ITC invests in new grinding technology

1 min read

Industrial Tooling Corporation (ITC) extended its manufacturing facility by over 50% in 2016 and now the Tamworth cutting tool manufacturer has invested over £1 million in manufacturing equipment to extend its product ranges, and enhance manufacturing capacity and productivity.

The investments include two Rollomatic grinding centres, a centralised Vomat micro filtration coolant system, a Haimer balancing machine and an Action Super Abrasives (ASA) wheel dressing machine.

The new equipment was delivered in September and has been fully operational since October.

The Rollomatic machines include the new ShapeSmart NP5 blanking machine, ITC’s third Rollomatic precision cylindrical grinding machine. Alongside the ShapeSmart NP5 is the new Rollomatic GrindSmart Nano 6.

The firm says that the two Rollomatic additions will enhance capacity and productivity, while the Nano 6, in particular, will enable ITC to extend existing ranges with precision diameter offerings as small as 0.1mm diameter.

Says ITC managing director Peter Graves: “The two Rollomatic machines will increase our capacity levels in line with business growth. The third blanking machine, the NP5 can run around the clock to meet the ever increasing demand for our product ranges whereas the Nano 6 is an micron precision grinding centre for processing tools below 2mm diameter. This will enable ITC to extend existing product lines to sub 3mm diameters in line with customer enquiries. It will also allow us to investigate the feasibility of introducing new micro tool ranges.”

To ensure optimal conditions, ITC has also installed a centralised coolant system from Vomat. Now linked to all grinding centres at ITC, the temperature controlled Vomat coolant system guarantees coolant is maintained at a constant and cooled temperature in all grinding centres with ultra fine filtration.

Also driving the ongoing improvement in productivity and performance is the new ASA wheel dressing machine. In the first couple of weeks since installation, there has been a dramatic improvement in grinding wheel service life and surface finishes on tool faces have also improved.

Concludes Graves: “With the additional manufacturing footprint, we not only have the space to install production machines, but also invest in technology that will augment our ongoing commitment to customer services and product quality. We will continue ordering high-tech machine tools through the remainder of 2017 and beyond.”