Purchase of an XYZ 2010 Super Heavyweight VMC opens opportunities for Alan Dick Engineering
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With an annual growth of approximately 10% year on year, Alan Dick Engineering, based in Heysham, Lancashire, have made an investment in an XYZ 2010 super heavyweight vertical machining centre. This machine will enable them to open up opportunities that will allow them to continue that ongoing growth.
Established in 1975, Alan Dick Engineering offer a wide range of sub-contract machining and fabrication services. With this “one stop engineering” capability, they specialise in bespoke, quick turnaround services for the nuclear, offshore, marine, food, construction and chemical industries.
The investment made by Managing Director Steve Evans, is seen by him as being a fantastic opportunity to not only support his existing customer base by offering greater capacity than he can already offer but also create an opening to offer the services of Alan Dick to a wider audience. Mr Evans says “Over the last few years we have worked hard at continuing to grow our business 10% year on year but, we need to make investments in our capabilities to ensure the growth continues. This XYZ 2010 machining centre is one small part of a recent spend which has included building a dedicated fabrication workshop at the side of our main factory. Investing in this workshop and machine has given us greater capacity and capability”.
The purchase of the 2010VMC which offers 2000mm x 1000mm X and Y travel complements other XYZ machines which Alan Dick already have in the workshop. When asked about the purchasing process for the machine Mr. Evans adds “We are very happy with our XYZ products (ProtoTRAK controlled turret mills, ProtoTRAK controlled flat-bed lathes and a CT65 LTY) in terms of both the machine range that is on offer and the service that XYZ provide. The reliability has been superb, and this is born out with the XYZ CNC 4000 bed mill that we have in the shop. This machine, which was supplied back in 1999, is still going strong and is testament to the quality of the XYZ products”.
But it is not just Mr. Evans who sees the opportunities available now this machine is installed and running. Mike Prady one of the machine operators at Alan Dick is already seeing the advantages of purchasing this machine. He comments “The machine is allowing us to be more efficient in the work we do. The Siemens 828D control that is fitted with the Shopmill conversational software is taking away a lot of the programming tasks that we had to do on our old large mill. In terms of cutting performance, the BT40 spindle with its 42kW (56hp) motor has allowed us to decrease cycle times by increasing the cutting data that we can use”.
He continues by observing “Where we are really seeing the savings on this machine is in the manufacture of larger parts where the 1000mm Y axis travel on the machine eliminates the multi-set ups we had to do previously. The extra handling to machine the large rings we often process added throughput time which we will now eliminate as we can produce the features from one set-up. The 30-station arm type toolchanger is also offering an unexpected benefit as we can hold tools in the machine to cover the common features we machine on a regular basis”.
In a closing comment Mr. Evans mentions another hot topic of the moment and how he sees the 2010 VMC will open another opportunity for Alan Dick Engineering. “This is a large investment for our business, but I know it was the right machine to help our continued growth. I also see that it will help us when it comes to enticing skilled machinists and apprentices to Alan Dick by opening the appeal of working in our machine shop. All our machinists want to get on this machine to be able to use the latest technology and although we have 2 apprentices working here at present, we do see the long-term future of the business by developing our own staff through our apprenticeship program. Seeing this machine here, we hope to inspire young people to come and learn their trade in our workshop on the XYZ 2010 VMC”.
