£2m sales boost for Pressmark

A Warwickshire-based metal-forming specialist is celebrating a major transformation in fortunes not long after a management buy-in (MBI) was completed.

Pressmark Pressings, which provides high-volume components for automotive manufacturers was bought by management team Alan Gardner, John Nollett and Les Wilkins after they spotted an opportunity to turn around one of the sector’s most under-recognised businesses.
Backed by their own cash injection and funding from ABN AMRO and Cambridge and Counties Bank, the three entrepreneurs have used their knowledge and contacts to put in place a number of new processes that have seen the business secure more than £2m of additional contracts to supply pressed parts and sub-assemblies which will be used in new models for Honda and Nissan.
On its current site in Carylon Road, the firm has 26 large-bed presses, ranging from 150 to 1200 tonnes that allow for the production of different size products in both standard metals and exotic alloys. Moreover, the company has created over 25 full time jobs since the MBI.
Chairman Les Wilkins says: “There’s a strong belief between the management team that we can expand by undertaking project management of multi operation/stage work. One recent example is how we worked with a Japanese manufacturer of complex electromechanical components that was investigating production in the UK. It was a tentative enquiry at first, but we have given them advice and guidance during the feasibility study and, subsequently, provided quotes for tooling as well as production and assembly of components. It is the nature of the work that the lead times are quite long, but if you win it, you should retain it for the life of the model.”
For further information www.pressmark.co.uk

Safe clamping of heavy dies

At the MACH exhibition in Birmingham, UK earlier this month, Roemheld introduced a range of wedge clamping elements with patented safety bolts designed to attach a die set to the table and ram of a power press securely, regardless of whether the tool edges are straight or angled.

A positive locking action allows even a heavy upper die to remain in place during maintenance or if the clamping pressure drops. The clamps move automatically, making them easy to operate, while a position control feature verifies closure and release, and reports if no die has been placed or if the edge is incorrectly set.
The system consists of a hydraulic cylinder block and a bolt guided within a housing; the bolt having a contact surface angled at 20°. A projection on the bolt and a corresponding recess along the die edge ensure positive locking if the hydraulic pressure holding the upper die should fail.
Adapter plates for simple attachment to existing dies make the retrofitting process trouble-free. The wedge clamping elements, with single or dual action, exert a force from 25 to 1250 kN. They are available to suit straight and angled die edges, and are designed in a variety of styles, allowing customers to configure clamping arrangements using a range of options. Modular construction permits cost-effective production of the elements, high availability and short delivery times, says Roemheld.
Permanent lubrication gives the clamps virtually maintenance-free operation. Due to their robust design, they are able to withstand high temperatures and soiling, and offer long service life. On request, multi-layer coatings can be applied to the bolts and housings, reducing wear in challenging applications.
For further information www.roemheld.com

Latest press-hardening technology selected

Germany-based Gedia Automotive Group has been developing and manufacturing cold-formed body and chassis parts for the car industry for over 50 years. In order to meet growing demand for structural parts with low weight and high crashworthiness, the company decided to invest in the latest press-hardening technology from AP&T.

“Gedia wanted to find a partner that could offer market-leading production solutions as well as help develop the company’s press-hardening expertise,” says AP&T’s general manager in Germany, Michael Hunger. “Since the very start, we have worked together to achieve the high level of flexibility, availability and quality that Gedia and its customers want to attain.”
To date, AP&T has installed three complete press hardening lines at Gedia’s facilities in Germany and Poland. Among other things, the equipment includes the latest generation of AP&T’s Multi-Layer Furnace (MLF) and press-hardening tools. The lines are equipped with a sensor-based system that gives full control over the heating and cooling process, which is decisive in terms of ensuring each part obtains the exact properties and quality that are desired. Advanced process monitoring enables the high demands on quality imposed by car manufacturers and, for example, the CQI-9 standard to be met.
A high degree of flexibility and scalability are important to Gedia. AP&T’s MLF is said to enable optimised capacity utilisation. More layers can be used if production increases; if it decreases, heating can be limited to fewer levels, which also saves energy.
For further information www.aptgroup.com

£1m+ investment at Royal Mint

A UK-based supplier of press technology is playing a crucial role in the production of the new £1 coin.

Bruderer UK has installed a state-of-the-art machine into the Royal Mint’s Llantrisant facility, providing additional speed, capacity and flexibility. Capable of up to 825 strokes per minute, the BSTA 1600-117B2 is responsible for creating the hard cut blanks that form one of the first processes in the manufacture of the pound coin.
The machine has been specified with an 1170 mm press bed length and is capable of feeding material up to 500 mm wide by 12 mm thick – suitable for tooling relative to different types of currency production now and in the future. Bruderer’s BSTA 1600-117B2 also comes equipped with the latest B2 control system, meaning everything can be controlled from the HMI, including the setting of feeds and speeds, together with monitoring the stamping operation.
Mervyn Evans, engineering manager at the Royal Mint, says: “We are pleased to continue our long-standing relationship with Bruderer and I am delighted with the performance of the latest machine so far. It is delivering the speed and accuracy we need, and is a fundamental part of a production process that will eventually produce over 1.5 billion pound coins. The larger-than-normal tool bed also means that a range of materials for different denomination blanks can be processed. This is an ideal solution for our growing international client base.”
For further information www.bruderer.co.uk

Celebrating six decades

Starrett, is celebrating six decades of manufacturing in the UK.

The company, which was founded in the US, opened its UK factory in Jedburgh in 1958, a site that has since grown to become one of the enterprise’s principal manufacturing locations. Today, there are over 150 people employed at the 200,000 sq ft facility in Scotland, which produces in excess of 2 million hole saws per year, as well as
a range of other saws and products, such as optical profile projectors and bandsaw blades. The site forms the epicentre of Starrett’s UK and European operations, and currently supplies products to over
50 countries.
For further information www.starrett.co.uk