Steel Dynamics has added more capacity for bigger parts and cut cycle times by 30% with the installation of a new twin column vertical machining centre.
The Hartford Infinity HSA420 was supplied by T W Ward CNC Machinery (Ward CNC), Hartford’s exclusive agent in the UK and Ireland.
The machine has X, Y and Z axes travels of 4,000 mm by 2,000 mm by 1,000 mm and, capable of accommodating workpieces weighing 12, 000 kg, the machine is out-performing Steel Dynamic UK’s two existing, older vertical machining centres for both speed and capability,
The Blackburn-based company’s operations director Andy Berry said: “It’s the largest machine we’ve ever installed and while so far it has largely been used on a relatively new nuclear-based contract – involving predominantly milling operations on prismatic stainless steel workpieces – it has perfectly complemented our existing manufacturing capabilities based around ISO 9001: 2008 accreditation. These include water jet, plasma and laser cutting, as well as radial arm drilling and vertical boring to 1,350 mm diameter.”
Steel Dynamics UK supplies a wide range of components to customers in varied industry sectors ranging from architectural, oil and gas, through to food and beverage processing as well as petrochemical, and in materials that also include duplex, nickel and carbon alloys, aluminium, copper and brass.
Its new Hartford machining centre is ideally suited to handling all these materials, with a solid construction based on a one-piece heavy duty cast iron bed that provides high accuracy and stability.
Ward CNC was able to not only provide the machine on a very short delivery – to satisfy the customer’s urgent need to update its capability – but it also provided a machine with a higher specification main motor (26 kW) and larger capacity toolchanger (40 tools) to meet Steel Dynamics’ specific demands.
BACK TO ENGINEERING CAPACITY NEWS PAGE