Down south manufacturing

New machine has subcontractors in mind

With its ability to offer simultaneous 5-axis machining across multiple surfaces, Yamazaki Mazak will be showcasing its latest generation Variaxis j-500/5X multi-tasking machine at Southern Manufacturing.

The state-of-the-art machining centre combines a compact footprint with inherent versatility making it ideal for the variety of volume, small batch or prototype work commonly undertaken in the subcontracting sector.

The Variaxis j-500/5X delivers high accuracy and productivity from a wide A-axis spectrum of rotation (+30° to -120°). Excellent accuracy is guaranteed by its high rigidity structure, which utilises linear roller guides on all linear axes and roller gear cam on both rotary axes.

Most importantly, the Variaxis is equipped with SmoothX, the 5-axis version of Mazak’s Smooth Technology, claimed by the manufacturer to be the world’s fastest CNC. SmoothX includes a 19-inch touchscreen control panel, and has the capability to deliver a complete solution, from programming and cycle times through to automation integration, data collection and ergonomics.

Mazak is a regular attendee at Southern Manufacturing, and the Variaxis j-500/5X is the latest in a long line of cutting-edge machine tool technology exhibited by the manufacturer at the Farnborough-based exhibition.

Alan Mucklow, managing director UK and Ireland Sales Division at Yamazaki Mazak, commented: “Southern Manufacturing is the premier UK subcontracting trade show, and has always been a key date in our diary allowing us to showcase Mazak’s latest generation of machine tools to a sector which provides the backbone to UK manufacturing.”

He continues: “The Variaxis j-500/5X sets new standards for multi-tasking machines and is designed to deliver high-speed, high-accuracy machining continuously, ensuring maximum ease of operation for the machinist. The Variaxis will be in live cutting action for the duration of the show and we look forward to demonstrating the machine’s capabilities to those subcontractors looking to make a step-change in their machining operations.”

Yamazaki Mazak www.mazakeu.co.uk
Stand Q122

Software showcase at Southern

At Southern Manufacturing, ERP software specialist, Worcestershire-based MIE Solutions UK will be showcasing its MIETrak Pro MRP and Production control software. Its comprehensive non-modular product is specifically aimed at all manufacturing sectors.

MIETrak Pro is an all-encompassing MRP software solution that will bring all production processes together from start to finish ensuring no stone is left unturned. At the front end, there are functions for Quotations and Estimating and the other end of the process, Shipping and Invoicing.

What happens in the middle really brings MIETrak Pro to life and includes: Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Sales Order Processing, Job Card/Works Order generation, MRP, Purchasing, Shop Floor Data Capture, Inventory/Stock Control, Production Control, Capacity Planning, Quality Assurance (for ISO 9001 and other quality systems), Scheduling, Repair and Maintenance, Time Clock Management, Costing and Reporting, and Human Resources (HR). MIETrak Pro will also export data into a variety of accounting packages if required.

MIETrak Pro will ensure total visibility, allowing businesses to increase profit margins, reduce administration, utilise productivity and efficiency. It is cost-effective, easy to use, install, and implement and backed by a world class support network.

MIE Solutions UK www.mie-solutions.co.uk
Stand P67

Complete capability

Mollart Engineering will focus on presenting ‘Process is our Profession’ as its subcontract manufacturing capability theme at Southern Manufacturing exhibition with selected component samples from aerospace and defence, automotive, oil and gas, subsea, mould and die, nuclear, medical, semiconductor and telecommunications sectors.

Typical parts produced using multi-axis CNC machining technology and assembled, when required, in a new ISO 7 cleanroom facility will be displayed, along with a range of Botek deep hole drilling tools plus specialist tooling products covering roller burnishing, grooving, spotfacing, surface finishing and hole deburring.

Says exhibition stand manager Mark Dore: “Our engineers will be available to discuss our ‘one-stop’ shop’s complete chain of process capabilities. These include pre-production development and prototyping, through fabrication and machining to final assembly and testing undertaken to standards that include AS9100 Rev C accreditation.”

Mollart www.mollart.com
Stand Q140

Tools for high productivity

Manufacturer of high quality threading, grooving and deburring tools for the metals and plastics industries, Vargus UK will launch new product solutions from its stand at Southern Manufacturing.

