UK mould maker invests in milling/EDM

Precision Moulds and Tools Services has invested in one new VCP 800W Duro EDM and four new HSM 800 high-speed milling machines supplied by GF AgieCharmilles.

Aylesbury, UK-based injection mould tool specialist, Precision Moulds and Tools Services (PM and T), has bought from GF AgieCharmilles one VCP 800W Duro EDM and four HSM 800 high-speed milling machines.

PM and T has installed four of the machine tools at the company's 10,000ft2 facility in Aylesbury and of the HSM 800 at its manufacturing facility in Sri Lanka.

All the machines produce parts for high-precision, complex and competitively-priced mould tools (from single impression to multi-impression and twin-shot tooling).

PM and T provides a total systems service to its customers including the design, manufacture and supply of complex, high-precision tooling while working in close cooperation with customers.

In doing so, PM and T develop and design products from concept and prototype tooling, through to single impression pre-production and multi impression production tooling.

In addition, rigorous pre-production testing and sampling will be extended over the next few months through a new 2,000ft2 in-house mould validation facility, with twin-shot and three-shot mouldinhg capability, which will be housed at its Aylesbury site.

PMandT's 'concept through to completion' business approach is not essentially unique - but it has helped differentiate the company from a significant proportion of its competitors.

* Technology investments - State-of-the-art EDM and wire EDM machines, housed in a fully temperature-controlled environment, have ensured that the company can meet (and exceed) its customer's quality (accuracy, surface finish, etc) and delivery requirements.

In 2006 PM and T invested in its first VCP 800W Duro and HSM 800 3-axis milling machine from GF AgieCharmilles.

Said PM and T managing director, Michael Rush: "The machines deliver excellent performance on speed, accuracy and surface finish.

We use these mainly for machining hardened (HRC 58) intricate and micro-feature cavity inserts".

He said that the speed of the HSM 800 (36,000 rev/min, high-torque spindle capability and 40m/min rapid feeds) and its ability to deliver surface finishes of 0.2 micron Ra, and positional accuracies of +/-5 micron, have enabled PM and T to rely less and less on its more-time-consuming EDM machines to achieve desired part quality and to ensure manufacturing lead times are met.

The machine has also eliminated the need, in many instances, for costly and time-intensive hand polishing of mould tools.

Rush added: "We were so impressed with our first HSM 800 that we recently invested in a further three machines".

* About PM and T - PM and T was established in 1991 by joint managing directors Michael Rush and Paul Newton.

At a time when many UK- and European-based toolmakers were contracting or diversifying their operations away from toolmaking to precision component manufacture, PM and T was experiencing significant growth.

Its management said that recent strategic and prudent investments made in design, manufacture, sales and marketing, etc, reversed the trend as far as PM and T was concerned.

Rush said: "We study macro- and micro-market trends, we analyse customer behaviour and we 'benchmark' ourselves against the competition.

When we consider the time is right, and when we're convinced that the benefits outweigh the risks - we act decisively and make 'telling' investments".

These investments include the following.

* Purchasing advanced, high-performance machine tools.

* Opening up a new manufacturing facility in Sri Lanka.

* Building a mould validation shop at the company's Aylesbury site.

* Appointing a German-based sales representative soon to exploit business opportunities across Europe.

All of these strategic investments, reinforce PM and T's customer-focused approach to business, and have helped the company increase sales and share.

* Overseas operation - in 1998 PM and T began an overseas operation in Sri Lanka to provide the company with reliable and cost-efficient manufacturing capability that supported the company's UK operations.

Since then the business focus has changed.

Rush explained: "We made a strategic decision not to allow our Sri Lankan operation to 'play second fiddle' to what we have here in the UK.

Our intention now is to ensure that the Sri Lankan facility is as good - technically and commercially - as our UK operation".

What PM and T is doing is as follows.

* Installing high-performance machine tools including one of the recently-purchased HSM 800 machines.

* Thoroughly traing Sri Lankan technical engineers at PM and T's UK facility.

* Using high speed video conferencing for communications between the UK and Sri Lanka facilities.

PM and T sales director, Joe Boscarini, explained: "Our two facilities operate seamlessly.

All of our mould tool design and consultancy work is undertaken here in the UK - as are our sales, marketing and commercial activities.

Manufacturing and production, including mould repair and modification can be undertaken at either site to the same high quality standards.

Boscarini continued: "Our Sri Lankan facility has not only given us improved manufacturing flexibility and increased capability - it has also allowed us to better-plan our production schedules and to control our costs.

For our customers this means faster turnaround and improved delivery times, and more economic mould tool production.".