The machine tool order, which has been placed on Okuma’s UK agent NCMT, is valued at £7 million.
The Japanese-built, 5-axis, vertical-spindle machines are ideally suited to volume production of nickel alloy aero engine parts to tight tolerances.
Seven of the machines have already been installed and are producing components, while the remaining two are due for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2017. They form the major share of a £10 million investment at the Birmingham plant that includes tooling, automation, metrology equipment and CADCAM software.
Says Mike Tew, operations director at Bromford Industries: “The Okuma VMCs were selected due to their perceived quality, which has subsequently been demonstrated in production. Our aerospace supply programmes are long-term and to fulfil them we need machine tools that maintain top levels of accuracy for extended periods, especially as they are running 24/7.
“Another factor in favour of the supplier was the successful installation a couple of years ago of an Okuma Multus B400II multifunction turn-mill centre, which has proved reliable in operation and has been well supported by NCMT.”
Bromford Industries plans to install an automated storage and retrieval system from the Finnish firm, Fastems, which has already been designed by NCMT to link seven of the MU-6300Vs to form a flexible manufacturing system in 2018. Further investment will also be made in four more machines from Okuma to complement the MU-6300Vs and support increased production for flagship aerospace programs internationally.
