Advanced CNC lathe defeats overseas competition

An advanced, CNC lathe has transformed the capability of a small engineering company, so that it is now regularly beating a major Japanese OEM in the competitive replacement machine parts market.
An advanced, British-built Harrison Alpha 1350S lathe has transformed the capability of a small, family-run Staffordshire engineering company, so that it is now taking on - and regularly beating - a major Japanese OE manufacturer in the highly competitive market for replacement machine parts. MPD Engineering of Tamworth, which was formed just five years ago and named after husband-and-wife team, Melanie and Paul Johnson and their eight-year-old son, Devon, was supplied with the two-axis CNC/manual flatbed lathe by Harrison main distributor, Datamach of Coventry. With its 350mm swing, highly sophisticated, yet simple-to-operate touchscreen control based on the successful GE Fanuc 21i-T computerized control system, the Harrison Alpha 1350s has enabled MPD Engineering to achieve significantly better finished results in a fraction of the time taken by its original manual lathe.

'It has made the work so much quicker and an enormous difference to our turnaround times.

We got rid of our old manual lathe after two days with the Harrison.

With the level of work we are now taking on, we would never have been able to keep up.

The speed which we achieve with this machine is clearly the way forward for our company and the standard of finish is unreal.

It is far better than before,' says MPD Engineering Director, Paul Johnson.

He said the company specializes in three distinct market sectors, namely bronze pump gears and stainless steel shafts and regulators for ice-cream mobile dispensing equipment used in ice-cream vans and, secondly, repairs and refurbishment for the plastic injection-moulding industry, including producing lathe-turned sprue bushes for food packaging systems.

But it is in the third category - supplying replacement transmission parts, including gears and sprockets to a range of industrial equipment operators such as fork-lift operators, where MPD Engineering is able to make precise new geared drives, that the company's fortunes have perhaps been boosted most of all by the Harrison Alpha 1350S.

Johnson explains: 'One of our fastest-growing markets is customers with Japanese equipment producing spiral wire for the automotive industry.

Replacement gearbox parts for these machines can take up to four weeks, or even longer, to ship here from Japan.

'Now, with the new lathe we are able to supply them with replacement parts, usually the conical gears in the gearbox, the planet ring and the sun wheel, much more cheaply and much quicker than they could get them before.

It's a sign that more manufacturers are turning to home-based engineering suppliers like ourselves for reliability and value for money.' The Alpha 1350S forms part of Harrison's popular, state-of-the-art S1000 series of CNC/manual lathes, available in five models with up to a maximum 800mm swing.

The S1000 series incorporates the flexibility, speed and ease-of-use of a fully computer-controlled lathe with the extra advantage of easy manual turning.

It is especially suitable for producing reliable, precise medium and high volume turned parts, in semi-automatic or full CNC modes.

A major new feature of the S1000's control capability is its Manual Guide System - a touchscreen accessible cutting programme enabling the full generation of simple cutting profiles and complex automatic programmes to be carried out directly at the machine.

A teach facility is also available, allowing hand wheel-initiated moves to be recorded as a programme and re-run automatically after completion of the first component, while all new programmes generated can be stored to memory for later use or saved to the integral AlphaLink software.

Additionally, all programmes generated in this comprehensive 'Cycle Cutting' mode can be converted to a full CNC programme.

The Alpha range also incorporates a semi-automatic machining capability for stops, taper turning and automatic thread cutting, plus an off-line CAD/CAM machining facility.

One of the heaviest, most powerful lathes in its class, the Alpha S1000S series combines excellent cutting performance and rigidity with quality design and manufacturing for the highest standard of repeatability and long life.

Their high-precision machine beds are hardened to 450 Brinnel prior to grinding, while a PTFE-based (moglice) material is used in key areas for low friction and wear on slides.

All Alpha S1000 lathes use high precision ballscrews, ground and pre-loaded for high accuracy, minimum friction and low maintenance.