Two new 51mm capacity lathes are being put through their paces on parts for JCB at JTB Pressings in Wolverhampton.
The company had formerly subcontracted out turning and this move was made to help the company increase the range of manufacturing services it provides to existing customers, as well as spearheading a drive to secure new business from different sectors. It now offers a one-stop-shop, vertically-integrated, manufacturing service that also includes laser cutting, welding and fabrication, powder coating and assembly services.
The DN Solutions (formerly Doosan) machines, a 6”chuck/51mm bar capacity Lynx 2100LYSA and, a similarly sized Lynx 2100, were installed at one of the company’s (three) production facilities in Willenhall, Wolverhampton, in July and September, respectively.
Since their arrival both lathes have been machining, almost exclusively, a range of small, precision turned parts for the construction and agricultural equipment manufacturer JCB.
These parts, with their short cycle times and machined in high volumes, include six individual components (i.e., washers, bolts, bushes etc.), made from a range of materials that include steel, bronze, Nylon 6 etc., for a specific JCB Telehandler model’s door catch system which, after being machined, are then finished, powder-coated and assembled in-house by JTB.
Over 600 of these fully-assembled door catches are manufactured every week by JTB: a majority being dispatched immediately to the customer’s production line and the remainder, including the assembly’s individual components, retained for spares and stock.
Explains Ivan Evans, JTB’s managing director, said: “We are always looking to improve, diversify and grow.
“As such, we regularly invest in advanced manufacturing technologies to increase our productivity, manufacturing flexibilities and overall competitiveness.”
A recent example of JTB’s investment strategy in action saw the company, in 2018, acquire a state-of-the-art, large-capacity Nukon Eco 315 (2kW) laser cutting machine.
“This machine has added another string to our bow”, says Ivan Evans. “It has helped us grow the business enabling us to acquire a number of new customers looking for high-quality laser cut parts.”
To protect and strengthen its supply chain position with customers, help it increase productivity, improve process efficiencies, and control operational costs, JTB made the decision, back in 2021, to further expand the range of services it offered to customers, by developing its machine shop at its Willenhall facility.
Explains Steve Lounds, JTB’s general manager: “We knew from experience, and from talking to customers and prospects, that there was a demand we could meet for machining high-quality, competitively-priced turned parts.
“We made the decision to meet this demand by creating a world-class, in-house subcontract machining resource, focused on producing complex, high-precision small turned parts for customers.
“We did consider sliding head as well as fixed head models, but ultimately decided on the Lynx 2100 LSYA from Mills CNC owing to its compact size, its proven reliability and its multi-tasking capabilities.”