Precision Machinist Finds Niche Market In Providing Design For Manufacture Service To Customers

Chatham, MA - Verulam Engineering, based in Luton, has created a niche market for its precision subcontract machining skills by becoming the prototype, production consultancy and batch production extension to several of its 30 main customers that include a leading UK design house involved in non-destructive testing equipment (NDT).

Indeed, explains director Rob Taylor: "By working very closely with customers we have been able to secure our business and grow steadily by contributing significant improvements to their products through a design for manufacture service." He then describes a recent NDT project where his company was able to save the customer at least £1,500 on the machining and assembly of its product by suggesting changes of material, features and tolerances without degrading the performance or quality of build of the equipment.

Another component, now supplied as an almost continuous production contract and machined out of a tungsten alloy, had its cost of manufacture reduced by 20 per cent and further project involving a car park barrier supplier, was able to save the customer three hours on each installation through improvements suggested by Verulam, on the assembly of the main shaft and bearing arrangement.

Verulam Engineering, took its name from Verulamium, the Roman name for St. Albans, where the company was formed 17 years ago by Robert Taylor, Len Cooper and John Woods. The company is a committed user of C Dugard machines and in its early years sourced a new Cincinnati Arrow 750 vertical machining centre (VMC) and two Yang VMCs from the Hove machine tool supplier. Such was the support received that recent new purchases have included a Dugard Eagle 10 lathe , a Dugard Eagle 1000 VMC with Heidenhain iTNC 530 control and fourth axis and a Dugard Eagle 450 XP VMC installed in the 18,000 ft2 machine shop.

Said Mr Cooper: "Our relationship with C Dugard has developed due to the type of work we are producing. Quite a few customers are using us as their prototype shop and because lead times are short we cannot afford to let them down with a machine being out of commission. Here, C Dugard has scored. Apart from the exceptional reliability of the Eagle machines, when we have asked for support, Dugard's engineers have been willing to provide immediate help over the telephone or if that did not solve the problem, had a visit the next day."

Mr Taylor reckons the way the company has worked with its customers has proven its worth. Almost every year, a new machine has been installed and within 10 to 12 months of commissioning, it has become overloaded with work from aerospace, packaging, sheetmetal, NDT, electronics and film industry customers. These companies are based as far away as Nottingham, Devon and Brighton. Indeed, Verulam Engineering has even produced equipment for film camera arms used in the filming of Titanic.

Mr Woods bases the company's continued success on the background of its three directors: himself being involved in the automotive sector, Mr Cooper in design linked to aerospace and Mr Taylor in the plastics extrusion industry. He said: "This means we are able to approach problems from different aspects and experiences and this has certainly proved to be very positive with customers in the past."

The company employs seven people plus an apprentice, Peter Taylor who, apart from attending college, has already become a very competent programmer and machinist. Explains his father Mr Taylor: "The wide range of work coming through here and the four-axis Eagle 1000 machine fitted with Heidenhain control gives him excellent general training. He also has the added benefit of sitting with us when we are discussing customer enquiries and when we are applying our production experience to their designs. It is a rare privilege for someone under training to see a project develop from concept to delivery."

The company has AutoCAD 2000 installed and Seiki Systems Network Manufacturing Systems (NMS) for DNC and program control. Although, when on the machine purchase trail, the three directors investigated the market, and they always came back to the overall package offered by C Dugard. This has included moving existing machines, and in the case of the Dugard Eagle 1000, involved three machines that were moved out to provide access and reinstalled in a day, complete with commissioning and full training on the new machine. "You know exactly where you are" said Mr Taylor, "and it allows you to plan with the confidence of no hidden extras and having only a minor hiccup in production."

The latest Dugard Eagle 1000 VMC has a table size of 1,200 mm by 510 mm and strokes in X, Y and Z of 1,020 mm by 530 mm by 510 mm with respective rapid feed rates of 30 m/min and 24 m/min in Z. The 8,000 revs/min standard spindle is fed by a 20 tool carousel magazine. Mean-while the compact Dugard Eagle 450 XP has axis strokes of 450 mm by 350 mm by 380 mm with rapid travels of 36 m/min controlled by Fanuc OiMC.

While most batch sizes range from prototype involving around 10 parts up to 1,000 parts, the tungsten alloy components are produced almost continuously. They are mainly machined on the Dugard Eagle 450 XP, four at a time, out of sintered blocks using multiple MicroLock fixtures. However, some designs that are round in shape, are produced on one of the Dugard Eagle 10 lathe where the round has to be turned prior to milling. Altogether it took the three directors between six and nine months to perfect the two processes that were proving difficult mainly due to high tool wear. Said Mr Taylor: "You would not believe how difficult this material is to machine. Even our normal tool suppliers had little or no experience of how to machine to tolerances of between 0.03 and 0.05 mm."

Most of the tungsten parts are within an 18 mm square and are required with different shapes according the intended application. The sintered blank has to be milled square, then angles milled to an apex in the centre followed by the end milling of a 3.35 mm wide slot through the centre. Holes are then drilled and reamed 3.2 mm diameter and 4.6 mm diameter and drilled 2.5 mm diameter for tapping. Some parts turned on the Dugard Eagle 10 machine have ‘O' ring grooves and are produced directly out of bar. These parts require very close tolerances and high surface finish.

SOURCE: Verulam Engineering