2D CNC adds award-winning machine tool maker Wele Mechatronic to portfolio
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2D CNC, which already represents Japan's Mitsui Seiki and others, now represents Taiwan's Wele Mechatronic, which is a strategic alliance company within the JTEKT Group that owns Mitsui Seiki and Toyoda Machine Tool, with JTEKT itself a sub-group of Toyoda car maker Toyoda Koki.
Wele was established in Taiwan in 2007 as a machine tool builder, following the success of its previous services consultancy operation involving mechanical research and development in the industry. In this role the company employed 100 people and provided development support to many of the leading machine tool companies including JTEKT, which took a 40% shareholding in 2008, with the remaining shareholding of the business held by its employees to "foster long term operational entrepreneurship".
Says 2D CNC managing director David Holden: "Wele brings a high quality JTEKT-inspired machine range to the UK for the first time, having developed some 70 machines since 2007. With sales of over £56 million in 2012, it had 2,000 machines installed worldwide by the year's close, an increase of 545 machines installed in 2011. By the end of 2013, current order books and build schedules will show an installed base growing to over 2,700 machines."
In fact, a £720,000 order was taken at last month's EMO 2013 by Wele from an Italian subcontractor for the show launch machine, the award winning MT-16W moving cross-rail milling and turning centre, which has vertical and horizontal head changing.
The high specification machine had an X-axis of 2,800 mm a Y-axis of 3,060 mm, 800 mm in Z, 1,000 mm in W and a full 360° C-axis. Such was the specification of the machine that it had been presented prior to the show with the Taiwan machine tool industry's Supreme Excellence Award 2013 within the 'Research and Innovation' category.
Producing machine tools on three sites in Taiwan and employing 420 people, the Wele range of machines spans vertical machining centres having X,Y,Z axis strokes of 900 by 650 by 600 mm up to 2,500 mm in X and 900 mm in Y and Z. There is also a range of 5-axis tilting head and trunnion machines with travels up to 4,060 mm by 3,200 mm by 1,200 mm.
In addition, cross-rail machines, moving overhead bridge machines having X, Y and Z-axes up to 16,000 by 5,000 by 1,000 mm, and a complete series of horizontal borers, vertical turning and milling centres and multi-milling and turning bridge machines complete the range.
