Latest News

On 23rd February, we take delivery of a new Trumpf TruBend 3100 press brake. This new machine will increase capacity and efficiency, helping us to maintain competitive pricing and reduced lead times. It also comes with many technical features to improve bend accuracy and productivity:

Crowning ensures equal pressure is applied along the entire bend, which is critical on long parts.

Extended open height allows deeper box sections to be formed without collision. A useful feature when forming enclosures.

5-axis backgauge guarantees fast and correct positioning for each bend.

At the same time, we are remodeling our forming shop to improve access and workflow, and new LED task lighting will brighten conditions for our engineers and reduce energy consumption.

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In August 2022 when natural gas supply was at risk and energy prices were rising to unprecedented levels, we saw the potential for our natural gas supply to become a very major issue in 2023. A particular concern for powder coating which uses a significant amount of energy.

Following a comprehensive review we looked to switch our operations from natural gas to LPG. This would allow us to control costs more effectively without increase to our business or extra costs to our clients.

We took the steps to have concrete bases laid to accommodate 5 x 1 ton tanks to store liquid gas. Whilst this was happening, in January 2023, we secured a last minute viable natural gas 12 month contract.

This will be reviewed in a years time, but with the LPG infrastructure in place, should it be an issue we will make the switch and make sure we’re operating, as best we can, at the best commercial price for our clients.

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Our new twin pallet high performance Brother R650X2 is more than a match for the needs of our growing customers by increasing productivity on many product lines, significantly boosting output and impressively reducing lead times.

Three main factors attracted us to the Brother R650X2:

• Proven technology from renowned Japanese manufacturer
• Dynamic machine tool technology for high-speed aluminium machining
• Twin pallet configuration uniquely allows part loading during machining cycle to increase OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness)

Having completed a smooth installation and first week in production, we are already seeing the benefits of higher productivity on daily output and improved part quality.

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We are delighted to announce greater investment with the newest member to the Broxton operation – World-Class punch cell production technology. The newly released TruPunch 3000 delivers:

• Brush bed and descending die system for low-scratch punching.
• Automated sheet loading, part picking, and small part sorting enable ‘lights out’ production for greater capacity and short lead times.
• Fully electric operation reduces running and maintenance costs for improved efficiency.
• Wide variety of tools, including MultiBend, extrusion, tapping, cup and bridge tools, enable complex designs to be made accurately and efficiently.

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To ensure we meet the demands of our long standing customers growth Broxton have invested in a Trumpf Trulaser 1030 4KW fiber laser with LiftMaster Compact sheet load and unload automation.

This significant investment comes delivers fiber laser with LiftMaster Compact sheet load and unload automation. There has been a step change in laser cutting technology when traditional mirrors were replaced with fibre optics, and direct drive motors vastly improved the travel time of the cutting head. The biggest increases in productivity are found in cutting thinner sheet with an average thickness of 1.5mm resulting in significantly increased capacity.

We have invested in full automation to support our strategy of a single shift with lights out production; with our Laser automation is all the more important as it significantly reduces the risk of introducing handling marks on the sheet and the laser cut parts.

• Without tooling and using the latest nesting software, we can more economically cut different parts on the same sheet.
• Using improved fiber technology which is not susceptible to beam reflection, a much wider variety of material types, including copper and higher purity aluminium can be cut.
• Integrated camera technology also enables us to manufacture combination punch/laser parts for the first time, which on certain parts can be advantageous.
• Combining speed and automation, this investment will provide a step change in capacity which assists us to drive service levels up.

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Screen printing and screen generation in-house is a vital service for us and for our customers. This final process requires a high level of skill and accuracy to achieve consistent results in line with our ‘Make it Perfect’ mantra. In 2019, when we built a dedicated powder coating building as Site 2, the screen-printing room remained at Site 1 which was not ideal logistics. We have now built a new clean room that is twice the size and has a dedicated dark room for screen production. This is a much better working environment with better environmental controls and now our surface finishing team are back together.

• 100% larger to accommodate WIP in a clean room environment
• Clean room for improved screen-printing quality
• Dedicated dark room for fast screen production

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Alongside our recent investment in 24/7 automated 5-axis milling we have made another significant investment in CAM software in a switch from Hexegon Manufacturing’s Edgecam software to HyperMILL by Openminds Software. Solidworks is widely used in our design and engineering department and HyperMILL integrates with Solidworks allowing us to work with 3D models for full simulation of machining and collision detection.

Our recently expanded engineering team includes two of our younger generation engineers who began as apprentices in the machine shop, Liam Clapham and James Hayward. Liam and James have been instrumental in combining their, now considerable, machining knowledge with what they have learned through training on our new HyperMILL software. We are proud that the next generation of Broxton engineers are working with state-of-the-art software and machines.

• Full machining simulation and collision detection help us to shift job development from the shop floor into the Engineering Department, increasing time spent on R&D
• Productivity benefits from machine tools focused on cutting metal
• Quality improvements from focussing on ‘right first time’.
• Engineering team expanded and training undertaken.

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In the last three years we have experienced sustained growth in higher volume aluminium milled parts leading to an investment that supports our strategy of working on a single shift whilst investing in automation and lights-out production capacity. This strategy is designed to help us compete with countries with lower labour costs and encourage our customers to re-shore their products to the UK; a trend which is becoming increasingly more common.

Our investment in a new Mazak 5-axis milling machine has doubled our milling capacity, cut lead times, and given us the flexibility to run some jobs 24/7 unmanned.

• Mazak Variaxis i300 AWC – 5 axis milling machine
• Simultaneous 5 axis movement can mill contoured surfaces
• 18000 rpm spindle for high speed cutting
• 40 pallet automation enables 24 x 7 unmanned running
• 205 tool capacity allows rapid changeover between parts

If you would like to find out more about our milling capability, please contact us.

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