Broadbent Stanley wins order and preferred supplier status

And in doing so on a tight deadline, it now tops the customer’s preferred supplier list for Oil Country lathe technology. When the Middle East’s largest manufacturer of welded casing (pipe), the Arabian Pipes Company (APC) based in Riyadh Second Industrial City, Saudi Arabia was looking to replace two hollow spindle lathes, their first port of call - through Aberdeen consultants Norkram - was to the Halifax, West Yorkshire-based specialist lathe builder, Broadbent Stanley. The specification called for two ‘stand alone’ hollow spindle CNC lathes with a 21” (535 mm) spindle bore capable of machining an 18.625” oil standard, buttress thread on each end of a 40’ (12.2 m) length of steel casing - required on a short lead time. The lathes would then be supplied to another party who would be responsible for the complete turnkey package. Broadbent Stanley managing director, Graham Thomas, not only confidently bid for the machines but for the complete turnkey. This comprised a cell incorporating a complex mechanical handling system for manoeuvring the 40’ casings and a Torquing machine for attaching the threaded joining collars to them. A potential problem was that Broadbent Stanley had no space to lay out the cell, due to buoyant business conditions, so Mr Thomas contacted specialist machine tool rebuilder and CNC retrofitting company Halifax Numerical Controls Ltd (HNC) based in nearby Halifax and just minutes away from Broadbent Stanley, and asked to utilise their facility and skills. Agreement was reached and when the lathes were completed mechanically, along with Schunk front and rear mounted pneumatic self centring, 3 jaw chucks, they were shipped to HNC. The Torquing machine previously specified and ordered from Aberdeen-based AMC Engineering was delivered along with all mechanical handling equipment from American casing manipulating specialists OCTG of Houston, Texas. Broadbent Stanley engineers, with the assistance of HNC personnel, were able to construct the cell, complete all the climatically enclosed electrics, develop and write the additional software for the GE Fanuc 18i-TB controller including the necessary thread repair cycles, keeping to the tight schedule previously agreed with his customer. Successful cutting trials followed with the turnkey package delivered and installed as agreed. The company’s performance on this occasion has seen Broadbent Stanley now topping APC’s preferred supplier list for all its Oil Country, hollow spindle turning requirements.