“Over the last few years Vargus has focused its efforts on developing new solutions that address the ever-changing needs and requirements of our customers,” states Vargus president, Harry Ehrenberg.

“This year we are presenting an impressive range of new products that are both efficient and effective. We have also engaged in an extensive expansion program to increase our presence and competitiveness in a number of emerging global markets. Since 2012, Vargus Ltd has opened new subsidiaries in Scandinavia, India, Spain, Portugal and Brazil. Our rationale is to provide both high quality products and expand the service and technical support we provide our customers in all of the markets where our products are sold,” he adds.

On display from the company’s Vardex line will be: the F-Line fixed clamping system featuring innovative design features such as an anti-rotation stopper for 100% insert immobility and system rigidity, providing highly precise thread profile perpendicularity, high profile accuracy, excellent surface finishes and extended tool life.

Standard gear milling inserts: available from stock and flexibly designed to meet the needs of a wide range of applications; Solid carbide gear milling tools: for applications that require cutting close to the shoulder; two new shell mill toolholders; with smaller cutting diameters for those applications where the geometry of the component to be milled places constraints on the gear-milling tool diameter; and full profile TMSD inserts: for extended tool life and excellent surface finish in deep-hole thread milling.

Also showcased from Vargus’ Groovex range will be VG-Cut – a highly versatile external turning system with all-new toolholders and chip-forming inserts for parting off, grooving and threading between shoulders or close to spindles, profiling and undercut.

Vargus www.vargusuk.co.uk
Stand S98

Hold on

Corsham-based specialist toolholding and allied equipment supplier Gewefa UK is making its Southern Manufacturing debut at the 2017 event.

Gewefa is one of Europe’s leading toolholding developers and manufacturers and its UK company offers a comprehensive range, including products from EWS, Pibomulti, OTT-Jakob, Nann and Rineck.

Products from these suppliers extend the range of Gewefa spindle nose tooling into driven tools, speeders and angle heads, heat shrink clamping, spindle monitoring equipment and one of the world’s largest ranges of collets.

Specific products on display at the event will include the two latest Gewefa innovations – the Securlok universal tool clamping solution with the Venturi coolant system and the Grindtec zero run-out toolholder.

The ‘Securlok’ concept is a tool clamping solution that incorporates safety and adjustment features from three of its proven designs plus the innovative Venturi coolant delivery capability.

It has been designed primarily for aerospace applications where arduous, precision machining using challenging materials is becoming increasingly commonplace. By combining the established features of a hydraulic toolholder with ultra-safe Gewefa Securlok clamping, the side accessed precision Radax adjuster and now the coolant feature, Gewefa believes it has created a truly winning combination.

The Grindtec hydro chuck extends the range of standard and special purpose hydraulic toolholders into applications for bespoke tool grinding machines.

A key feature is an adjustment mechanism that enables compensation of the run out at the tip of the (clamped) cutter to zero tolerance, eliminating run out errors between the tool tip and the spindle. This is achieved by adjusting three screws located in a ring fitted around the toolholder body. The cutter shank is therefore ‘fine-tuned’ to achieve zero accuracy of its position at a distance 100mm from the ring.

Also featured will be the recently introduced Gewefa HydroPin single point boring bar toolholder. This Gewefa derived toolholder utilises the proven tool grip features of a hydraulic chuck with the added advantage of guaranteeing fixed orientation when positioning the bar.

Gewefa www.gewefa.co.uk
Stand P7

Four brands at Southern

The 2017 releases of Vero Software’s Edgecam, Radan and Visi CAD/CAM brands – along with the Javelin production control system – will feature at the show.

Edgecam’s new Tombstone module for assembling pre-existing parts on a defined mounting device is expected to prove particularly popular to visitors. A simple dialog window enables users to add pre-machined part files, specifying the positions they are to be mounted on a tombstone or other multi-component workholding device. Once they are assembled, Edgecam automatically merges and rationalises all machining sequences by tool or index position and optimises the NC output into sub-routines. This new feature offers significant time savings, as users no longer have to manually carry out the load, insert, merge and rationalize commands.

There are just under 50 items of new and enhanced functionality in Edgecam 2017 R1, covering turning, milling, wire EDM, machine configurations, and user experience.

