Subcontractor Gets 5-Star Service From Sliding Head Lathe Supplier

Established in 1981 as a subcontract manufacturer specialising in the automotive, hydraulic and the agriculture sectors, Microplus Engineering Ltd has a history steeped in centreless grinding and fixed head turning expertise. When business grew and capacity demands increased, convention went out of the window and the company bought its first sliding head turning centre from Star Micronics.

With batch sizes continually growing, the company purchased its first Star machine in July 2007, a 20mm capacity SR-20R3. This alleviated capacity pressure and freed capacity on the Stourbridge Company’s fixed head lathe section. Absorbing the capacity pressure from larger machine tools for the first nine months, it soon became apparent that Microplus needed more capacity and larger diameter capability. The West Midlands Company bought a second Star machine, a SR-32J in June 2008. The success of the SR-32J noted the arrival of a third machine a couple of years later. Wind forward a decade and the company has once again invested in Star, a SR-38 Type B sliding head turning centre.

Commenting upon why the SR-38 Type B was chosen, Microplus Engineering Ltd Manager, Mr Adam Marshall said: “We bought this machine primarily for the extra bar capacity. It allows us to go up to 42mm diameter in non-guidebush mode. This is a huge advantage over what we can do on our existing 32mm machines. We are regularly processing parts just under the 42mm limit. The B-axis is another key feature of the machine as it can do angled cross milling and drilling. I can also use the B-axis for front and back working. The other big selling point for me was the Y2 axis on the back of the machine. This allows us to get 8 back-working tools working independently on the machine. It’s a cracking machine for the money and we’re really pleased with it.”

Precision is a critical factor

Not only has the acquisition trail of Star machines relieved pressure on the fixed head turning department, it’s also helped the grinding department. As Mr Marshall continues: “The machines have excellent thermal stability and can run continuously with little to zero deviation. We have one component that we produce three times a year that has three different diameters. We used to grind all three diameters. Now, we can hold these parts to a +/-6 microns tolerance across all three diameters on the Star machines. This certainly demonstrates how the company has evolved its production process since the introduction of Star machines.”

Flexibility has also proven a critical factor for Microplus, not only in the capability of its four machines to process everything from simple to complex parts but also the ability to run jobs across all four machines. “We use the Star NC Assist software for programming the machines off-line, which is then transferred to the respective machines via a memory card or USB stick. This easy-to-use package is common across all our Star machines and this allows us to chop and change parts between machines.”

Mr Marshall recalls a particular job that came in to the workshop. “I had to run a job over the Easter weekend and I ran the same job on all four machines 24/7 for the complete weekend. Star was remarkably supportive on this job. Kath at Star sorted the collets for the job and got them specially ground out as quickly as possible. This meant I could turn the job around in a weekend, making them ready for plating on the Tuesday morning. Without being able to machine the parts on all four machines, we would have been looking at 16-20 days production. The machines frequently run around the clock lights-out production and we run the machines for a minimum of 14.5 hours a day. If the jobs are suitable to run through the night we leave the machines to run unmanned.”

At present the subcontractor is making parts for everything from the hydraulic sector through to fire suppression parts and components for musical instruments. Whilst many of the parts are relatively low complexity, the company also conducts some pretty challenging projects with materials predominantly being 80% stainless steel and non-ferrous materials. More challenging components are allocated to the new SR-38 Type B machine. This 10-axis workhorse provides over 30 tool positions with driven tools running up to 6,000rpm and an intuitive user friendly FANUC 31i B5 CNC control unit.

Referring specifically to the capability of the SR-38, Mr Marshall says: “This flexibility is highlighted by a recent job where we used 22 tools on a single job that had a cycle time of just less than 8 minutes. I would hate to think how long that complex job would have taken to produce manually or without the Star SR-38 machine.”

First Class Service Commitment

As a customer that has purchased Star machines for over 10 years, Mr Marshall says: “I think they are a great company to deal with. I always get the right answers on the phone and they are always ready with the right support and advice. If we ever need spare parts, 99% of the time they are on my desk first thing the following morning. The support for the job we produced over the Easter period says everything about how far Star will go for its customers.”

“Added to this, the advancements in technology have been relentless and very beneficial. One example is the tool setting process. It is a lot easier on the modern machines. There are functions to bring the tool close to the bar diameter a lot faster and this reduces non-cutting time and it also takes a lot of operator error out of the equation. We have also invested in the new HFT technology for controlling swarf for lights-out production. Star always has the support and technology on hand for the modern machine shop,” concludes Mr Marshall.

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