A positive air is immediately apparent at 600 UK's reconfigured and refurbished Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire facility (01924 415000), where Colchester and Harrison lathes, as well as Pratt Burnerd workholding products, are manufactured, assembled, supplied and supported.
It's been a torrid few years for the country's only remaining machine tool maker publicly quoted in the UK. But its global brand recognition remains strong; indeed, that has been a major factor in its weathering a variety of less than successful business strategies and initiatives, states Mike Berry, 600 UK managing director. During the bad times, distributors stood by the company, he reports; very few cancelling orders, even when lead times were at their most protracted. And he also adds that even without the addition of any new products, of which there are several, because quality, cost and delivery are now all where they should be, growth through increased global market share is possible.
600 UK is the manufacturing facility within the £42 million turnover (2013/14) 'The 600 Group plc'. Sixty percent of group revenue is drawn from machine tool sales, 10% from precision engineered components (Pratt Burnerd workholding and Gamet bearings [made in Colchester]) and, following recent acquisitions (see extended article for more), 30% from its Electrox laser marking operation headquartered in Letchworth.
Founded in 1834, 600 Group sells to over 150 countries around the world and, Berry highlights, its products can be found in "every Fortune 500 company...the list of blue-chip companies is second to none". North America is 600 Group's largest market, representing over half its revenues, with the UK at 20%, continental Europe responsible for 15%, and the rest of the world providing 11%.
Its Colchester and Harrison lathe brands, as well as Pratt Burnerd workholding, have very long pedigrees; 1897, 1898 and 1850, respectively, although were not acquired by the group until 1954, 1971 and 1981, respectively. Gamet is a relative newcomer, established in 1956 and acquired in 1979.
Over the years, one million Colchester and Harrison conventional lathes, Harrison Alpha combined manual/ CNC machines plus Colchester CNC lathes have been manufactured and sold, with an estimated 100,000 in operation today – around half of those employed in training activities. By numbers of machines produced, it is manual and combined manual/CNC lathes that continue to be 600 UK's machine tool bread and butter.
The assembly line for manual lathes and manual/CNC lathes at Heckmondwike
A further 600 Group machine tool brand is Clausing, a distributed range of machine tools that has been an offering in North America and elsewhere, but not in the UK, although that is to change.
But back to the UK and the Heckmondwike manufacturing operation where various diversions since 2005 have seen 600 UK partner with a Chinese machine tool maker for the supply of its conventional and manual/CNC lathes – Dalian Machine Tool Group Corporation; set up a manufacturing facility in Poland after that to try, again unsuccessfully, another route to low-cost manufacture and assembly; and move up market in the CNC lathe area, peaking with an 8-axis Tornado CNC lathe (3-axis models are now top of the range). Along the way, 600 Group has been a take-over target, too.
Brought in to turn the group round, chief executive officer Nigel Rogers arrived in March 2012, just as the company was recording a £15 million net loss on a turnover of £40 million (2011/12). He has recently departed, having met his brief, with that loss becoming an almost £2 million net profit (2013/14) on similar turnover (see extended article for more). Demonstrably financially successful, Rogers' efforts are most evident in the UK at the reconfigured Heckmondwike facility.
The multi-storey office building and adjacent large manufacturing area, complete with toilet block, that once was home to several hundred employees has been disposed of and redeveloped, with operations for the company's 80 employees now contained within an adjacent area of a little under one third of the original 225,000 ft2 site. This has slashed energy costs and business rates, brought people closer together and boosted morale.
BETTER ROUTES TO SUCCESS
The machine shop is better organised, offering more efficient process routes for the machined Pratt Burnerd chucks and Harrison and Colchester lathe beds and headstocks, for example, with a kan ban parts supply regime operating in places. And this reinvigorated UK manufacturing operation is also now served by an increasing number of UK suppliers, as Berry underlines. "In 2005, around 28% of costs – machining, assembly, purchasing and associated activities – were in the UK, over 30% in China and about 25% from Taiwan and the Far East generally. In 2011, with the move to Poland, UK content increased a bit, but Poland then became a significant supplier. Today, UK content is about 62/63%; we source nothing from China, but continue to deal with long established partners in Taiwan and Japan." The list of parts reshored is impressive (see table, next page).
