More change for the better at 600 Lathes

Building on the changes it has already made at the West Yorkshire site during the last 18 months, 600 Lathes has made further changes designed to ensure that it is focused on providing customers with profitable turning equipment 600 Lathes is the UK lathe design and manufacturing activity of 600 Group, designing/machining/fabricating/assembling Colchester-Harrison brand CNC machines and designing/performing finishing tasks/quality control on the Colchester and Harrison manual machines, now made in China. It also designs the Dalian range of CNC machines also manufactured in China. Commenting particularly on the UK manufactured element, managing director, 600 Lathes, Jonathan Shaw said “We have one task – to develop, manufacture and deliver Colchester-Harrison lathes which enable our customers to compete effectively in the global market. Everything we do must serve that purpose and no other”. To that end, the design department has been both reorganised and enhanced, with continuous improvement teams created to drive technology forward. Suppliers are involved to ensure the latest technology can be applied in such a way as to make leaner, more efficient manufacturing methods available to customers. The newly organised engineering teams operate closely with the manufacturing engineers because, as Mr Shaw says: “It is essential to manufacture machines which our customers want to buy at a price they can afford and with a cost of ownership which promotes their profitability. “It is equally essential to be in total control of our own processes and costs to ensure we can remain an effective, successful manufacturer in the UK. There are immense advantages to buying form a British manufacturer – ready access to design and manufacturing teams as well as the applications engineering team, superior engineering aptitude, common culture and attitudes, rapid supply of spare consumables, easy access to additional machine capability – and with the Colchester-Harrison range of lathes we are making that potential profit available to our customers.” See also linked article.