EDM specialist Erodatools has invested in three CNC machines for a new machine shop that complements its existing subcontract capabilities.
The investment includes two Doosan multi-tasking Lynx lathes and a DNM 6700 vertical machining centre with a Nikken 4th-axis unit.
Machine Shop Manager Jon Harper said: “The new machine shop complements the EDM side of the business. It is run on the same business principles and company values that have served Erodatools so well for almost 50 years - namely a commitment to continuous improvement, to ‘best-in-class’ quality and to unrivalled customer care.”
Erodatools was created in 1972 by brothers Ken and Tony Rolfe as an EDM precision subcontract specialist company providing high-accuracy wire and die-sinking machining services to locally based customers operating in the mining and rail industries.
Jon Harper adds: “Erodatools, through the skill and dedication of its people combined with regular and prudent investment in advanced EDM machine tools, built a strong and solid reputation in the market based on quality, lead time fulfilment and cost competitiveness.
“As EDM became a more mainstream technology so Erodatools, as a recognised and leading niche specialist, was able to take advantage of the situation and grow the business.”
Today the company serves a diverse range of customers operating in the aerospace, automotive, oil and gas, medical devices, marine and energy sectors.
It was always Erodatools’ intention to augment its EDM operations by creating a CNC machine shop. The issue was more ‘when’ as opposed to ‘if’.
Caroline Healey, Erodatools’ Works Manage says: “Although EDM is our core business, and we have a large number of loyal customers - we are essentially a ‘jobbing’ shop. And, because EDM is often at the end of the process chain, it is often difficult to predict work volumes in advance.
“To add more certainty to the business and to strengthen our position within customers’ supply chains, we wanted to create an in-house CNC machine shop. The outbreak of the pandemic, and the uncertainty this created, made this need more acute.”
One of Erodatools’ first tasks in creating an in-house CNC machine shop was to appoint an experienced manager to head up the new resource.
Explains Caroline Healey: “We appointed Jon in 2020 because, as a previous Erodatools’ customer, he already knew about and understood our business, and we were confident that he possessed the requisite skills, experience and can-do attitude to make a success of the new venture.”
“We divested a number of our older EDM machines to create the additional space for the new resource.
“Our facility now has three distinct and discrete areas – wire EDM, solid sink EDM and the new CNC machine shop.”
Says Jon Harper: “We wanted to offer a new value-added machining service, over and above our EDM services, to existing customers. From talking to these customers, we knew that as long as we could meet their quality, delivery and cost requirements, we would be in business.
“We also wanted to expand our customer base to include non-EDM users, and offer them the same, high-quality CNC milling and turning services.
“Our focus, for both types of customer, was on the machining of high-precision prototypes and one-offs, through to small-to-medium batch production.
The first Doosan acquired by Erodatools was a Lynx 2100LSYB is amulti-tasking lathe that, with its live tooling and sub-spindle, can machine small parts to completion in a single set up. It operates as a de facto self-contained turning cell.
“The machine is coping with everything we have thrown at it. Only recently it was being used for two days continuously to machine complex aluminium bronze parts to high precision,” says Jon Harper
Subsequent Doosan machine tool investments occurred in April and May 2021 respectively with the arrival of a new DNM 6700 vertical machining centre and a new Lynx 2600Y lathe - which, incidentally, was one of the first to be installed in the UK.
“The new DNM 6700 and Lynx 2600Y have significantly increased our machining capacity and capabilities,” says Mr Harper.
Caroline Healey concludes: “We are busy and the decision to set up the new resource and invest in the three new Doosan machines has been vindicated.
“We are now putting the finishing touches to the machine shop area - completing shelving and painting the floor - and will be recruiting another person, as a machine operator, to help free up Jon’s time.
“As far as future investments are concerned we are monitoring the situation and, if demand continues, we could well be looking to automate our turning operations in the near future by investing a bar feeder.”