Manufacturing costs are more favourable, but the massive win here is in flexibility, he adds. "We are in control of our production, we don't have five or six months' queuing time; delivery time we have reduced significantly; quality control is massively better and consistent; we have design flexibility, as we have designers upstairs and a machine shop downstairs; and working capital is reduced, as we don't have to carry the stocks of machines that we used to have to hold. And the UK-manufactured label carries a positive message; customers in the UK and Europe like a UK-manufactured machine."
So, Colchester Student (Harrison M300) machines are available "virtually ex-stock"; Colchester Triumph and Master models within two to three weeks; Colchester Mascot and Mastiff are on four to five weeks' delivery; manual/CNC Harrison Alphas are two to eight weeks, depending on specification; and Colchester Tornado CNC machines are available in eight to 10 weeks. The company is building 30-40 per month conventional and Harrison Alpha machines on a single shift, while there's capacity for eight CNC Tornado machines per month over two shifts. On Pratt Burnerd workholding, Berry says that part-machined stock has been boosted, cutting lead times from 14-16 weeks to six to eight weeks. And a £4 million spares stockholding backs the company's significant spares business, supporting machines up to 50 years old.
The above changes and their benefits have been recognised nationally, with 600 UK named regional winner and subsequently national runner-up in the 'EEF/Aldermore Future Manufacturing Awards' 'Business Efficiency' category. And at a June Open House event held at the 'new' West Yorkshire site, further demonstration of a return to a positive trajectory were the many product announcements, with these emphasising the company's educational (manual machines) and CNC/manual combination machine focus, rather than production CNC turning. "There are more product developments this year than I've known in the past 15 years," enthuses 600 UK's managing director, who joined the company in 2001. Some of these are meeting a demand that has existed for some time but which the company has not been able to realise, due, no doubt, to pressing central business matters related to the unsuccessful strategies it has worked through these past 10 years.
NEW PRODUCTS ROLLED OUT
The new products/developments are: Colchester VS (variable speed) conventional machine range; Harrison EziTurn 330 electronic lathe; Colchester Magnum and Magnum LB manuals; Harrison Alpha 1660 and 1760XS; Harrison Alpha 1400XC; Harrison M390 manual; Clausing non-lathe products (manual surface grinder and pedestal drill); Fanuc NC Guide Academic package; and GripSafe for chuck testing.
More fully, the five-model Colchester VS conventional lathe series has been updated with more modern design and styling, including LED spindle power load meter, LED machine light, integrated independent sliding chip guard, integrated independent sliding digital readout unit and new X-axis scale mounting that reduces machine depth. But no changes to the proven mechanics or structure have been made, it is emphasised.
The updated Colchester VS range - looking much more modern
The Harrison EziTurn lathe, aimed at the training market, is based on the 330 mm swing over bed Harrison M300/Colchester Student and is intended as the first step up from a conventional lathe. Although electronic in terms of cycle selection (panel-selected roughing area clearance, threading etc), data input (spindle speed, cut diameter/length, depth of cut, feed) and handwheel control, it is a direct mimic of the procedures employed in a conventional lathe, with safety at the forefront.
The Harrison EziTurn, aimed at education but which may also find favour for industrial applications
The new conventional Colchester Magnum (Harrison V660) and Colchester Magnum LB (Harrison V800) are larger swing machines (660 and 810 mm over bed respectively) offered in various bed lengths. These sit above the Colchester Mastiff (Harrison V550) and they provide the bridge to existing larger capacity Clausing brand conventional lathes (yet to launch in the UK) that offer swing over bed up to 1,270 mm (50 in).
The Alpha 1660XS and 1760XS are 660 and 760 swing over bed combination manual/CNC lathes that extend the capacity in this geared-head range to fill the gap between the 1550XS and 2800XS models. Both optionally have C-axis, but only positioning and only in one of the three gear ranges (2800XS also has this function).
A new Alpha that does boast contouring C-axis is the 400 mm swing over bed 1400XC. This has a P-type Fanuc spindle motor, although it employs the existing headstock casting. (The current 550 mm swing over bed 1550 XM has full C-axis via worm and wheel, and retains the geared head.) In fact, the Alpha celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, having been launched at the EMO exhibition in 1995, in Italy and where the event will be held this year.
