroding and spark erosion.

VISI is the common language that unites all those processes, ensuring everything moves fluently through the toolroom from one discipline to another.”
Partnering with their clients from concept through to production, the experienced design team utilises VISI to design complex moulds, such as a number of high cavitation tools for medical customers.

With VISI programs running their high-speed milling on Röder, and F3 and F5 Makino machining centres, the challenges posed by the medical industry require very fine precision levels.

Brendan says “We use high-end 42,000 RPM spindle speeds for very small detail finishing, and we cut electrodes on the Makino F3, with high definition being done on the F5.

We can machine a cavity in just one night, that would otherwise take a week.

Using VISI Machining we can quickly produce a highly polished medical part with fine detail, a milled finish, and a split line within micron accuracy.”
VISI Electrode & Wire also powers Alpha Precision’s EDM machines for spark eroding and Mitsubishi wire erosion.

He says parts of the tool will have been cut on each of the machines, and when it’s ready for shipping, it is a very fine-micron, accurately controlled finished tool.
Having invested in many VISI modules including Modelling, Analysis, Flow, Mould, Progress, the wire cutting and electrode systems, along with 2D Milling, 3D Milling and High Speed Milling, the software is used at every stage of the process, beginning with providing an accurate quotation for the customer.
VISI ensures that all milling for hard prepping and high-speed finishing is handled quickly and accurately, which he says is vital to their operation.

Brendan says “We make a lot of one-off custom components for each mould, meaning we only run a program once. As pattern cutters we need to be very good at generating CNC code time after time, and VISI is exceptional at doing that job for us.”

Sodick reduces setups for precision machinist.

Berkshire-based Duckworth & Kent (Reading) Ltd has invested in its first Sodick wire erosion machine, a VL600Q model supplied by Sodi-Tech EDM. The new machine was purchased to advance wire erosion capabilities, reduce the number of set-ups, improve quality and repeatability and introduce unmanned overnight operations.

With 52 years’ experience, Reading based Duckworth & Kent Ltd undertake everything from prototype and development projects through to small batch and full production machining.

Sales Director Stuart Gleeson is the son of original co-founder David, who retired in 2000, his brother Terry, is the current Managing Director.

Stuart says “Our speciality is low-volume, high-quality precision components, often manufactured from a variety of difficult materials with complex shapes that few others want to attempt.”

The 15-employee business has relied on wire EDM for many years, particularly for the extremely high accuracy cutting of precision parts.

However, when one of their three-wire EDMs recently required replacement, the company decided to evaluate a range of potential suppliers.

Reviewing three-wire EDM machines, Stuart Gleeson and his team quickly settled on the Sodick VL600Q, which seemed ‘a natural fit with the type of work’ undertaken at the company.

He says “Unlike other machines, the generator on the Sodick model featured state-of-the-art technology.

In addition, we liked the rotary-axis, which would help with complex parts.

We did some capability trials and promptly ordered the machine.”

The Sodick VL600Q offers travel in the X, Y and Z axis of 600 x 400 x 270mm respectively, with 90 x 90mm U/V-axis travel.

Stuart says “We’ve been putting the rotary axis to good use, for instance, it’s making light work of a lifting rod for the defence industry that is made from toughened steel.

The rod features a series of diameters and squares that have to be concentric and straight to one another.

There is also a thread and a yoke at the top for lifting.

The rod is about 150mm long and we recently produced a batch of 58 in a single set-up.

Previously, this part would have required two EDM operations, or one EDM operation followed by milling and/or grinding.

Saving a set-up probably equates to a cycle time reduction of one hour per part.

So that’s 58 hours saved on one job alone, plus the quality is better as we avoid picking up the component and re-setting.”

Stuart Gleeson, who joined the business in 2001, knows a thing or two about the defence industry having been apprentice-trained with the MoD as a precision fitter.

Another defence-related job at Duckworth & Kent involves the wire eroding of discs from exotic plate materials such as vanadium, tantalum and molybdenum.

Measuring 50mm in diameter and 2mm thick, the plates are used as test samples.
Stuart says “Such is the versatility of the Sodick machine that we have also used it to cut through assemblies intended for special-purpose machinery.

These assemblies comprise a hard steel part featuring a titanium nitride coating, magnets and conductive adhesive.

The Sodick cuts through the lot, wire finishing the entire face in one set-up.

In fact, using the rotary axis allows us to hit more faces in one go, preventing inaccuracy through re-setting. Prior to installing the Sodick machine, this work required several set-ups per assembly.”
Quality is clearly paramount at this forward-thinking engineering business, where tolerances are typically in the realm of 20-25 micrometres.

