Growth and efficiency drive need for five-axis machining

Investment Casting Systems, which provides a mix of toolmaking and injection moulding services to customers has seen turnover increase by 51 per cent over the past 3 years with forecast growth of 40 per cent to year ending 2019. This growth combined with planned future expansion that will double existing floorspace has created a need for even greater manufacturing efficiency.  As part of this efficiency drive, the company has purchased its first five-axis machining centre, a UMC-5X from XYZ Machine Tools.

“We started investigating purchasing a five-axis machining centre about 18 months ago,” says Investment Casting Systems’ Technical Director, James Head. “Initially we were looking at machines with up to 2M table capacity, but our customer profile changed, which meant we didn’t need such large capacity, which opened the door to the XYZ UMC-5X with its 600 mm diameter trunnion rotary table and 600 mm axis travels in the X and Y axes.” The move to simultaneous five-axis machining immediately brought the benefit that Investment Casting Systems was looking for, increased efficiency. The very first job that went on to the XYZ UMC-5X was a complex bolster for an injection mould tool that required machining on all six faces. Using existing three-axis machines would have required six set-ups, this was reduced to two on the XYZ UMC-5X. The result was a saving of 60 per cent in manufacturing time, elimination of any potential inconsistencies from multiple set-ups and, by making use of a fixture plate all faces were machined from they same datum point.

“This first experience proved we had made the right decision in going to five-axis to gain efficiency in manufacturing,” says James Head. “We have seen similar time savings as we have progressed. Making this move we knew it would be a steep learning curve, more so with the offline programming element as our CAM system didn’t have a post processor available. XYZ worked with VISI to develop the post processor we needed on-site. In terms of operating the machine itself, there were no issues as our Tool Makers took to the Siemens control straight away, with minimal training over two days at XYZ’s factory in Burlescombe. In terms of the overall integration of five-axis into our system we recognised that that we just had to start thinking in a different way, approaching jobs with a fresh mindset and accepting the challenges and possibilities that five-axis presented.”

The XYZ UMC-5X was introduced to the UK during 2017 and while there are over 200 installations across Europe, any concerns about being one of the first customers in the UK were put to one side due to Investment Casting Systems’ previous experience with XYZ Machine Tools. They currently have 13 XYZ machines ranging from ProTURN lathes through to the XYZ 1060HS high speed vertical machining centre. “Our company policy is to laser calibrate every machine tool every two years, in order to maintain accuracy. Most recently we calibrated the 1060HS machine and the report came back saying it was within 6 micron on the y-axis and less than 5 micron on the x and z axes, which is how it came out of the factory 11 years ago. This quality of machine build gave us the confidence that the UMC-5X would be no different. We are finding that the accuracy of the XYZ UMC-5X matches what other machine suppliers are promising but at a significant cost advantage when comparing specifications.”