Atkinson Equipment, which makes offers a subcontract manufacturing service in addition to producing OEM oil heating and diesel tank products, has dramatically cut lead times with a new 5-axis machining centre.
The Brother Speedio U500Xd1 machine equipped with Tezmaksan CubeBox automation was supplied by Whitehouse Machine Tools.
Adam Walford, Engineering Group Sales Manager at Atkinson Equipment explained, “The automation solution from Whitehouse has increased our productivity dramatically. We have typically halved lead-times from 12 weeks down to six for complex subcontract parts and reduced them even further when making components for our own products, say from a month down to one week.
"Since automating the milling side of the business, we have also seen a reduction in the bottleneck we previously had when parts arrive from our turning section for prismatic machining. Our ability to get product out of the door to our customers is through the roof. It is helping us to win new business in the subcontract area, as well as to grow our OEM division."
Based in Westbury, Wiltshire, Atkinson Equipment is required to manufacture large volumes of parts for its own refuelling and liquid transfer products, which it has been doing for over 50 years. It also needs to produce a high mix of smaller volumes for the subcontracting division, which has been running for half that time, but which is growing rapidly. This dual role places significant demands on its manufacturing capabilities and was pivotal in the investment in the automated Brother-Tezmaksan cell.
The Brother U500Xd1’s large working volume for the compact footprint, 28-tool ATC capacity and integrated rotary joint for pneumatically actuating the fixtures proved ideal for the Westbury firm's production needs. Whitehouse provided comprehensive support during the set-up process, assisting with tray template design for holding raw material and finished components, as well as the end-of-arm tooling with double grippers for handling them. The automated cell’s sensors create a safe working environment, without the need for traditional guarding.
Mr Walford concluded, "It was quite daunting at first taking on a completely new piece of technology like this, but we were confident with the support that we would get from Whitehouse and their ability to guide us through the process to where we are now."
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