The company is accredited to AS9100 and ISO 9001 (2008), as well the ISO 14001 (2004) environmental management standard.

Other sectors served by the business include aerospace, motorsport, medical, personal care and food.
Stuart says “For us, investing in the Sodick machine was not about saving time, it was about making parts right first time, every time.

However, not only have we further improved our quality, accuracy and repeatability, the rotary axis means we now look at components in a different way.

This has increased our capability and reduced set-ups. We will certainly look at Sodick again when our other two wire EDMs approach the end of their working life”

Diecaster Introduces Automation.

After long using robotic systems in its aluminium diecasting foundry, Andover-based MRT Castings has started to apply automation in its machine shop.

This follows the arrival of a Brother Speedio M140X2 5-axis mill-turn cell.

Fed with raw material from an interlinked Feedio robotic handling system from the same manufacturer, it is the first to be installed in the UK.
The turnkey cell was supplied by Whitehouse Machine Tools to keep production costs down and remain competitive.

A user of Brother 30-taper, 4-axis machining centres since the early 1990s, the company now operates twenty machines, half of which are equipped with a pallet changer.
MRT’s Managing Director Phil Rawnson says: “Our pursuit of single set-up production means that we sometimes find ourselves processing parts on our lathes that entail only one-third turning, with the remainder of the cycle taken up by prismatic machining using live tools in the turret.

It's an inefficient method of milling and drilling, as the rotational speed and power of the limited number of tools in a lathe are considerably lower than those of the spindle on a machining centre, which also has the benefit of access to more tools.

So, we decided to invest in a mill-turn machine and identified the Brother M140X2 as ideal for our needs.”
“When not performing turning, the C-axis table and A-axis trunnion can position a component in the two rotary axes for 3+2 prismatic machining, which is needed for most components.”

To leverage the high productivity potential of the M140X2, the plan is for any rotational part that requires a majority of milling and drilling in its cutting cycle, whether machined from a casting, billet or bar, to be put onto the 5-axis machine.

The Feedio system equipped with a 6-axis ABB robot is capable of handling billets up to 80mm diameter or aluminium castings up to 120mm diameter.
A vision system and built-in PC allows the robot to detect where on the upper inlet conveyor of the Feedio, the raw material has been placed, so billets do not have to be aligned on a grid or in a tray.

Phil Rawnson say: “Until recently, we operated a day shift with a few hours’ overtime in the early morning and evening.

The new Brother cell has added to this, allowing us to run lights- out for up to eight hours.”
The first contract to be fulfilled in the automated cell is a family of aluminium bodies for a range of LED light fittings.

Prototypes were produced on twin-spindle lathes with live tooling, but as only around 30% of the machining is rotational, it is better suited to production on the M140X2 mill-turn.

Cycle time has been almost halved from 15 to 8 minutes, thanks to the higher power of the 16,000rpm milling spindle.
To assist in finding the best robotic handling configuration to go with the machine, MRT enlisted the help of the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry.

After researching the market, towards the end of 2017 its advisers concluded that a conveyor system and a teach-in programmed, vision-enabled, 6-axis robot with interchangeable 3D-printed grippers would best suit the types of components produced and machines in use at Andover.

Coincidentally, that was just when Brother launched the Feedio system at EMO 2017 in Hannover.
Phil says “Feedio is suitable for retrofitting to all our Brother machining centres, both non-APC and twin-pallet types, allowing us to reduce operator attendance during the day.

Quality is enhanced, as workpiece loading is more consistent. In addition, we are able to extend our single day shift by taking advantage of lights-out running into the evening or even overnight.”
“We see automation as the future.

We plan to target a wide range of different components for production in the new mill-turn cell and will be looking in particular at parts where turning content is less than half of the cycle time.

In August, the Engineering Technology Group or ETG acquired HK Technologies.

Group Managing Director Martin Doyle immediately installed Gareth Jones as the new Managing Director to head up HK Technologies.

The astute move to bring the Warwickshire-based business under the ETG umbrella will create countless synergies and opportunities for both companies.

MTD magazine attended the recent ETG Open House to speak to Gareth Jones to get a better understanding about what the marketplace can expect.

For those that may not know, the seven principals of HK Technologies are Mitsubishi EDM, MarkForged, 3D Systems, Balance Systems, Thielenhaus, OPS Ingersoll and Kapp Niles.

Some of these brands may not be household names with UK manufacturers and this is a point that the new MD is aiming to get across.

So, what are the target markets that will create a synergy with the ETG brands?

The 3D Systems portfolio is primarily 3D printing in the prototyping arena and HK will have the injection moulding market as its target audience.

