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Doosan boring machine - Express Engineering

Story added 07 September 2009.

Leading precision subcontractor Express Engineering Ltd has recently invested in a new, large capacity Doosan horizontal machining centre supplied by Mills CNC.
 
The machine, a HM 1250, was installed at the Company’s Gateshead facility in June 09 and is being used to manufacture large, complex parts predominantly for the oil and gas, power generation and aerospace sectors…and will help spearhead Express Engineering’s drive to secure contracts from the renewable energy market.

The HM 1250 is a large, powerful machining centre equipped with a BT 50 37kW 6,000rpm spindle (3- speed gearbox), and ultra-rigid wrap-around box-ways delivering high-accuracy, optimum metal removal rates and superior surface finishes. The machine is designed to handle big and heavy workpieces on each of its twin pallets (up to 3000kg in weight and 2000mm diameter).
 
The decision made by Express to invest in the HM 1250 machine reflects the Company’s drive and ambition to maintain its position as one of the UK’s premier subcontractors specialising in the manufacture of large, high-precision, complex parts.
 
The purchase of the Doosan machine is also an integral element of a massive on-going 3 year £3.5M expansion programme (in plant, equipment and people) that has helped (and is helping) Express significantly increase its manufacturing capabilities and capacity.

Expansion is the key
 
Says Nigel Davison, Express Engineering’s Managing Director:
‘We see our future growth and prosperity contingent on our ability to manufacture large complex parts and in developing and strengthening our position in specific sector supply chains (oil and gas, aerospace etc.).
‘But to achieve these objectives, and to maintain our competitive advantage, we knew we had to implement a number of strategic and significant changes to our business. 
‘The first of these was to increase the size of our facility to cater for the new, larger machine tools we knew we needed, and to allow us to develop (and provide) new, in-house (often turnkey) services to customers such as -: Hydraulic Pressure Testing, Clean-Room Assembly and Hot-Wire Tig Weld Cladding.’
Phase 1 of Express Engineering’s expansion programme, costing £2M, has now been completed – and has resulted in the Company having a new factory at its disposal adjacent to its existing purpose built facility.
Continues Nigel Davison:

‘The increase in floor space to 50,000sq ft has made us more efficient and more productive. We were operating at full capacity – we now have room to grow.’
 
Express has capitalised on its increased space by reconfiguring and streamlining its manufacturing operations.
 
Dedicated manufacturing cells have been created (the company has a dedicated 5-axis cell comprising 3 x 5-axis machines). Access to machines and transferring parts between machines has been improved and work throughput has increased as a consequence. And extra space has been made available to house the Company’s new and existing large-capacity machines, and its 3 new Fronius Hot-Wire Tig welding rigs.
 
But Express Engineering’s expansion plans are not merely about ergonomics or aesthetics.
 
An integral part of Phase 1 was also to increase the Company’s manufacturing capacity and capabilities – and that involved a strategic review of its machine tools and manufacturing processes and systems. 
Says Nigel Davison: 
‘The review identified the need to replace one of our existing horizontal machines which was becoming unreliable, causing production bottlenecks to occur. 
‘We decided to replace it with a bigger capacity machine to allow us to manufacture larger and heavier components.’ 
Deciding on the Doosan 
Once this decision was made, there followed an exhaustive search to the optimum machine tool solution, and machine tool supplier.  
Says Nigel Davison:  
‘The machine we were looking for needed to satisfy a number of criteria.  
‘Because we work with hard and difficult-to-machine materials (Alloy Steels, Duplex, Titanium, Stainless, Inconel-clad components etc.), we needed a rigid machine with high-torque spindle capability to enable us to achieve fast stock removal and to meet our stringent geometric part accuracy and surface finish requirements (25 micron accuracy or less on milled pockets, bores etc., and Ra 0.8µm surface finish or better).  
‘To help improve productivity and increase our flexibility, and to help us machine bigger and heavier workpieces we wanted a machine with a twin-table configuration, and a machining (prismatic) envelope of 1.8m cube to match our turning capability.  
‘Although the HM 1250 is a relatively new machine (in terms of its availability in the UK), we have invested heavily over recent years in Doosan machine tools (mainly large-capacity, Puma lathes). We know that Doosan machines deliver the goods and that they represent excellent value for money.’  
An equally important consideration for Express was the machine tool manufacturer or agent supplying the machine.  
Continues Nigel Davison:  
‘We have a strong, well-developed relationship with Mills CNC. We like the service and technical support they provide, and have always appreciated their help and advice.’

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