Finally for the Harrison range, the manual 400 mm swing over bed M390 geared headstock lathe makes its return to the fold.
By popular demand, the return of the Harrison M390
Boosting 600 Group's educational offering, a surface grinder and a pedestal drill from the Clausing range are now available. The grinder has a table size of 152 by 457 mm, a grinding length of 483 mm and a grinding width of 179 mm. The drill is a 150 to 2,000 rpm 3 Morse taper unit. These, together with 600 Group distributor RK International Machine Tools' Europa milling machine (01322 447611), support the offer of a full educational machine suite. Also intended for education is a price-competitive Fanuc NC Guide Academic package that supports 16 learners.
GripSafe is Pratt Burnerd's next generation chuck grip testing unit that boasts Wifi connection to a tablet or other device having a browser – all application software is embedded in GripSafe, with results displayed in the browser. A test results certificate and any other displayed information can be printed from the tablet.
But CNC production turning has not been neglected, as the new Tornado EL range was unveiled at last year's MACH exhibition. Offered in eight models of 440 or 600 mm swing over bed, these are entry-level 2- and 3-axis CNC lathes and complement the existing eight-model standard Tornado range of 2- and 3-axis CNC lathes of the same capacity.
The message is clear: 600 Group is unambiguous about its market and can now serve it effectively. It has, quite literally, travelled the world in discovering how best to succeed in manufacturing, finding that the answer lies at home.
Extended article from here
Box item 1 of 2
Statement on Nigel Rogers' resignation and trading update
Nigel Rogers, who resigned on 30 April, became chief executive officer of The 600 Group in March 2012. The official statement of 30 April says: "[He] successfully carried out the disposal of [The 600 Group's] operations in Poland and South Africa and, later, the sale of surplus property assets in the UK. Under his direction, a very capable senior executive team has been put in place to manage the machine tools, precision engineering components and laser marking businesses in the UK and the USA, where an ever greater proportion of [The 600 Group's] activities are now taking place. This team will now report to Paul Dupee." Dupee was previously non-executive chairman, but is now executive chairman. He is an American national and an experienced private equity investor who is currently managing partner of Haddeo Partners LLP, a substantial shareholder in The 600 Group.
Commenting, Dupee said: "The Board thanks Nigel for leading [The 600 Group] over last few years and his work in overcoming some of the legacy issues and re-directing the trading activities to achieve greater efficiencies and focus.
"We now have a good position from which to expand into the areas where we can accelerate growth organically and by acquisition, particularly in the USA, and I'm looking forward to working with the team to make this happen."
At the time of this announcement and ahead of the full year results to be announced at the end of June, group revenues were expected to be approximately 5% ahead of the prior year, or 3% on a like-for-like basis, excluding the effect of the acquisition of TYKMA Inc in February 2015.
Total group profit before taxation (including the effects of pension credits, pension credit interest, amortisation and the costs attributable to the acquisition and associated fund raising) is expected to be over £3 million (2014: £2.48 million).<ends>
Box item 2 of 2
Electrox business expansion
The 600 Group PLC acquired 80% of the common stock of TYKMA Inc, a US-based laser marking business. Privately-owned TYKMA, based in Chillicothe, Ohio, USA, specialises in the design, production and distribution of laser marking systems for a broad range of industry applications.
The TYKMA business will be fully integrated with Electrox, the group's existing laser business, which will become Electrox Laser Ltd.
In a related technology move, in August last year, The 600 Group acquired 26.3% of the issued share capital of ProPhotonix, based in Salem, New Hampshire, USA. It has two businesses, one that manufactures LED systems in Cork, Ireland, and one that produces and distributes laser modules and diodes from Hatfield Broad Oak in the UK. With this, The 600 Group Plc has become the largest shareholder in ProPhotonix.
In a statement about the share acquisition, published on 17 September 2014, Dupee said: "There is growing need for the identification and traceability of products and components throughout the supply chain in many industry sectors, often resulting from more stringent regulatory requirements. We expect this to increase convergence of permanent marking, scanning and automation processes, and to generate strong demand for integrated solutions in this arena.Accordingly, we continue to pursue opportunities to expand our business interests in laser marking and allied technologies."
First published in Machinery, July 2015
