Investment in a second-hand mill-turning machine will help Glenhead Engineering fulfil a new, three-year contract to machine complex, high-precision metal components for a new product that will be unveiled later this Summer.
Mills CNC supplied the DN Solutions 10” chuck/81mm bar capacity SMX 2600S, equipped with powerful, high torque 26kW/4,000rpm (700N-m) opposing spindles, a 40-tool position ATC, a B-axis 12,000rpm milling spindle and a self-centring steady rest.
The machine was installed at Glenhead’s facility in Clydebank in February 2023, and has been positioned adjacent to the company’s first mill-turn machine, a Doosan 12” chuck/102mm bar capacity SMX 3100, acquired by the company in March 2022.
Bob O’Donnell, Glenhead Engineering’s managing director, said: “Publicity and promotion surrounding the collaborative joint venture is limited until the launch. NDA’s are in place, and we can’t say too much about the initiative at this moment in time.
“Suffice it to say, this is a major machining contract for us and one that will, for the next three years, take up the entire machining capacity of our two mill-turn machines.”
With the launch fast approaching, both machines are currently in pre-production mode and are being used to fine tune the machining process before moving into full production in the next couple of weeks.
Glenhead, which employs 34 members of staff, provides customers with a comprehensive range of integrated in-house services from Design for Manufacture (DfM) and reverse engineering through to high-quality machining and assembly.
Bob O’Donnell added: “We are always looking to improve the services we provide to customers.
“As a matter of course, we systematically benchmark and review our performance against KPIs and, if and when we identify areas of the business that need to be improved, we act decisively and invest.
“We know, from our own experience, that multi-axis machines, and their ability to machine complex, high-precision parts in one-hit, have been more than instrumental in helping us increase our productivity, improve our process efficiencies and give us a distinct competitive edge.