Seco offers Life Cycle Assessments

Seco is taking steps toward a sustainable future with its new Life Cycle Assessments (LCA),
helping to meet ambitious internal sustainability goals and supporting customers in making
environmentally conscious decisions. LCA systematically evaluates the environmental
impact of products across their lifecycle, from raw material extraction to disposal.
By providing detailed insights into metrics like climate impact (CO2eq) and other key
environmental measures, Seco is enabling both internal improvements and customer
transparency. Throughout 2024, Seco focused on two key pilot areas: turning inserts and
round solid-carbide milling tools. This year, the company will expand LCA coverage to
include more of its portfolio and enhance MyPages with additional sustainability data.
More information www.secotools.com

Fabweld Steel installs Accurl laser cutter

Shropshire-based Fabweld Steel Products (FSP) has bought a 15 kW Accurl fibre laser cutter
to increase its production capacity and scope to boost growth. The new machine replaces
the firm’s 3 kW fibre laser, which handled 95% of products at the Telford factory.
“Going forward, the increased speed, capability and capacity will quickly put us on an
upward trajectory towards our full potential,” says FSP managing director Wayne Carter.
The process to decommission the 3 kW laser, remove it, install and commission the Accurl,
train staff and get up to full production capability, was completed at the end of October.
Milton Keynes based Axe and Status Machinery supplied the new Accurl laser. Managing
director Steve Thomas says: “Our objective is to supply quality and reliability at a
competitive price, which allows customers to remain competitive. We have enjoyed a long-
standing relationship with FSP and are pleased to be part of their ongoing expansion plans.”
FSP specialises in the design and manufacture of access covers and other fabricated steel
products for the construction industry, including non-structural and structural applications.
The company is an accredited Real Living Wage employer and is committed to improving
sustainability by investing in green technologies. For instance, a large solar panel system
now powers the factory and the firm’s nitrogen generator. Also in place is a double-fast
electric vehicle charging system, which is available for community use when the factory is
not open at weekends.
More information www.axestatus.com

Casting accolade for Magna Cosma

A Telford-based automotive specialist, which has seen domestic and global sales rise significantly, has been named as the ‘Best of British Casting Company’ at the recent UK Cast Metals Industry Awards organised by the Cast Metals Federation (CMF). Magna Cosma Casting UK defied uncertainty in the sector to post one of the best years in its history, impressing judges with the way it has developed a high-pressure die casting digital twin.

The company’s approach has seen it boost the workforce by 40% – critical in supporting the production of large structural body and chassis castings. There were also major accolades for Kent’s Maybrey Precision Castings and the Black Country’s Newby Foundries (joint Component of the Year winners), with Goodwin Steel Castings claiming the Innovation title.

More information www.castmetalsfederation.com

Filtermist increases uptime at Tooling 2000

One of the biggest challenges for any machine shop is workshop air quality and the impact coolant mist has on staff wellbeing. To prevent coolant mist from impacting the air quality in the workplace, Tooling 2000 installed on-machine mist extraction systems from Filtermist.

In addition to COSHH-compliant clean air, the Birmingham-based automotive subcontract manufacturer is also benefitting in other less obvious ways, as senior business development manager at Tooling 2000, Iain Bubb, explains: “Filtermist systems firstly protects our workforce, which is of paramount importance. However, they also allow us to open our machine doors sooner, providing more machining uptime.”

If the doors of the machines are opened immediately after a cutting cycle without Filtermist system in place, oil mist enters the air. This results in a film on the machines, tools, floor and anything else in the vicinity, causing a health and safety concern.

“With Filtermist, we’re removing all airborne particulates from the machine tool atmosphere, which not only keeps the inside of the machine clean, but also also helps to remove the swarf as it does not stick to any tacky coolant residue on the machine bed.”

With the Filtermist FX5002 mist extraction systems fitted to its range of Hurco machining centres, Tooling 2000 finds maintenance of the technology easy to manage.

“We have a TPM [Total Productive Maintenance] system in place so, after a set number of production hours, we change and clean the Filtermist filters. Productivity is also very important to us as it cascades down to the bottom line. With the Filtermist technology we get more uptime from our machines, giving us better productivity and profitability.”

More information www.filtermist.co.uk

Brother machining centre halves cycle times

Aylesbury-based R&A Engineering won a contract in early 2023 to produce several hundred aluminium parts per month (across six variants) for assembly into sensors that optimise the orientation of wind turbines. The job was tying up a pair of BT 40-taper vertical machining centres on the shop floor and impacting the subcontractor’s ability to take on other work. So the decision was taken to transfer production to a 30-taper, high-speed VMC, prompting an order for a Brother M200X3 with 16,000 rpm spindle from Whitehouse Machine Tools.

The new Brother Speedio M200X3 five-axis VMC has on average halved the time it takes to complete post-anodising milling, drilling and tapping operations on the six components. The machine is therefore able to perform the same work as the two VMCs used previously.

Ed Piotrowski, operations manager at R&A, says: “The Brother performs very well. Cycle times are now between 90 seconds and four minutes, half of what they were before. Moreover, the machine holds the ±0.05 mm tolerance all day long without any problem. It’s a really accurate machine.”

Reviewing the characteristics of the respective BT spindle machines, Piotrowski observes that while power and rigidity are higher in a 40-taper VMC, modern, smaller-taper counterparts such as the Brother have a reasonably well specified spindle motor with good torque, even in the medium- to high-speed range. The drive motors are also consistent with robust machining, while face-and-taper-contact tool retention assists further, as in R&A’s case.

He says: “Although the machining of light alloys is really the province of this type of machine, using CAM software to create intelligent cycles involving light depths of cut and high-speed contouring means it can also tackle tough and difficult-to-machine metals.”

More information www.wmtcnc.com