With the target of manufacturing 850 machines a year in the future, the company has invested around €8m in extending its current machining plant in Elorrio, Spain.
The new Precitor plant started up in late February this year, but it will be operational working at 100% capacity by the second half of 2023. The extension of the plant will help the group to increase the manufacture of cylindrical parts by 55% compared to the current plant. At the same time, the closure of the current plant at Elorrio is planned for mid-2023.
Initially, the new Precitor plant, together with Neoprec and Mecaninor, has sufficient capacity for CMZ to manufacture 650 CNC lathes a year, although the company is planning to invest in machinery to increase its annual production up to 850 machines. The building has sufficient space to tackle projects of such calibre because it has tripled the surface area of the current facilities.
This new turning and cylindrical grinding centre has 2,000 square metres of air-conditioned surface area and it has been designed like a clean room; with no columns, and a traversable roof from which to distribute the necessary supplies for the machines and with a 500mm thick concrete floor. The floor means that the temperature does not vary by more than 1º in 24 hours throughout the plant.
To make this project a success, CMZ has invested in the most cutting-edge production resources on the market. As regards turning, CNC lathes will be manufactured in-house. The facilities have ten CNC lathes with one and two turrets, fitted with Gantry Robots to automate the production process. All of the above comes from the company’s product portfolio.
In addition, for cylindrical grinding there are two Studer S40 machines and two Studer S33 for grinding to tolerances of just a few microns. To control part size, CMZ has chosen two Zeiss three-dimensional machines. The Zeiss Prismo model will be used to measure grinding work, due to its high precision and the second model Zeiss Accura will be used for turned parts.
At year end 2022, CMZ said it again registered a new historical maximum in the order book. The company said it has a clear aim - to achieve a turnover of €100m and in the last financial year it almost hit this target.
In its commitment to European products, CMZ said it has taken on the manufacture of more than 80% of the parts for its CNC lathes and the setting up the new Precitor bears testimony to that commitment.