This contrast with the MarkForged brand, which has the cost effective MetalX metal printing machine among others in the range – offering endless potential.

The Thielenhaus portfolio comprises machine tools, attachment devices, tools, processes and technologies for the Micro finish/Super finish precision machining of work pieces and OPS Ingersoll is a manufacturer of EDM and high-speed machining centres.

Kapp Niles is a world leader in the niche segment of profile grinding and gear processing machines and Mitsubishi EDM is well known as an industry innovator in the EDM market.

Rounding-off the portfolio of HK Technologies products is the Balance Systems brand of manual, semi-automatic and automatic balancing machines.

This measures the unbalance of rotating parts and corrects accordingly.

We put a few questions to Gareth Jones, to find out a bit more about him and what lies ahead for HK Technologies…

We began by asking, what was the driving factor that persuaded him to leave Academia for Industry after 11 years – and what have been the differences?

Jones says “I had been at In-Comm Training for 11 years and, in that time, I worked my way up from being a trainer and assessor in Management and Health and Safety to joint Managing Director with my sister Bekki Phillips.

From my first day there, I was thrown into a large engineering company making parts for nuclear energy plants in Birmingham and, from that day, I fell in love with engineering and manufacturing.

I have a passion to grow the sector as a whole and a real desire to unlock the potential of the underdog, like the S-M-E market for example.

“I want to help them muster the strength to grow, be sustainable and develop bigger business and that is what has driven me on for the last 11 years.

At In-Comm, I had amazing people, programmes and relationships with industry, but, at first, we didn’t have facilities that could deliver the depth of training and courses we wanted to.

During my time as joint Managing Director, we developed a unique model where we created industry-leading training facilities with state-of-the-art equipment for learners to grasp next generation technology and give them a grounding for a life in engineering.

The Marches Centre of Manufacturing & Technology or M-C-M-T in Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury are two best-in-class examples.”

So how has Gareth spent his first two months at HK?

“I certainly think that HK is a sleeping giant in the industry and there is huge potential to really shout about the manufacturing technologies and support we can provide.

With this in mind, we have been re-structuring the business, re-writing job roles and identifying gaps where we need additional skills.

We have already rebranded, written a new marketing strategy and are currently working on a 5-year business strategy that will deliver an increase in sales.

We want the strategy to be aligned to the market offering of each of the seven principal companies.

I’ve already met each of them individually and started to get to know their businesses and what differentiates our partnerships from the competition.

“We have taken the immediate step of moving our operation to E-T-G’s HQ in Wellesbourne to maximise efficiencies and to create a dedicated showroom for some of our products.

The laser marking section has over 300 machines out in the field and also delivers a subcon service which is going to move over to Hyfore.

We are also going to research the opportunities to bring back lasers as a product offering in the UK.

Gareth then went on to explain what he'd elarnt from academia that could be implemented in industry to benefit HK Technologies and E-T-G?

“First off, the importance of intellectual property and the skill base of the organisation.

It’s fair to say that HK staff have a lot of competences.

We have some staff that are like ‘Jedi’s’ in their field; this is both a benefit and a risk to the business.

We need to be backing these ‘Jedi’s’ up by educating other members of staff, allowing us to grow from a firm foundation.

A lot of other things we can implement revolves around quality systems and processes.

“Also, from my previous life, I want to get exposure for all product ranges.

This includes getting to discuss opportunities with O-E-Ms and Tier 1 suppliers right down to the very small businesses.

I have a very healthy network and I want to expose them to the opportunities we have via the HK and ETG brands.

It’s often about identifying where the synergies lie between the two companies and the potential benefits of working together.”

We then asked him, how as the new MD of HK Technologies, he will be working to integrate HK into the E-T-G structure and create synergies between the two brands?

“Previously at HK, the push was primarily on the additive manufacturing arena. HK Technologies offers so much more.

Staff here are quickly realising that I have no allegiance to one brand or department in the business and we have to be proactive to make every brand a success.

We are working on an ‘all-inclusive’ strategy that targets the promotion of all brands and this will integrate with the E-T-G portfolio, the E-T-G staff and its business strategy.

This integration will be streamlined by realising where and how we can work together.”

Gareth then went on to explain what he sees as the opportunities for each of the HK Technology brands by being under the ETG banner.

“Within our organisation, we have to service customers with world class application engineers, world class sales engineers and engineering applications.

The key growth area is to create opportunities, and this starts with service and servicing existing customers even better.

It was quickly recognised that HK and E-T-G are culturally aligned; we want the best experience for our customers through building close and long lasting relationships delivering excellence.

We also want to exploit the true turnkey solutions that HK and E-T-G are offering.

