Largest DMG machine in UK for sub-contractor

The DMU 340FD mill-turn centre combines two technologies in a single machine, allowing workpieces weighing up to 7,000 kg to be machined using five axes simultaneously in a single set-up. The new 2.5 m, direct drive NC-rotary table offers 40 kW of power. It can provide rotational speeds of 120 rpm, torque of 10,000 Nm and a holding torque of 15,000 Nm. This machine masters a previously unattainable range of horizontal and vertical mill-turn applications, it is claimed. During the evaluation process, Manthorpe first attended the EMO 2005 machine tool exhibition in Hanover, and then the DMG assembly line in Pfronten, Bavaria. Suitably convinced, Manthorpe officially signed the order for the £1.25 million package, which also includes a DMC 160FD twin pallet duoBLOCK mill-turn machine, at the MACH 2006 exhibition in Birmingham. “The DMU340FD is a strategic purchase that will allow us to widen our portfolio of parts both from a size and range perspective in the markets we already serve and hopefully also open up new ones,” explains sales director Chris Bowley. “At the moment, the large majority of our customers are UK-based although we are supplying parts to Belgium, the US and Canada, and are actively looking at other export markets. The DMC 160FD will allow us to consolidate best practice manufacture on current and new parts where we are continually being asked for price and lead-time reductions. "The installation of the DMU 340FD next April, along with a DMC 160FD twin pallet duoBLOCK mill-turn machine, will take our total number of multi-tasking machines to five and increase our machining capability to 3 m diameter from our existing 2 m limit,” Mr Bowley offers.