Karting at its core

During that evolution, the company has improved and expanded its range of products in spite of owning some ‘challenging' production equipment. Things are looking up, however. Lately, the company has invested in Haas CNC machine tools including a UMC-750 universal machining centre and is benefitting from new levels of speed, accuracy and efficiency.

Racing is in the blood at Vamec. In his day, founder Vincenzo Vannini was a passionate kart competitor who first took to the track in 1968. He started Vamec in 1994 with the intention of manufacturing purpose-designed components for a sport that had previously relied on non-specific parts such as those found on motorcycles, tractors and lawnmowers.

Some 20 years later, with Mr Vannini's sons Matteo and Fabio running the workshop and business administration functions respectively, Vamec has become a leader in the development and manufacture of components, accessories and equipment designed specifically for competition. Its Tryton carburettor series, for example is used by both national and international kart racing teams.

Vamec has also invested with the sport, purchasing numerous CNC machine tools and adding components to its catalogue, including various engine and chassis parts, pit stands, jigs and tools, which are supplied to teams and individual racers all over the world. More recently, the company also made engine parts for Moto 3 motorcycle racing, and has even remade parts for a collectable Ferrari F1 car owned by a Californian enthusiast.

For many years, Vamec bought well-known, Far Eastern CNC machine tools until in 2013 Mr Vannini placed an order for the newly launched Haas UMC-750 universal machining centre. “We couldn't believe the value offered by the UMC,” he says. “We'd heard good things about Haas machines so we placed an order even though we knew the machine had only just been launched and the delivery date was quite a way off.”

In the meantime, Vamec looked at other Haas machines to see if they also offered similar value and performance. The company quickly decided to invest in a VF-2SS super speed vertical machining centre, mostly for one-off, 3-axis work. “All of our other machines were busy, so we needed another,” says Matteo.

“Again, the price and claimed performance of the VF-2SS were very attractive. As soon as it was installed we moved one or two jobs from the adjacent Japanese machine. We had to make some very minor modifications to the program so it would run on the Haas control but that was straightforward. On the first part we made, the Haas did the job better than a machine that cost a lot more. The surface finish was better and the cycle times were shorter.”

A little later, in July 2013, the company took delivery of its UMC-750, and soon, Matteo says, the machine was making 70-80 different parts, mostly one-offs.

“Thinking in five axes was new to me,” he recalls, “so I took it slowly to start with. It's not that the machine is difficult to use – on the contrary, the control is the same as the VF-2SS so it was immediately familiar. It's the CAD/CAM part of the process that is different and took a little longer to understand. Of course, our need for accuracy and capability will only increase over time, but we are in a very good position now that we have access to an affordable, very good machine like the UMC.”

Despite Vamec's successful efforts at diversification, karting will for the time being remain its core business. The company has an impressive roster of 250 clients worldwide with countries such as the USA and Brazil providing more recent opportunities to grow its business.

Haas
www.haas.co.uk