Production Machining - Your access to the precision machining industrial buyer.
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Shop/Supplier Relationship is Critical to Success Edited by Bart Bishop CASE IN POINT 36 PRODUCTION MACHINING :: NOVEMBER 2017 :: This is the working area of Cosmopolitan Engineering's CNC lathe with a C axis and driven tools. P recision sub-contract machinists like to keep contract details close to their chests. Whether it be singular specialty jobs or production schedules that continue for some time, many shops have work that the staff can't talk about. Cosmopolitan Engineering (CE) is one of these shops. e Sheffield, England-based company is involved in securing and processing contracts with workpieces to be used in high-profile manufacturing projects. e company's accreditation to ISO 9001, the international standard speci- fying requirements for a quality management system, has resulted in a project list that includes precision one-offs for marksman's guns, steam traction engine parts and nuclear project work the company isn't allowed to discuss. Mark Leonard, who has been the production manager at the company for more than two decades, thinks it's a shame he can't talk about certain projects. "e complexity of some of the final-build projects would really show how small, highly skilled engineering companies such as ours continue to play a crucial role in creating awe-inspiring engineering spectacles." Despite a lack of publicity on such work, CE has been a supplier of parts of all sizes and in all metals, including tool steels and titanium, for more than 30 years. is has been done with its portfolio of CNC machines to turn, mill, drill and grind workpieces, including a quartet of machines supplied by T W Ward CNC Machinery Ltd. (Ward CNC), that play a key role in enabling the company to consistently meet customer demands. For shops such as CE, working closely with local suppliers such as Ward CNC is key. These kinds of partnerships can provide shops with access to unique processes only dealers can provide. For new jobs, a supplier knows the machines better than the customer. Eventually, a shop such as CE becomes familiar with the processes, but at first, the relationship with the supplier is key because of the CNC machines at its disposal. ose CNC machines include Hyundai-Wia machines such as the L400LMC lathe with a C axis and driven tools, with maximum turning diameter and length capacities of 22 inches and 83 inches; the SKT-300 turning center, with maximum turning diameter and length capacities of 22 inches and 28 inches; and a L300C two-axis lathe, with maximum turning diameter and length capacities of 20 inches and 28 inches. CE also owns a Hartford Omnis 1020 VMC that has XYZ capacities of 40 inches by 20 inches by 20 inches. ese turning machines have enabled the seven- employee firm to meet customer demands throughout the U.K. and across all industries. On the two larger parts, which are machined on the 2-meter bed L400LMC, a screw thread is generated on the largest component before a keyway is