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Capital investment continues despite uncertainty says DMG Mori UK

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Steve Finn, the managing director of DMG Mori UK reports that confidence in the marketplace to proceed with capital investment is being upheld despite potential uncertainty. The comments come as the company sees its order intake for 2018 split 68% subcontractor business and 32% OEM business, which is in stark comparison to just two years previous, when order intake comprised 65% OEM business and 35% subcontractor business.

"Investing in new machinery and automation is high on the list of priorities for UK companies, despite the current uncertainty,” says Finn. “DMG Mori Finance has played a major role in helping companies to invest while protecting their capital reserves. Traditionally, a lending assessment is based on historical financial information, with little credence placed on the positive effect of a new machine tool to a business; often this can result in less favourable terms being offered. With DMG Mori Finance, we have a thorough understanding of the industry and this has enabled us to take a future-related view on machine tool investment. Instead of concentrating almost exclusively on historic financials, DMG Mori Finance is able to place priority on the intended outcome of the investment, as it is funded by DMG Mori itself, which has resulted in a significant increase in new customers taking advantage of our finance, reaching 34% in 2018.”

To increase the productivity of machinery, and sustain and expand their businesses, companies now understand the importance of automation, states Finn. At the company’s last open house in 2018, 80% of the machines had automation featuring, for example, robots and gantry loaders. The key demand was for solutions which suited low-volume, high-variety applications. With these types of relatively simple automation systems, machines can be run 24 hours at a rate of £7-£8 per hour and still be profitable.

Examples of the latest automation systems include ‘Robo2Go 2nd Generation’ for workpiece handling on lathes, and the PH 150 with up to 12 pallets and a maximum load capacity of 250 kg. In total, DMG Mori has 50 solutions in the area of workpiece and pallet-handling systems.

“In view of the surge in automation installations, and to ensure reliability for machines used under automation, we have split our maintenance and service departments,” says Finn. “We consider planned maintenance to be crucial to our customers’ operations so that they can keep running with the minimum of unplanned breakdowns. Our maintenance department will be focused on delivering a preventative maintenance schedule so that production can be planned around it.

“Despite the uncertainty, we are seeing companies taking matters into their own hands and relying on their skills and abilities to secure the future of their businesses by making them more competitive through investment in technology,” he concludes. “DMG Mori is helping manufacturers make the changes necessary to make this a reality.”