Hone-All Precision orders custom-built CNC hone to meet aerospace industry demand
1 min read
Having completed the extensive refurbishment of its four deep hole borers, Hone-All Precision Ltd hasordered a new HTC series CNC horizontal honing machine from Sunnen Products Ltd. "Creating significant additional
boring capacity means we have to increase the capacity of our honing section to keep pace," says Hone-All Precision co-Director, Andrea Rodney.
The immediate bottleneck has been addressed by the loan of a 2000 mm stroke length Sunnen HTB-2000S PLC horizontal tube honing machine. This will be replaced when the new custom-built HTC-3000W CNC hone specified by Hone-All Precision is delivered and installed in the sub-contract company's 20,000 sq. ft. factory in Bedfordshire.
Guaranteed by Sunnen to provide the 'lowest manufacturing costs per part', the new hone - equipped with a touch screen control that contributes to step-by-step set-up times of less than two minutes - is expected to boost 28-employee Hone-All Precision's honing capacity by up to 200 per cent.
A major incentive for this investment in a versatile and easy to program 3000 mm stroke length honing machine is the growth in demand for the company's sub-contract machining expertise from customers in the aerospace industry. One new aerospace contract alone requires a substantial increase in honing capacity to be in place within the next six months.
"Placing the order for a new hone now makes sure that Hone-All Precision will be in the best possible position to meet this demand and avoid any risk of delay," says Andrea Rodney.
One factor in stimulating demand from the aerospace industry is Hone-All Precision's accreditation to BS EN 9100, the international aerospace quality standard, which was followed in July 2010 by the award of SC21 Bronze level status. This specifies a 90-95 per cent on-time delivery and 98-99.5 per cent quality performance, with Hone-All Precision becoming only the 25th UK company to satisfy the stringent requirements of the aerospace industry's Supply Chains for the 21st Century initiative. It also achieved the distinction of satisfying the Bronze Award criteria in the shortest timescale.
"We have created a precision machining environment here in Leighton Buzzard that takes in everything from sourcing raw materials through to the delivery of high-quality components," says Colin Rodney, Managing Director.
"Maintaining our specialist skills in honing, gun drilling and deep hole boring is an integral part of our business, and this latest investment in a new honing machine is clear evidence of our commitment to a programme of
continuous improvement."
