Opening up new levels of turning production 

To reduce costs, improve productivity and precision, the Ashbourne-Derbyshire based company has invested in its first sliding head turning centre, a Tornos CT 20.

The family owned business is a subcontract specialist with more than10 CNC turning and machining centres from Biglia, Mori Seiki and Kia machines that supply precision components to the motorsport, hydraulic, home fitness and general engineering sectors. However, more than 50% of the business is focused on its own 'Autovent' brand of window opening devices. It is here that the Tornos CT 20 is slashing production times.

James Bayliss, managing director, says: "We realised that we needed to invest in new technology and sliding head lathes had been on our radar for a long time. We met the leading suppliers at MACH 2016 and quickly realised that the flexibility and fast set-up times of sliding heads was a mile apart from the myth of long set-up times and limited flexibility. We needed a machine to produce a family of up to 10 different parts and it was Tornos that had by far the best package for our needs."

Bayliss Precision opted for the 20mm bar capacity Tornos CT 20. With five linear axes, two C-axes, two independent tool systems and 26 tool positions that are configured on modular tooling platens. The twin-spindle turning machine with a Fanuc CNC control fitted the bill and company budget.

With 25 core Autovent product ranges being produced to an annual quantity of more than 80,000 units, Tornos was first invited to run trial parts prior to machine purchase.

“We gave them eight trial parts and they slashed the cycle times by almost 50% on all eight,” Mr Bayliss affirms. “We then made the decision to order the CT 20 machine which was installed in November. The benefits have already been huge in a short period of time.”

Bayliss Precision wanted the new machine for a number of reasons. Firstly, the company was subcontracting out up to £40,000 of turned parts each year. The Tornos CT 20 has immediately provided the company with the capacity to bring this work back in-house, making a significant financial saving whilst giving the company greater control over its inventory. In the process, the new machine has also replaced two aging machines and freed-up valuable floor space.

"We are using the it to manufacture six different types of brass gland for our Autovent system,” Mr Bayliss explains. “Each of these different parts are produced in batches from 500 to 10,000 with an overall quantity of more than 70,000 a year per part type.

“The design of the Tornos means the cutting tools are close to the workpiece, the traverse times are faster to reduce non-cutting times and with an extremely rigid design, we can push the machine very hard. The result is that machining times for parts has been cut from three minutes to one minute for complex parts whilst more simplistic components are turned out in 30 seconds instead of 1.5 minutes. Throughout the factory there are regular jobs that used to have an output of 200 to 300 parts a day; the Tornos has doubled this productivity."

From a productivity perspective, the cycle times are only one element of how the new sliding head machine benefits Bayliss. With a 3m barfeed and high-pressure coolant integrated into the machine, tool life and swarf evacuation has significantly improved and these elements permit lights-out machining.

“We set the Tornos in the evening and it will run lights-out until the morning,” Mr Bayliss states. “On more than one occasion, we have set the CT 20 and let it run non-stop for over 24 hours. For a subcontract manufacturer this is priceless, as it improves productivity, profitability and capacity. In fact, it has freed up capacity from some of our other fixed head turning centres, giving us more capacity across the shopfloor.”

With a variation of parts running through the Tornos CT 20, the set-up times have impressed the subcontract manufacturer.

Mr Bayliss continues: "Our fixed head CNC turning centres will take one to two hours to set-up for each job and despite the common misconception surrounding set-up times on sliding head machines, the Tornos matches those of our fixed head machines. In many instances, the it is faster, as it has tool platens that are configured for almost all our parts.

“We also specified the CT 20 with a Fanuc CNC control as all our machines run that control, so the operators were instantly familiar with setting. Furthermore, the work area is very easy for the operator to access and this further enhances machine setting times."

He concludes: “We are delighted with the Tornos CT 20 and also the service and support from the company. The flexibility and setting times have been a real eye-opener for us.”

TORNOS www.tornos.com

BAYLISS PRECISION COMPONENTS www.baylissautovents.co.uk