Mills CNC: Enhancing the customer experience

Mills CNC robotics
Mills CNC robotics

Mills CNC – exclusive distributor of Doosan machine tools in the UK and Ireland – has enjoyed ongoing success, prosperity and growth year on year – but this hasn’t happened by accident.


Dave Tudor caught up with technical director Tony Dale to discuss automation, machines, markets and moon landings.

I’ve enjoyed a healthy working relationship with Mills CNC for more than a decade now and throughout that time, it’s been gratifying to see the business develop into the premier league, £60 million turnover, 110 employee business it is today.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend DIMF (Doosan International Machine Tool Fair) – Doosan’s biennial technology exhibition held in South Korea back in 2011. Tony Dale, then a youthful technical sales engineer in his early 40s, was also part of the travelling party.

Now of course, along with managing director Kevin Gilbert, operations director Heath Redman and financial director Andy Knight he’s running the show.

Eight months into 2019, as Tony Dale explains, things are looking distinctly rosy for the Leamington-Spa based business: “Last year was exceptional – we installed 460 machines into the UK and Ireland marketplace – and this year things have continued in a similar vein,” he enthuses.

“Since January we’ve sold 250 machines and currently we’re hitting around 35 units a month. The nice thing is that it’s across multiple sectors including oil and gas which is making a welcome comeback at the moment.

“One thing that’s really noticeable now however is that customers want more productivity out of their equipment and processes so they’re looking at automation; they’re looking at sub- and twin-spindle machines; and they’re looking at running unmanned.”

The collaborative approach

Automation is a red hot topic at the moment and it’s widely reported that the UK is lagging behind in its adoption of automation and robotics. It’s welcome news then that Mills signed a reseller agreement with Doosan Robotics in January this year to sell and support a range of Doosan-developed collaborative robots (cobots).

In fact, this heralded the formation of a new department at the Mills’ Technology Campus facility – Mills CNC Automation. Headed up by Peter McCullough this is a totally new venture for Mills that will take it into new markets and industries.

“Machine tending is an obvious growth area for cobots – and in these early days, that’s where we’ve had most success – but that’s only one aspect of their potential,” Mr Dale observes.

“Peter will work closely with our machine tool operation but his brief is also to explore other applications, identify new markets and work with systems integrators. He’s attended a number of trade shows that are totally unrelated to machine tools. The potential is truly vast.”

There are no less than four collaborative robots in the Mills CNC Automation range: the M0609 with 6kg payload and 0.9m reach radius; the M1509 – claimed by Mills to have the largest payload on the market at 15kg, also with a 0.9m reach radius; the M1013 which has a 10kg payload and 1.3m reach radius; and last but by no means least, the M0617 which sports a long 1.7m reach radius and 6kg load capacity.

All four cobots are highly dexterous featuring six high torque sensors mounted on their 6-axis articulated arms. They excel operationally in the all-important areas of accuracy and repeatability: ±0.1mm and 1m/s respectively.

Four new machines will be unveiled at Mills’ October open house – including two twin spindle, twin turret, twin Y-axis Puma turning centres

Industrial strength


Collaborative robots are undoubtedly cost-effective, versatile, easy to program, portable and of course designed to operate in close proximity to people, but sometimes you need an industrial solution dedicated to performing a particular task exceptionally well.

In this area, Mills is launching its own industrial automation cell centred around a Fanuc robot and an automated two-way drawer system for stacking, storing and loading raw material – billets for example. When used with a machine tool, raw material is picked from the drawer, loaded into the machine and then removed and stored on completion.

“You can buy a robot from anywhere but what’s really clever about this system is the software,” Mr Dale affirms. “We’ve spent over a year developing it and the touchscreen HMI (human machine interface) is designed to be powerful and user friendly, encompassing elements like quality control and SPC so that sample components can be taken automatically from a batch run and quality checked.

“Another significant aspect is that the cell isn’t limited to just a single machine. It can be expanded and customised to incorporate multi-machine configurations. It’s the software that drives this versatility.”

Also nice is the ease of connectivity. Just a single RJ45 Ethernet cable is all that’s needed to connect the robot to the machine tool. The cell can be purchased as an existing machine tool retrofit or as a completely new system.

Spot the difference


A primary differentiator with Mills is its Technology Campus in Leamington Spa. As well as providing a modern, bright, spacious and technologically advanced facility for the business to showcase the quality of Doosan machine tools, it’s also a fantastic platform for customers to see first- hand the vast range of services and products Mills offers.

