Fort Vale Engineering adds 21st Mori Seiki to international fleet
1 min read
Fort Vale Engineering has 20 Mori Seiki machines in the UK and six at its Chinese manufacturing facility. It is just installing its 21st machine in the UK, a Mori Seiki SL603 CNC lathe, to replicate a successful manufacturing cell in its Chinese plant.
The company's headquarters and primary manufacturing site is in Simonstone, Lancashire and it has wholly owned subsidiaries in the USA, Netherlands, Russian Federation, PR China, Singapore and Australia, as well as a worldwide distribution network.
The company specialises in valves and ancillary equipment for the road tanker and tank container industries, where it has a large share of the worldwide market.
Andrew Bryce director for innovation says: "Our products are manufactured in 316 and 304 stainless steel and we use our Mori Seiki machines for the most arduous machining tasks. I have had 28 years of experience with Mori Seiki in different roles, and the rigidity of the machines is outstanding."
Fort Vale's Chinese manufacturing plant has been using a Mori Seiki SL603 to produce components up to 600 mm in diameter since 2007. The design of the components can be forged rings, sawn billets or pressings, which often feature large drilled holes around them.
"We really rate the SL range of machines, which is why we installed one in Shanghai," says Mr Bryce. "The SL603 was the only machine that could do what we wanted. It has been very reliable, has the rigidity and power for big depths of cut, which are greater than competitive machines can achieve, and it is very versatile, enabling us to machine a wide range of products.
"The success of the machine in China has led us to replicate this in the UK, so it was an easy decision to install a SL603 in Simonstone. We run the machines for 110 hours per week and we expect to achieve at least 16 years' useful life from them. One of our existing big Mori Seiki machines was installed in 1996 and it still has 3-4 years life in it, so this will be easily achievable."
Indeed, service, reliability, rigidity and power were key factors in Fort Vale Engineering's decision to purchase the Mori Seiki SL603. Concludes Mr Bryce: "Mori Seiki's service is second to none and the rigidity enables us to cut or stainless steel parts without worrying about tool chatter even at large depths of cut. Our policy is to look at the capabilities of the machine, the SL603 can hold around 3.5 tonnes in the chuck, and then evaluate potential markets. We are starting to see requirements for components for the low carbon industry. Much of the work is large diameter making it ideal for the SL603."
