Take a new turn

The sliding head turning market has to be one of the most closely contested sectors within the metalcutting industry. One of the leading players riding on the crest of a wave at the moment is Star GB, which since August 2016 has been operating from its brand new 20,000ft² facility in Derby. Dave Tudor caught up with its managing director, Steve Totty.

In the UK, the sliding head lathe market is pretty much unlike any other and this is a situation brought about by two main factors: there are only really three main suppliers of sliding head machines; and their respective customer bases tend to be fiercely loyal. Customers sometimes do jump ship – and some mix and match – but generally not. For the sliding head machine suppliers, keeping their respective customers happy is paramount – and those efforts are generally rewarded with repeat business and longstanding relationships.

For Star GB, success is not only about looking after existing customers but also about nurturing new business. Last year, 16% of the company’s total order intake was from new clients and 2017 has kicked off in a similar vein with six new customers since the beginning of the year. Not bad in these post-Brexit times.

Sheffield-born managing director Steve Totty is a down to earth, knowledgeable and likeable man with a long pedigree in engineering and manufacturing – particularly sliding head technology. He served his apprenticeship with Stanley Tools which marked his first exposure to turning machines – mainly Petermann sliding heads and CVA turret lathes. Then following a number of positions with Sheffield and Midlands-based engineering companies he ended up at Leeward Engineering in Yeovil with responsibility for 20 Bechler cam autos and two CNC turning centres.

“At that time I really wanted to move back to Sheffield,” Mr Totty recalls. “Ted Hart, the A&S Precision Machine Tools (which later became Star GB) rep was visiting us one day and said there might be a job vacancy coming up. My predecessor Bob Hunt had just taken over the reins and it seemed like a really good opportunity. I joined Star on 6th March 2000 as engineering manager.”

Star GB’s managing director, Steve Totty

“In those days I was working on applications and a lot of my time was spent providing machine specifications, quotations and cycle time estimates to customers,” he continues. “Times have changed; then, when batch sizes were generally much larger and components being produced on sliding head machines were less complex, shaving seconds off cycle times was absolutely crucial. Today, the work is more complex and parts tend to be more prismatic; we’re becoming more and more involved in turnkey project work where we’re developing solutions for specific applications. Cycle times are still important but arguably less so than they were.”

Mr Totty’s rise to becoming the main man at Star GB did follow a logical pattern. After his time as engineering manager he became service manager, then operations manager to give him an insight into the financial aspects of running the business, and then general manager. Around five years ago, with Bob Hunt’s retirement imminent, he was approached about taking over. Then Mr Hunt became seriously ill which accelerated things somewhat. Thankfully he made a remarkable recovery and is enjoying retirement. Mr Totty became managing director of Star GB in 2013.

Customer focused

At a glance, Star’s brand new premises, located just a stone’s throw from the Rolls-Royce factory on the Riverlands Business Park in Derby with its spacious showroom, corporate hospitality area, stores, modern office areas and training facilities is unashamedly impressive, but dig a bit deeper and you’ll see this is a building designed methodically from the ground up with the customer in mind.

That’s because providing exemplary customer service is absolutely central to the Star GB ethos. Whilst it keeps around six new machines on display in its showroom at any one time, the real jewel in the crown is that it can order machines and take delivery within two days – which is handy because customers often need machines yesterday!

“We have a central bonded warehouse in Dordrecht, Holland which serves all of the Star subsidiaries in Europe,” Mr Totty explains. “They have permanent stock of around 150 machines at any one time; all we have to do is inform our headquarters in Japan and they’ll release the machines we need. Generally speaking, for a standard specification machine and FMB barfeed, we can order a machine, take delivery, carry out a full pre-delivery inspection (PDI) and despatch to the customer within one working week.”

And that’s exactly what happened recently with an order from Chingford-based precision turned parts manufacturer Inro LLP. The order, for a SR-20R IV Type B was placed on the Monday and the machine was delivered on the Thursday, straight from the showroom.

Turn over to turnkey

But it’s not just sliding head machines, with models spanning 10 - 42mm bar diameters that are in plentiful supply in Derby. Star carries stocks of all first line spares for its machines as well as a vast array of workholding equipment including collets, bushes and clamping sleeves. The company is also a UK agent for JBS compensating guide bush systems from Germany and FMB bar feeders.

Every machine is PDI’d prior to despatch and fitted with a beacon, parts conveyor, swarf conveyor/bar feed interface and a fire extinguisher. Options such as high pressure coolant and extraction systems are also fitted at this point if required.

Turnkey work – where machines, processes and systems are tailored and proved out for specific customer applications – is also very much on the rise, accounting for as much as 25% of the company’s workload.

In fact, Star had six active turnkey projects on the go in February alone and the new facility is proving vital for this type of work. The overwhelmingly most important thing to note here is that if a customer buys a machine to manufacture a specific part, he or she knows it’ll work when the machine is installed because Star will have proved both the machine and the process beforehand and also provided the necessary training.

On the subject of training, Star left no stone unturned when the designs for the new factory were being developed. As Mr Totty affirms, the facilities at the new site are worlds apart from how things used to be at the company’s previous site some eight miles away in Melbourne.

“We’ve always offered training but it was somewhat fragmented,” he says. “Now we have a purpose built training room alongside our showroom complete with 60 inch TV, whiteboards and four touchscreen PCs preloaded with Star’s own programming software (NC Assist). All manuals and drawings are to hand and as the machines are only a short walk away, the theory can be applied to practical demonstrations.”

Fit for the brand

Anyone familiar with Star’s previous premises in Melbourne would know that a move was desperately needed. Getting machines in and out of the factory was a logistical nightmare and the car park was constantly full – a real problem with events like open houses.

These problems, coupled with the fact that the lease on the old building was up for renewal meant a move was a necessity and once the plans were approved by the parent company in Japan, things moved pretty quickly. Building work started in January 2016 and the 27 employees moved in during August.

“It’s fantastic to have premises that we’re really proud of,” Mr Totty comments. “We designed this building to suit our workflow and everything and everyone has a place here. The effect has been dramatic; we have many more customers visiting than ever before and the whole place is busy and vibrant. At last we have a facility that reflects the professionalism of our staff, products and service – the Star brand in fact.”

The personal touch

In such a competitive market there’s no such thing as bad machines so to gain market share, companies have to offer something extra. Steve Totty is in no doubt that Star’s USP is its exemplary levels of service and support.

“I believe that a company isn’t really tested until something goes wrong,” he states. “We only make sliding head machines so our engineers aren’t distracted by an excessively wide product range. They’re all experts in sliding head technology and have all served their time on the shopfloor.

“Also, when your machine goes down at 4.30pm on a Friday or a Saturday morning we’re here to help. We don’t use automated phone systems and customers can always talk to an engineer – up to 8pm Monday to Friday and 2pm on a Saturday if you need us – and the service is free.”

Synergies and partnerships

The latest news from the Star camp is the announcement of a partnership with tooling specialist WNT. The latter will be launching a brand new sliding head tooling catalogue in September and WNT staff will undergo all their product training at the Star facility.

There’s an obvious synergy between the two companies and indeed between the two managing directors: “I know Tony Pennington well,” Mr Totty explains. “For our sins we’re both Sheffield United fans but from a business perspective we share the same ethos of offering excellent service and support. WNT will be featuring at our open houses in the future and I’m really looking forward to developing an excellent working relationship between the two companies.”

Star GB www.stargb.com

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