Although predominantly a user of CNC sliding head automatics, a machine shop recently purchased a Miyano BNJ-42SY turning centre to increase flexibility and respond to customer needs.

Meeting the needs of an increasingly changing marketplace requires considerable manufacturing flexibility - something Target Precision of Harlow knows only too well. Predominantly a sliding head lathe subcontractor, the company recently purchased a Miyano BNJ-42SY turning centre from Macro CNC to increase flexibility and respond to customer needs. The BTMA member has 11 sliding head turning centres, with a maximum capacity of 32mm diameter.

The addition of the Miyano BNJ-42SY turning centre now allows the company to machine complete parts in one-hit up to 42mm diameter.

Specialising in the high end aerospace, automotive, defence, electronic, medical and telecommunication industries, the ISO 9001 registered company placed its order for the machine at the EMO exhibition in Hanover, Germany in September.

Since the introduction of the new machine, Target Precision has expanded its capability and already grown its customer base.

Manufacturing manager at Target Precision, Dean Hayward comments: 'We had the machine delivered within weeks of the EMO exhibition and it has already proven a valuable asset to the company.

The majority of our turning centres are for small parts manufacture with the exception of a Citizen M32 sliding head machine that will manufacture up to 32mm diameter.

Since the arrival of the Miyano, we have freed up capacity on the 32mm machine and we have reduced our lead times for parts in the 30 to 42mm diameter range by two weeks.' For the process of machine selection, Target Precision specified a powerful and rigid machine that could be set-up quickly to produce short turnaround parts with small batch sizes.

The twin turret Miyano BNJ-42SY certainly met the criteria as Hayward continues: 'We looked at other machines in the market and did time trials with numerous parts and the Miyano came out top by a long way.

An example of a trialled part was a component that required letter rolling.

Competitor machines did not have the rigidity to successfully machine the part whilst the Miyano BNJ-42SY with Y-axis capability, not only completed the part, but reduced cycle times.

With batch runs from 100 to 700 parts plus - this was a considerable saving.' The successful production of this component demonstrated the power and rigidity of the 7-axis BNJ-42SY - both criteria of significant importance to Target Precision as it machines a considerable amount of stainless steel and other difficult to machine materials.

'Target Precision operates its facility lights out and the Miyano BNJ-42SY will fit this working ethos perfectly.

We are currently machining batches from 250 to 1000 with some runs of up to 5000 parts.

The Miyano will enable us to set the machine at the end of the day and leave it run throughout the night - whilst giving us the confidence and peace of mind that it will run at a highly productive rate,' says Hayward.

'As a company, Target is committed to investing in facilities that consistently enable us to deliver the highest levels of quality and service to our customers.

This most recent acquisition is further testament to our high level of customer support and service,' concludes Hayward.