Two recently installed multi-axis mill-turn centres at a precision engineering company are being used to machine complex, high-precision parts with fewer set-ups and in less time.

Precision Engineers - Slack and Parr - has recently invested in two Doosan Daewoo MX 2000ST multi-axis mill-turn centres supplied by Mills Manufacturing Technology, UK. The two new machines, installed at the company's Kegworth plant in January 2007, take the total number of Doosan Daewoo machine tools purchased by Slack and Parr to an impressive nineteen. These latest investments have also tripled the number of MX mill-turn centres Slack and Parr has at its disposal.

(The company's first MX machine was delivered in October 2005).

All three of the company's MX mill-turn centres are being used to machine complex, high-precision parts - and are helping the company improve its productivity and maintain its competitive edge.

Slack and Parr managing director Richard Hallsworth said: 'We operate in highly-competitive global markets and sectors'.

'Making strategic investments in the latest and most advanced machine tool technologies (like the MX machines) is crucial, helping us become more efficient and productive.' He explained: 'The MX machines enable us to benefit from 'one-hit' machining - and that means better machine tool utilisation, reduced direct manufacturing time and resources, fewer set ups; less production bottlenecks; quicker throughput...and higher quality too - as risks of errors between individual machine operations is eliminated.' * About Slack and Parr - Slack and Parr was established in 1917 and was first involved in the manufacture of parts for the growing UK motorcycle industry.

Since then the company over 90 years has 're-invented' itself and diversified its business activities considerably.

Today Slack and Parr has three core business and manufacturing areas of concern.

1 - The design, manufacture, assembly, sales/distribution and service of its own high precision gear metering pumps primarily used in the man-made fibre industry.

2 - The manufacture of high-precision components for the aerospace and F1 sectors.

3 - The design and manufacture of precision hydraulic rotary flow dividers used extensively in agricultural, construction, materials handling equipment, etc.

Today the company employs 200 people at its Kegworth facility.

* Core business and the MX 2000ST machines - Slack and Parr's MX machines are being used to manufacture the following.

i) Components for the company's Gear metering Pumps.

ii) high-precision (sub-contract) complex aerospace/F1 components.

* Precision Gear Metering Pumps - Slack and Parr's Precision Gear Metering Pumps have an international reputation for quality and this part of the business accounts for over 70% of the company's turnover.

Slack and Parr gear pumps (e g, Planetary Pumps; Polymer Metering Pumps; Spandex Metering Pumps and Spin Finish Oil Pumps, etc) are mainly used in the man-made fibre industry.

Operating 'around the clock' (24/7) in high temperatures (up to 300 deg C) - the critical success factors for Slack and Parr's gear pump customers are reliability and achieving very accurate and consistent flow rates.

Anything less than guaranteed 100% performance by the pumps will affect the quality of the product (Spandex, Lycra, Aramid, PET, PA6 etc) and create downtime in the manufacturing process.

To safeguard the quality and performance of its pumps and constituent components - and to make its own manufacturing processes and systems more efficient and robust - Slack and Parr has invested in its second (for this part of the business) MX 2000ST machine.

Continued Hallsworth: 'The MX machines are used to machine complex planetary pump plates from tool steels.

These machining operations occur prior to heat treatment and accuracies of +/-0.025mm are required.

In the past (prior to MX machine installation) most of the operations involved in manufacturing the plates were performed on our horizontal and vertical machining centres.

This method required three separate machine setups (machining both faces and then angle drilling) and manufacturing time per plate was about 40 minutes.' He added: 'With the MX machines - the plates are completed in a single setup and we have reduced the time taken to complete each part down to 20 minutes.

When you consider that we are making something in the region of 8,000 - 10,000 plates per year it's clear the productivity gains we are making.' * Precision component manufacture - aerospace and F1 - Slack and Parr provides high-precision subcontract manufacturing services to a range of clients in the aerospace and F1 sectors.

This side of the company's business accounts for approximately 25% of the company's turnover.

A new MX 2000ST machine has been installed specifically to machine these complex, high-precision and high-value parts.

The parts - typically used in jet engines and aircraft landing gear - are made from a variety of materials - aluminium, titanium, exotics, etc.

and are required in small, medium and large volumes depending on customer order schedules.

Said Hallsworth: 'The aerospace sector is highly competitive and to survive (and grow) within it - we need access to the most productive machines on the market.

High-precision parts that can be produced in less time to the highest quality standards mean that we are able to compete anywhere, and with anyone in the world.

That explains why we have made the investment and why we have a dedicated MX machine for this part of our operation.' * About Slack and Parr and Mills Manufacturing Technology - Slack and Parr and Mills Manufacturing Technology have a business relationship that goes back to 1998.

Over the last 9 years Slack and Parr has invested heavily in machine tool technology from Mills - lathes, vertical machining centres, twin-turret/twin spindle turning centres, etc.

Concluded Hallsworth: 'We are always on the look-out for technology that can give us the edge'.

'The price: performance ratio of the MX machines is second to none - and, through our long-established relationship with Mills, we know we can rely on their help, expertise and product support.' * About the MX 2000ST/2500ST machines - MX multi-axis mill-turn machines are available in two sizes.

The MX machines have a working bar capacity of 65/76mm and are equipped with powerful 22/26kW, 5,000 or 3,500 rev/min turning spindles (left and right).

These spindles have built-in motors that provide high torque output and high accuracy turning capability.

The B-axis rotation of the milling spindle (240 deg rotation, 0.001 deg increment) allows the machining of complex angled features.

The Y-axis (+/-80mm stroke) provides the facility of milling and drilling across centre line, such as contour milling of keyways and cross milling of flat surfaces.

The milling spindle uses Sandvik Capto C6 tooling and produces 18.5kW and 10,000 rev/min with coolant through the spindle up to 70 bar pressure.

The MX machines have a large non-lift servo-driven 12-station, driven-tool bottom turret providing 5.5kW and 4000 rev/min.

Fast rotation (0.2s index time) helps customers reduce machine cycle times.

This turret can be used simultaneously with the upper milling spindle to further reduce cycle times.

To increase productivity still further - the MX machines have a 40-position (80 optional) automatic tol changer with tool pre-select that uses Sandvik Capto C6 modular tooling - achieving 1.5s tool-to-tool changeover times.

The machines are equipped with a Fanuc 18i TB control including a comprehensive control option package as standard.

The control is user-friendly with a high level of diagnostics available to the operator, and offers the highest level of reliability that customers have come to expect from the latest Fanuc technology.