A six-spindle bar automatic turning centre is helping Unicut Precision deliver the volume of ventilator parts currently required.
The Welwyn Garden City subcontractor invested in the German-built Index MS40 six-spindle bar automatic from sole agent Kingsbury towards the end of last year. The aim was to raise production efficiency but in the current climate is relying more and more on the machine to help fulfil the demand for these medical equipment parts.
Jason Nicholson, Unicut's managing director said: "Although we have never been afraid to purchase new production plant, I admit that this latest investment was an entrepreneurial leap. We bought the machine with some work in mind but it was a bit of a gamble. Orders that were coming in were only making use of part of the capacity.”
However, as Jason discovered, the gamble would soon pay off. Until March 2020, the 40 mm bar capacity multi was being used to make parts for the yellow goods industry but when COVID-19 began to take hold, everything changed. After the Government’s Ventilator Challenge UK announcement, orders came in quickly. Unicut agreed to produce up to 780,000 critical components of 31 different types over seven weeks, something that would not have been possible without the MS40.
Jason added, "You look at the people in the NHS and you feel for them. For Unicut, it’s a chance to support them. Okay, we’re not key frontline workers but at least by doing this we feel we can play a part and make a difference.
"It’s really refreshing to see how, at times like these, people really step up. We’ve lent tools to competitors. Kingsbury provided the programming on the MS40 free of charge. At the end of the day, we’re pulling together right the way through the supply chain.
“I hope that, after this, people will begin to look at UK manufacturing in a different light. It is very easy just to look at cost - that’s the one thing we’re constantly competing against. In future, I hope that buyers and OEMs feel a responsibility to source from the UK if they can."
Without the MS40, Jason believes Unicut would not have been in a position to take on the ventilator work or to keep to the time frames required.
He concluded, "We started turning parts on the MS40 within three or four days of receiving the drawings, helping us to produce the parts accurately and on time.
"One of the things I find with this particular machine is that a lot of people think it will be very expensive, but it really isn’t. The MS40 produces components much faster than single-spindle bar-fed lathes and at the end of the day it’s all about the cost-per-part.
"The machine is capable of holding tight tolerances. Due to the vital role the ventilator components will play, a high degree of precision is required. People’s lives are depending on companies like ours to deliver quality parts on time and there is no margin for error.”