British manufacturers in perfect 'unison'

Unison has already benefited from its purchase, with the Alpha's ability to machine complex shapes fast and with high-precision accuracy, as the company's machine shop manager, Steve Chambers (pictured), commented: "We have not been able to produce some of these components to the same standard of accuracy and finish before, so it has definitely improved our machining capability." The Colchester-Harrison Alpha 1550XS also offers high-accuracy repeatability for batches of turned components, as well as, it is claimed, the fastest set-up times of any lathe on the market. Manufactured to exacting tool-room accuracy standards (DIN 8605), it is simple to programme and operate in all modes. Managing director Alan Pickering explains there are other practical reasons for choosing a pedigree British machine, the first CNC-type lathe ever bought by the Scarborough-based company: "The availability of spares and service support is vitally important when making an investment decision." "The disruption to air transport from the volcanic ash problem earlier this year is a perfect example of what can happen. If we had needed a spare part to be sent from a foreign supplier in an emergency at that time, we wouldn't have been able to get it," he says. Unison is a family-based business, founded in 1973, which specialises in all-electric CNC tube bending machines used in shipyards, aerospace, the automotive industry and other manufacturing sectors, including furniture-making.