Contact machining company said it is able o program a Star CNC sliding-head lathe on the shop floor in half the time that it takes to program other makes of CNC sliding head automatics.

Ronnie Denton, works manager of contract machinists, NICC Precision, said he is able to program a Star sliding-head lathe on the shop floor in half the time that it takes to program other makes of 'slider' at their Bradford, UK, works. It is one of the main reasons that he has ordered a Star SV-32 for delivery in October 2006. He only has to prepare two programs, one for the main spindle and another for the opposed spindle, the two programs being easier to synchronise than the three that have to be written for 'sliders' (sliding head automatic lathes) requiring separate details for the turret movements.

Moreover, he can program the Star off-line on any PC using Windows Notepad, without the need for bespoke software.

The Star's Fanuc control synchronises the program after the data has been uploaded.

Great importance is placed on speed of programming because only three fifths of throughput at the Bradford factory is repeat work, so for the remainder of components, new programs have to be written.

Average batch size is only 300- to 500-off, and sometimes as low as 100-off, so it is essential to program quickly, as it often accounts for a high proportion of overall production time.

'The Fanuc control is more like the CNC you find on a fixed-head lathe, and is more user friendly,' commented Denton.

'In my opinion it is far ahead of other controls - it does exactly what you want it to do and it is very responsive to key strokes, unlike some other CNC systems.' NICC Precision is a user of fixed-head lathes for work over 32mm diameter, which accounts for about 20% of turning at the Bradford factory.

A typical production route for components might involve between three and five operations requiring manual intervention between each, including transfer to a machining centre.

Sliders, on the other hand, are able to produce similarly complicated parts in one hit practically every time, despite the average complexity of NICC Precision's jobs being 6 or 7 on a scale of 1 to 10.

Half of components machined requires dedicated back-end machining, not just de-pipping, and a similar proportion undergoes live tool work.

Denton added that without sliding-head technology, he would have to turn down many jobs he receives, as it would be uneconomic to turn and mill them conventionally.

Such components are now completely machined in typically the same time as it would take just to turn them on a 3-axis, fixed-head lathe.

It allows NICC Precision to offer a fast turnaround on orders, which is important in today's just-in-time manufacturing environment.

NICC was established over 20 years ago to serve the North Sea industry, although its first manufacturing facility, NICC Precision, is a relatively recent venture, having been formed in 2004 to bring some work in-house that was previously subcontracted.

The firm has since expanded its operations to encompass non-group work in the medical industry, which accounts for 40% of turnover, as well as in the instrumentation sector and in machine repair, where customers are especially appreciative of the fast service that NICC Precision can provide using its sliding-headstock lathes.

As a postscript, Denton commented that he was one of the first ever users of Star machines back in the late 1980s, when he was working at Schneider Electric, formerly Yorkshire Switchgear.

The three Star KNC lathes he operated there were later sold and all three machines are still producing parts today.