Joint managing directors and owners, father and son team Andy and Martin Forryan, considered buying a replacement from the supplier of the original twin-spindle, 32mm capacity slider, but opted instead for a Cincom M32-VIIILFV from Citizen Machinery UK.
3,000-off is a large run for sliding-head turned parts at h2m, while production of batches of relatively simple components up to 500-off is typical for unattended overnight running. However, trickier jobs are completed during day shifts in batch sizes as low as 10- off, so speed of programming is essential to minimise machine downtime. Otherwise, the reduction in productivity would lower profitability.
Andy and Martin paid particular attention to this issue and concluded the Cincom lathe with Citizen's Alkart Wizard programming system would be less expensive and several times faster than if the other lathe had been purchased. The wizard assists and simplifies the creation of even complex cycles using a built-in code library, reference material and diagrams.
