Companies looking to expand their capacity and capabilities will be spoilt for choice, as machine tool suppliers will be there in force.
Ajax will show vertical and horizontal machining centres and borers, CNC slant-bed lathes, surface, cylindrical and bench grinding machines, and bench, pillar and radial drilling machines. Bruderer will be there to explain how the exceptionally high output of its high-speed presses boosts the productivity of stamped parts. The company will also promote its press shop automation and ancillary equipment.
Chester Machine Tools will exhibit its own-brand CNC and conventional machine tools as well as Brierley grinding, polishing and linishing machines, Kitchen & Walker drilling machines, and Astra lathes, mills and saws. Colchester will launch a new line-up of Storm vertical machining centres in different variants with either linear guideways or box ways. Tornado CNC turning centres will be there with uprated specifications and the company has launched a modernised Student CNC lathe with Fanuc control. Haas Automation will promote more than 100 models in its range of vertical machining centres, 5-axis universal machines, horizontal mills and turning centres.
Hurco will demonstrate its VM10i machining centre with the latest Solid Model Import option in its proprietary Max5 control. A Hurco TM8Mi 2-axis CNC lathe with driven tooling will be on the stand as well. Visitors to the MACH Machine Tools stand will learn that the range of manual machines now offered has expanded from turret-type mills to include lathes, drilling machines, surface grinders, bench and belt grinders, workshop presses, shears and bandsaws. The company has now added CNC lathes and vertical machining centres to its product portfolio.
Matsuura will present horizontal and vertical machining centres, which are supplied as single-table machines, twin- and multi-pallet systems, cell systems and ultra-high speed linear motor machines. Mills will introduce two new DN Solutions’ one-hit machines, the compact DVF 4000 5-axis machining centre and the Lynx 2100LSYB multi-tasking turning centre. A Cyclematic 618E precision toolroom lathe and a Perfect Machine PFG-1545AH surface grinder will be demonstrated by RK International, which additionally will launch the Velum range of machine filters.
Sharmic will introduce a new range of vibratory surface finishing machines, dryers and centrifugal disc finishers. There will be a selection of consumables including abrasive media and compounds. Tube bending, end forming, section bending and roll forming company VLB will be there to promote its modern machinery for manufacturing applications in the aerospace, automotive and solar energy industries, amongst others.
XYZ Machine Tools will demonstrate under power seven production centres across two stands, including the recently introduced TMC toolroom machining centres with ProtoTRAK control, the RMX 3500 bed mill and the XYZ RMX 2-OP, a cost-effective machine for completing second operations. In addition, there will be the powerful XYZ 800 HD vertical machining centre with a Siemens 828D for volume manufacturing applications. The company's turning centres will be represented by Proturn RLX 355 with ProtoTRAK control and the CT 52 LR with Siemens 828D CNC for longer batch runs.
Maximising productivity and profitability will be the overarching theme on the stand of Yamazaki Mazak, which will promote the compact, highly productive Integrex i-200H S multi-tasking turn-mill centre. Featuring a flat-fronted design, it has a rear-mounted tool magazine for accommodating multiple cutters in support of automation, such as a bar magazine, robot or gantry loader, while maintaining easy accessibility for the operator. The SmoothAi CNC incorporates a suite of software packages to deliver the practical application of artificial intelligence, digital twinning and automation. YMT Technologies, which sells Hedelius and YCM machining centres plus Goodway CNC lathes, rounds off the list of machine tool companies at Southern.