Award-winning demonstration

Makino and Okuma agent NCMT officially picked up its Queen’s Award for International Trade awarded in April last year at a ceremony held at its Coventry headquarters in November. But ahead of that particular accolade, managing director Dave Burley surprised the employees by revealing another one, which actually goes some way to explaining why this machine tool importer has won an award for export.

NCMT (https://is.gd/pucuxe) and grinding wheel maker Tyrolit (https://is.gd/qutinu) were involved in developing the VIPER (Very Impressive Performance Extreme Removal) grinding process with Rolls-Royce from around the turn of the century. In 2005, Makino-NCMT Grinding Division was established to market Makino machines configured for VIPER grinding of nickel alloys throughout the whole of Europe. In fact, it has supplied them further afield and is the acknowledged global repository of machining centre-based grinding knowledge for Makino-based solutions. Turbine blades were VIPER’s original focus, but it has been applied more broadly.
The award revealed to the staff was one bestowed on it by The Makino Milling Machine Co for its VIPER success. Entitled ‘Outstanding Contribution Award’, it reads ‘For the greatest contribution in the achievement of the distribution of 200 VIPER process grinding machines in the world, 2018’. NCMT has been responsible for 160 of those 200, in fact.