CAD updates in Visi 2017 R1 are focusing on the user experience and adding enhancements to allow customers to speed up the design process. Examples include: speed improvement to the picking process with support for dynamic ‘drag & drop’; dynamic zoom to and from an area on the screen by holding down the space bar; intelligent chaining for joining wireframe elements together; and single right hand mouse click to confirm commands, instead of ticking a box with a keystroke.

And for Visi’s CAM users, an update to geometry management means individual pieces are no longer limited by a specific project providing greater freedom in picking the piece, obstacle or stock, allowing any combination. This is also used for picking faces and face lists, all managed in a more user-friendly interface, and driven inside the operation itself. Everything is now linked to the operation, not the project, and all geometry is managed interactively, picking the specific pieces or faces that we want to machine.

The 2017 release of sheetmetal CAD/CAM software, Radan, addresses the danger of scrap flying off, sliding under the sheet, or damaging the tools on punching machines, by flagging up where floating scrap will occur. It also configures punch presses with all available cutting tools, so that new customers have commonly used tools immediately available. Also, improved algorithms have led to an important enhancement of Radan’s powerful nesting capabilities to achieve a better fit, and therefore, a potentially better material yield.

Major advances in Vero’s powerful Javelin production control system lead to significant time savings in CNC machining operations. Javelin’s Advanced Scheduling function can work to the nearest second, giving an accurate sequence of operations instead of the daily capacity bucket in earlier releases. The more accurate planning that is now available can save up to half an hour a day on each work centre.

Vero Software www.verosoftware.com
Stand R86

Machines for all applications

There will be lots to see and discuss on the XYZ Machine Tools stand.

In addition to a number of its machine tools being on the stand and under power, visitors will also be able to discuss visiting XYZ’s Devon headquarters to see the newly added XYZ LR range of linear rail vertical machining centres and the XYZ UMC-5X The Challenger, XYZ’s first gantry-type fully simultaneous 5-axis machining centre.

As always XYZ Machine Tools’ display will highlight the versatility within its range, which extends from manual training lathes and grinders through to the new UMC-5X machining centre, to appeal to a broad sector of enterprises from one-man bands, engineering training centres and colleges and blue chip companies. On show will be a cross section of the range including the XYZ SMX3500 bed mill, an XYZ SLX 355 lathe and the XYZ 2-OP vertical machining centre, all of which benefit from the ProtoTRAK control system. Alongside these will be the Siemens controlled XYZ 710 VMC and CT52 turning centre.

The ProtoTRAK control system on the SMX 3500, SLX 355 and 2-OP provides simplicity and ease of use due to a wide range of conversational cycles, making it ideal for one-off and small batch quantities. The control can be operated without any knowledge of CNC, with operators producing parts with minimal training. Combined with the control the XYZ bed mills and SLX lathes provide a robust machining platform with solid Meehanite cast bases, Turcite-B coated bedways on the mills, and extra wide vee and flat bedways on the SLX lathes.

The XYZ 2-OP has proved popular due to its versatility allowing users to rethink how they maximise available spindle time. This compact, but adaptable VMC is designed to be portable, bringing cellular manufacturing to virtually any machine shop. The cycle time savings resulting from using the XYZ 2-OP in this fashion are significant due to it freeing up more expensive machine tool capacity from pre- or secondary operation work, maximising spindle and labour hours.

The XYZ 710 VMC vertical machining centre and an XYZ Compact Turn 52 turning centre are among the most popular Siemens-controlled machines sold by XYZ. The XYZ VMC range shares several common features that highlight its high-quality manufacture, namely the use of solid Meehanite castings featuring extra wide induction hardened box slideways with Turcite-B coatings for added rigidity and performance. Standard specification of the VMC range includes an 8,000rpm, 20hp spindle, with feedrates up to 20m/minute in all axes.

The Compact Turn 52 is the smallest turning centre in the extensive range of CNC turning available from XYZ with a footprint of just 1,700mm by 1,450mm in its standard form. However, it still provides a powerful machining platform through its 5,000rpm, 20hp spindle and axis travels of 185mm and 325mm (X and Z), with rapid traverse rates of 20m/minute

XYZ Machine Tools www.xyzmachinetools.com
Stand S122