One example is a company that has purchased a new Naka-mura MX-100 could use HK’s 3D printing technology to develop jaws, vices and workholding very quickly, easily reducing both costs and lead times in the process.

“The other point is market awareness and branding.

The HK brand needs to be at the forefront and known for its strength and quality.

So, internally we are restructuring, as externally, the market doesn’t necessarily know that much about HK Technologies and what we can do.

There are a raft of opportunities and if you look at our principals, we have almost as many as E-T-G.

“However, these names haven’t been exposed to the UK market.

That is a huge opportunity in itself. There is also some integration work to be done with CRM, operations, strategic systems and this will also create further opportunities and exposure for all brands.

“We have already held internal product awareness days, exposing all staff to our brands.

This has really helped to cross fertilise the knowledge of what we can offer between both companies.

We want to ensure that all representatives of both organisations are able to identify opportunities to work with our customers and refer the project to the right business unit with the right expertise.”

We challenged Gareth over the fact that 3D printing, which is till considered in its relative infancy, is in a very competitive market in the UK.

We asked where he sees the growth potential of the HK Technologies products to achieve sales growth?

“I personally feel that industrial 3D printing has initially taken a hit because when it first arrived, it was all about being a domestic product you can have at home.

That hasn’t happened and it has knocked its credibility in a production environment.

With the two O-E-Ms we work with which are MarkForged and 3D Systems, these are production pieces of kit that are perfect for industry.

There is huge potential for turnkey solutions, combining the respective strengths of E-T-G and HK Technologies. This is all about real, live engineering projects that we can work on.

“3D Printing is all about applications.

It’s not a mature market and that’s why it’s competitive at the moment and hence why there needs to be a lot of R&D work to tap into the potential for all of these applications to be realised.

“What we have to do is take one niche application and drive targeted marketing and sales activities against that niche before developing others.

So, MarkForged is definitely a potential collaborator with E-T-G and Hyfore.

This fits perfectly with jigs, fixtures, soft jaws, robotic grippers and bespoke workholding solutions and this will be our first point of attack.

We are already working on a live project with Hyfore to reduce workholding costs and efficiencies for one of its closest client partners.

“We are already developing our internal applications person and we are about to employ another,.

They need to work with other industry sectors to develop new niches for us to attack from a sales and marketing point of view.

“The MarkForged machines have excellent material selection and processing times.

The price point is also a major plus point as we can supply a metal additive machine for something in the region of a quarter of our competitor’s price.

Additionally, the MarkForged machines are desktop machines with a very small footprint, so there are huge opportunities for this brand.

“MarkForged also has impressive new software whereby you can input your CAD file and the software will calculate your return on investment.

It will look at how much material you would use to make the product or a quantity of parts, and how quickly you can make them and what your payback period is.

So, in terms of ROI we can offer clarity at the start of the process.

“In terms of the Figure 4 machine from 3D Systems, that is all about speed.

Ideal for rapid prototyping, the standalone machine is a production machine, which is perfect for injection moulding companies.

It’s called a modular unit because it can stand alone, but you can also bolt-on additional units to run batches of parts.

“For the injection mould market, this machine is perfect.

You can have it running-off parts while your injection mould tools are being manufactured or while the process is being set up.

Additionally, if you have parts lost in transit, missing or damaged, you can rapidly run-off extra parts on the Figure 4 rather than going through the long process of resetting your injection mould operation.”

Next we asked What he sees as the obstacles to growth in the 3D print market and how will he overcome these obstacles to achieve growth?

“One of the main obstacles is getting people to engage with the technology. That is all about education.

People are either not aware of the capabilities or, despite the technology being around for over 30 years, there still isn’t widespread awareness and trust in it.

Engineers have worked with C-N-C technologies and trust it implicitly, but 3D printing is still a relatively unknown quantity to a lot of manufacturers,.

I feel that is the biggest barrier we have to break down – it’s just a lack of education.

One of our key strategies is to make sure we integrate our marketing strategies from an educational point of view.

We either want engineers to come and try out and test the additive kit or we’ll take it to them.

This is where our application engineers have to be really strong and talented, to drive education and adoption.

“We’ll be having demo days, writing white papers, e-shots and even training people on the kit to demonstrate how easy it is to use.

Another barrier is the fact that people have bought 3D machines in the past and don’t use them.

That isn’t developing anyone’s products or services and we have to create a relationship with the customer and carry them through the process.

This is from initial enquiry and machine selection to developing the skill set and supporting them to maximise the utilisation and potential of additive technology.”

Finally we asked Gareth what can we expect to see from HK in the next 6-12 months?

