Subcontractor DJJ Precision Engineering has invested in new Index turning equipment that allows it to compete with low cost economies.
 
Subcontractors in China, India and Eastern Europe have been undercutting British firms when bidding for contracts to produce large volumes of turned parts, but that could change if DJJ's experience is any guide. In autumn 2008 the company invested in a new six-spindle ‘multi’ - and immediately started to win work back from Asia.
 
DJJs managing director, Dennis Jones, says that the multi allowed the company to resume production of an automotive job previously lost to India. Machined from high tensile steel bar (606M36), the component is a vehicle braking system shaft for a tier 1 automotive supplier in the UK. Operations mainly entail turning outside diameters, threadcutting and a small amount of prismatic machining to produce a hexagon on one end.  Cycle time on the machine - an Index MS32C -  is 14 seconds, which allowed Jones to manufacture the part for 29 pence, plus the cost of the material and finishing, and win the contract. The previous cycle time on a single-spindle, sliding-head lathe at Pontypool was over four times longer at around one minute.
 
Dennis Jones said: 'Apart from the Indian subcontractor, we were also up against a firm in Europe, where the use of CNC multis is commonplace, but our price was the most competitive. Obviously the price was crucial, but the mere fact that we were prepared to invest in the multi also gave our customer confidence in our commitment and ability to deliver the parts.  The original contract was for well over 500,000 shafts per year.'
 
Another contract that DJJ hopes imminently to win is for a complex hydraulic part that plays to the MS32C's strengths, as it requires a lot of prismatic work including cross holes, a roller-burnished bore and a high surface finish all over. Jones adds: 'Being able to reduce production times to around 20-25% of a single-spindle CNC lathe cycle means that buyers have to sit up and listen. On big quantities, they can save hundreds of thousands of pounds. Before, when we were able to shave only a few seconds off a job, savings were much smaller and buyers were nowhere near so interested.'
 
Apart from being highly productive, the 32mm capacity, open-fronted Index multi has proved to be a useful marketing tool. Machine graphics and sample components attracted large numbers of visitors to DJJ’s stand at the Southern Manufacturing show in Farnborough earlier this year; some visited on the first day and returned on the second with component drawings, asking for quotes. Over 80 serious enquiries were logged over the two days, most of them are still in contact and some have become customers. Overall enquiries for quotes, including via the internet, are between two and seven every day from all over the world, involving quantities from a few thousand to over one million.  DJJ currently has three strong prospects in Europe, due in part to the strength of the Euro against Sterling.
 
It is not just large volumes that can be produced economically on the CNC multi, as setting is much faster than on old cam-type machines. Batches as low as 8,000-off are now feasible. Irrespective of volumes machined, DJJ consignment stocks parts if necessary for scheduled delivery to its customers. Moreover, the quality and efficiency of machining is much better on the Index multi, as cutting feeds and speeds can be controlled independently at each of the six spindles. All have a full C-axis for use with driven tooling and are held at a constant temperature by refrigerated coolant.

Being new to multi-spindle mill-turning, Jones and his engineering team rely on Index supplier Geo Kingsbury for advice, and describe the supplier's support as being the best in the machine tool industry. The agent was so sure of the business case for DJJ investing in a multi that, rather than relying on simulation software, it tooled up an MS32C on spec and actually demonstrated the automotive shaft coming off the machine at a rate of four per minute.

Jones explains his view of the future of turned parts subcontracting in the UK: 'The big thing in the last 10 years was sliding-headstock turning on CNC mill-turn centres, and to some extent increased capability on fixed-head lathes. Companies revolutionised their productivity and quality by transferring work from cam-type, single-spindle lathes. However, sliding-head turning is rapidly becoming a mature market, as there are a lot of users out there, many with lathes well into double figures. I can source sliding-head work from Ireland at £10 per hour, which shows how rates have come down. Additionally, the machines still do not address the need to bring larger-volume turned parts manufacture back to the UK.
 
'In my view, multi-spindle CNC turning is the future. Very few UK subcontractors operate them at present, which gives us a competitive advantage when producing big quantities, while jobs are economic at much smaller batch sizes as well. My aim is to have a shop full of Index multis, which I regard as being the best in the world, and will probably go for a 50mm capacity machine next time.'
 
Established in 1976, DJJ currently employs 12 staff and derives half of its turnover from machining turned parts up to 500mm diameter. The remaining work spans prismatic machining and centreless grinding. The subcontractor describes itself as a one-stop-shop for these services, preceded by extensive design and prototyping and ending with additional processes such as plating. 24/7 operation is backed by thorough quality control including PPAP (production part approval process - for the automotive supply chain), full traceability, certificates of conformity and detailed inspection documentation. All this is underpinned by DJJ’s accreditation to ISO 9001:2008, the fourth and latest version of the internal quality management standard published at the end of 2008.
 
Shirley Jones, sales and marketing director, concludes: 'We felt that it was only by investing last year in the Index multi and a CNC sliding-head lathe that we could put ourselves back in the frame for potential high and low volume contracts tendered to global suppliers. The £1 million investment has put us in a good position to compete - and winning business back from Asia recently has been a tremendous boost to our confidence. There is still a lot of work out there, despite the recession, especially in hydraulics, electrical connectors, aerospace and marine.
 
'Our question to UK and Continental European companies is this: why not have your turned parts produced in the UK when you can get cheaper prices here, have better communication with the supplier and more flexibility if things change, minimise shipping costs and delays, and avoid the risk of the components being sub-standard when they arrive?'

www.djjengineering.com