“Once customers see our facilities, we’ve got a pretty good chance of converting the enquiry into an order,” Mr Dale explains. “We’ve recently refurbished the reception and foyer areas and it all contributes to the overall customer experience which is so important. We always have around 80 machines in stock and because we only sell Doosan machines there’s an obvious synergy that runs throughout the entire company.

“When customers visit us they can see things for themselves: they can talk to our people, see their machine being PDi’d, check out the Training Academy and financial services, and find out about our turnkey and project capabilities. It’s all here and it all collectively dovetails into our ‘like no-one else’ mantra.

“Our objective is to support customers through their entire manufacturing journey and help them evolve and become more successful,” he adds. “It’s all about establishing and nurturing relationships. In our experience, customers definitely tend to prefer working with a single source supplier, and with 380 models in the Doosan range we can cater for just about every need.”

The reception and foyer areas have recently been refurbished

DIMF highlights


At DIMF this year which took place in May and was attended by Tony Dale and his colleagues, there were 80 machines on display of which 30 were brand new models.

This could warrant a separate article on its own but notable highlights included a brand new SMX5100L multi-tasking machine with 3m bed length and integral long boring bar magazine and two new additions to the Puma turning centre range – the TT1300SYY and TT2100SYY.

The most significant aspect of this new duo is the fact that they’re twin spindle, twin turret machines with Y-axes on both turrets. Both machines will be on show at Mills’ ‘Another Giant Leap’ open house in October and also at MACH 2020 next year.

Another new machine destined for the UK market is the DEM 4000 which is an entry-level 3-axis, 8,000rpm VMC. As a largely non-customisable product this type of machine is a new departure for Mills but there are high hopes for its success. Visitors to MACH next year will be able to take a closer look.

Finally, for this article at least, is the DNM 6700XL with 2.1m X-axis. “We just taken delivery of one of these in our showroom,” says Mr Dale. “It’ll be on show at our October open house.”

Moving away from machines for a moment: also hot off the press from DIMF is the announcement of CUFOS, a new, customisable, app-based front end control interface offering enhanced 3D graphics and a variety of useful functions like machine collision avoidance. It’ll also be on show at MACH 2020.

CUFOS is an acronym for Customised User-Friendly Flexible Operating System and will be available on Puma SMX turning centres, NHP series HMCs, Puma TT series lathes and DVF 5-axis machines.

Open for business


We’ve already mentioned Mills’ forthcoming open house which takes place from 9-10 October. The theme ‘Another giant leap’ doffs a cap to the fact that this year is the 50th anniversary of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s historic moon landing.

“50 years ago Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the surface of the moon and it represented the pinnacle of human and technological achievement,” Mr Dale says. “In a similar vein, our open house in October represents Doosan’s and Mills’ own technological advancements – from the newly established Mills CNC Automation Division through to our recent in-house refurbishments and new machine tool technology.”

Under the spotlight will be an AutoMill industrial robot system integrated with a Doosan DNM 4500 vertical machining centre and a number of Doosan Robotics’ collaborative robots performing a range of machine tool tending operations. There will also be a series of seminars focusing on automation.

From a machine tool perspective, Mills will showcase no less than 15 Doosan machines at the event with four making their UK debuts fresh from DIMF.

We touched on some of these earlier but the new line-up comprises: Puma TT1300SYY and Puma 2100SYY twin spindle, twin turret, twin Y-axis turning centres; the large capacity DNM 6700XL equipped with a 2.1m X-axis; and the new DVF5000 5-axis machine with integrated automatic workpiece changer (AWC).

Also worthy of note is Mills’ CNC Training Academy’s recent agreement with US-based BobCAD-CAM to become an authorised reseller of, and recognised trainer for, its advanced CAD/CAM software systems in the UK and Ireland. The power, flexibility and sophistication of BobCAD-CAM software will be demonstrated at the open house.

The sweet smell of success


It’s clear that Mills CNC’s success is down to a combination of things – effective management, a willingness to invest in the business, knowledgeable staff and an all-encompassing approach to supporting its customer base.

But another factor is the wide appeal of its machines to a broad range of customers. With such a colossal product portfolio there really is something for everyone. At one end of the spectrum, Mills is a tier one membership of the AMRC in Sheffield, getting involved with prestigious work like high-end Boeing-initiated aerospace research projects.

At the other end, Mills is helping one man bands and SMEs become more productive and profitable. Its customer base is as diverse as its product range.

Mills CNC www.millscnc.co.uk

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MIlls CNC

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