“This will all be about integration and the ramping up of intellectual competency in terms of education and service.

The market will start to see a brand developing and we intend to get out there in the marketplace and make sure that the sectors who could really benefit from our offerings understand where we fit within their businesses.

“This company is certainly a ‘sleeping giant’ and, whilst it may sound a bit cheesy, it’s like a phoenix rising.

We are coming into the market; we’re going to push aggressively and I’m really looking forward to the challenge ahead.

“It’s going to be a fast pace of change for the business and we are already seeing the character of the staff and how they are thriving with the challenge.

Come January 2020, I want all the structures in place to really drive the business forward.”

ISCAR Imparts Turning Wisdom at Seminar

Last month ISCAR hosted its Machining Techniques Customer Seminar.

The two-day programme welcomed more than 320 customers .

MTD magazine visited the action-packed event to look at the latest innovations.

Following-on from the successful event that the cutting tool manufacturer hosted in June, the comprehensive Autumn programme was packed with cutting tool demonstrations that were transmitted live from the technical centre to the seminar theatre.

The demonstrations covered all core disciplines with H-S-M strategies, continuous and intermittent parting, drilling, turning, titanium milling and much more.

Each of the 30-minute demonstrations were highlighted in a seminar booklet that provided attendees with the cutting data, material grade and performance characteristics of each tool.

The demonstrations included shouldering and slotting with the 16mm diameter MULTI-MASTER solid carbide milling range.

There were numerous examples of the indexable MULTI-MASTER line that included grooving, scanning, corner rounding, pocketing and chamfering – all followed by the SOLIDMILL premium line conducting trochoidal strategies.

Other highlights from the milling stable included the MILL4FEED, LOGIQ4FEED, MICRO3FEED and SOLIDFEEDMILL, which were conducting high-feed roughing, rest machining, pocketing and finishing.

The turning line provided impressive demonstrations from the LOGIQ4TURN, SLIMGRIP, ISOTURN, SUMOCHAM.

Also present was the brand new MULTIFGRIP blade holding tool bodies and the TANGFGRIP high-feed parting-off blades that MTD magazine covered in the September issue.

We spoke to ISCAR Tools, Andy Hayward who talked us through the benefits of the new parting line.

The continuous parting demonstration undertaken on the company’s Ma-zak Quickturn Smart 350 at the event was dry parting a 50mm diameter bar of EN19 at 0.25mm/rev, 0.35mm/rev and 0.5mm/rev.

Andy Hayward says: “We have found that you cannot increase the rigidity of parting systems by making the tool wider, as the insert width restricts the tool holder support in the groove.

You can only improve them from making them deeper and this is what we have done with the new MULTIGRIP and TANGGRIP system.

Standard parting tools run at a feed rate of 0.15mm/rev to 0.2mm/rev on EN19, the MULTIFGRIP tool holder supports the new square block TANGFGRIP blades to minimise vibration and deflection, so cutting feeds can be more than doubled through the new deeper design."

To emphasise this rigidity, the second demo at ISCAR was undertaken on 120mm diameter bar with 60mm tool overhang.

This second demonstration running with 20bar coolant pressure through the ISCAR JETCUT high-pressure coolant system was initially run at 0.25mm per-revolution, then 0.35mm per-revolution and finally 0.45mm per-revolution.

With competitor parting systems typically running at 0.15 to 0.18mm per-revolution, the vibration dampening characteristics of the TANG-F-GRIP and 4-insert MULTI-F-GRIP blade are easily achieving feed rates at between double and even treble that of alternate systems.

Pushing the benefits of the rigidity across to attendees, ISCAR ran the same 50mm and 120mm diameter demonstrations under interrupted cutting conditions.

Applying its new IC808 insert grade that is a general grade for steel, stainless and exotics, the performance characteristics were impressive, running at 0.25, 0.35 and 0.5mm/rev.

Discussing the performance of the MULTIGRIP, Andy Hayward says:

“When running the new parting system at 0.2mm/rev on intermittent cuts, it makes a nice dull sound that highlights how the forces are being absorbed through the tool and into the machine.”

“We have run tests with the new MULTIGRIP on SAE 4140 steel at a speed of 150 meters/min at a feed rate of 0.4mm/rev with a 60mm tool overhang.

Using the old ISCAR parting system with the TGSU353IQ blade, the blade would deflect by 0.325mm when intermittent machining at these parameters.

The new MULTIGRIP deflects by less than 0.169mm, that is a 60% reduction on the previous system.

That is a huge difference and the visitors to our Machining Techniques Customer Seminar were clearly impressed by the huge leap forward ISCAR has taken with this new system.”