Emo 2011 DMG and MORI SEIKI Collaboration Nearing Fruition

Specifically, the first-ever jointly developed DMG / MORI SEIKI machine was exhibited, namely the MILLTAP 700. It marks both companies' entry into the tapping centre market, although this term is something of a misnomer, as these days such machines have the power and capabilities of a light machining centre. Nevertheless, MILLTAP 700 retains very high speed motions, exemplified by 1.5 seconds chip-to-chip and 60 m/min rapid traverse in all axes.

At the other end of the scale, one of the biggest metalcutting exhibits at EMO this year was the portal machining centre, DMU 600 P, designed for machining workpieces up to 25 tonnes. It has axis travels of 6,000 mm in X and up to 4,200 mm in Y, while in the Z (vertical) axis, the cross beam can be moved by a maximum of 2,000 mm and the ram by an additional 1,250 mm.

DMG and MORI SEIKI are in the process of combining their sales and service activities worldwide. Following successful integration in Asia, Japan and the USA, they are currently setting up joint companies in all European markets.

As far as the UK is concerned, positive steps were taken at EMO 2011 to promote the collaboration by explaining to customers how it will work in practice and the synergies it will bring.

A case in point was aerospace subcontractor, Produmax Precision Engineering (www.produmax.co.uk), whose managing director, Jeremy Ridyard, has four MORI SEIKI prismatic and mill-turning machines and five 5-axis machining centres from DMG on his shop floor in Otley, West Yorkshire. He placed orders valued at £600,000 for two more 5-axis machines at the show, a DMU60P duoBLOCK and a DMU60 eVo FD with turning capability.

The extra machines will enable the tier-2 aerospace supplier to fulfil a major aircraft contract for machining hardened steel and titanium components and assembling them into safety-critical gearbox mechanisms that drive the flaps on a new commercial jetliner.

Mr Ridyard commented, We have been a DMG eVo user since 2000, at which time the technology was a step-change above what was generally available.

The machine builder tends to be first to market with new ideas and is always pushing the boundaries. The latest FD machine with turning is another example.

DMG and MORI SEIKI have always been proactive in analysing our needs and providing the best working processes for our applications. They do not just deliver machines and walk away. Both suppliers are true partners in our programming department and on the shop floor.

During the negotiations, the managing director of DMG (UK), Richard Watkins and his opposite number at MORI SEIKI (UK), Steve Finn, discussed in detail with Mr Ridyard how the collaboration between the two machine tool companies would benefit Produmax, not least by reducing his two main suppliers to a single source for all machines, applications engineering, spares, training and service.

Another order placed at the show by a UK subcontractor, BTL Precision (www.btlprecision.co.uk), was for a DMG DMC 1035V ECOLINE 3-axis machining centre with one-metre bed length. Based in Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, BTL Precision is further strengthening its capacity for general commercial work. The company will use the highly productive machine to replace two machining centres.

Seventy per cent of BTL Precision's contracts are in the defence industry, for which three 5-axis DMG machining centres installed over the past few years play a key role.

Julian Bedford, Managing Director, said, We dramatically improved our productivity after installing our first 5-axis DMG machine in early 2009. Parts that would have previously needed up to seven separate set-ups are now produced in just two operations, faster and to higher accuracy. It has been a great success.

We choose to standardise on prismatic metalcutting equipment from DMG as we consider them to be the product leader in our size of machining centre – nominally of half-metre-cube working volume; and the support has been excellent.