Subcontractor Installs New Turning Center

This NLX2500MC universal lathe helped PR2 Engineering overcome a bottleneck in its oil and gas and petrochemical component machining.

PR2 Engineering Ltd. (Dysart, UK) distinguishes itself from its competitors by offering exceptional quality and reliability. From its factory in Kirkcaldy it supplies low volume, high quality, difficult to manufacture turned parts to blue chip customers in the oil and gas, petrochemical, defense, nuclear, and space industries.

Paul Halliwell, as one of the four directors of the company, says, “When we started seven years ago, we made a big investment in equipment and premises. We now have five Mori Seiki machines, including the new NLX2500MC horizontal turning center we recently purchased at the WorldSkills 2011 event.”

The company’s major OEM customers want to look in detail at the facilities it offers, so it decided to opt for a 6,500 sq ft unit from the outset to give it room to expand, with top of the range machinery aiming to impress its clients. “PR2 Engineering customers expect certain standards from their suppliers and reliability is of paramount importance to them,” notes Halliwell. “We are a 24/7 operation, so we cannot make any compromise on delivery and performance if we want to remain successful. Our plan is to invest continuously over the next five years.”

The NLX2500MC was purchased to address a bottleneck in production for the company’s oil and gas and petrochemical products, where demand has grown rapidly. Management carefully evaluated their future manufacturing requirements to ensure they got the right machine for their needs. Its machining capability and cutting area matches conventional NL Series lathes with standard live tooling. Using a compact design, the reduced machine footprint offers space savings in the shop.

The new turning center uses slide guides on all axes for rapid traverse at 98.4 fpm, with high accuracy and enhanced reliability, with easy spindle access. Continuous machining accuracy (thermal displacement) diameter is less than 10 μm. All of this with a significantly reduced price, as well.

Sticking with this brand has been an easy decision for management, where the directors have more than 80 years of CNC experience between them. Halliwell adds, “The directors have worked on many different machines over the years, and this brand is top of the list for reliability, rigidity and service. It has always supported Scotland very well and I can only say that, in our experience, the service is exceptional.”

He continues, “We cut difficult high temperature alloys such as Haynes 230, and Hastelloy X and the rigidity and power of the NLX2500MC, with its built-in motors on the turret and spindle and its box construction, enable us to cut these materials with no problems, allowing us to use the tips and coatings on our tooling to their fullest extent. We know that less rigid machines would definitely struggle with the type of work we are doing.”

An added advantage for PR2 Engineering is the common programming and setup technology that the company can use across all its Mori Seiki machines, which saves both time and cost. “Consistency and repeatability are key elements in our business, as is the durability of the machines we use,” concludes Halliwell. “We need our machinery to still be accurate and reliable in ten years’ time – these machine tools certainly fit the bill.” www.dmgmoriseikiusa.com

PR2 Engineering Ltd., Unit 2C, Frances Industrial Park, Wemyss Road, Dysart, United Kingdom, Fife KY1 2XZ, +44 (0)1592 651453, Fax : +44 (0)1592 652305, [email protected], www.pr2engineering.co.uk.