Romi machine tools now available from Rugby-based subsidiary - Open House this week

Romi lathe sales were previously supported via Matsuura Machinery, Coalville, but Romi Sandetto UK will be pushing a wider range, taking in manual/CNC teach lathes, CNC lathes and vertical machining centres, with all having a claimed price and performance advantage versus the established competition. For example, its VMCs have 30-tool capacity versus the more usual 24, fast chip-to-chip time, while rapid feedrates are 30 m/min across its machines, versus the more usual 24 m/min, claims Romi Sandretto UK national sales manager, machine tools, Paul Reeves. An Open House at the Rugby HQ this week intends to underline that message to up to 100 invited guests, while the company's presence at Southern Manufacturing earlier this month, with a teach lathe, saw significant interest, reports Mr Reeves, who adds: "This machine is a big seller for our European subsidiaries, in Germany, for example." At the Open House, a teach lathe package comprising C 420 (430 swing over bed), 8" chuck, 8-station turret, tailstock and manual operation pack is offered for £39,000. Other deals available are an 800 mm X-axis D 800, with 8,000 rpm spindle, offered at £50,000 installed and ready to run, with a high speed version (15,000 rpm) available at around £65,000. On the CNC turning centre front, an Open House offer of £50,000 for a GL 240 M, 300 by 400 mm (cutting diameter by cutting length), driven tool lathe with C-axis, toolsetter, 8" chuck, 12-station turret, parts catcher and tailstock is available. Romi has had a presence in the UK, on and off and in one form or another, for a number of years, but only claims lathe installations of around 20, according to Mr Reeves, while there are fewer than a handful machining centres installed in the UK. Worldwide, however, Industrias Romi has supplied 180,000 machine tools in its 80-plus years, currently produces around 250/month, on average, and boasts a range of 140-odd machine tool models. The focus in the UK is on the seven model C series manual/CNC lathes; the seven-model GL series CNC lathes (driven tools and C axis available); plus the five-model D series vertical machining centres. (Options multiply this for base offering. For example, spindle speed options for the VMCs are 8,000, 10,000, 12,000 and 15,000 rpm.) Fanuc and Siemens controls are offered. Romi Sandretto UK already claims success, in fact, with recent sales of both a teach lathe and vertical machining centres. A couple of weeks prior to the Open House, Mr Reeves reports a C 510 sold to a toolmaker/general engineer, plus two D 1000 VMCs to a "blue-chip" customer to support toolroom work. The latter was impressed by the tool capacity, spindle speed range and rapid feedrates, as well as the price, he offers. This sale was also aided by the firm being a Sandretto customer. "Sandretto and Romi do have common customers, in that Sandretto injection moulding machine users are potential buyers for Romi machine tools for their mould tool work. There are a lot of mould shops with toolrooms in the UK." Outside of that common customer link, plus competitive prices and superior performance, fast delivery is another claimed strength. For example, if a machine is not available within the UK, drawing on European stock held in France, Germany, Spain and Italy, delivery is just "three to four days", with supply from Brazil of an available machine of just "20-25 days", underlines Mr Reeves. In fact, the D 800 at the Open House came from Italy, taking just three days, he adds. Further, the recent C 510 sale required supply of a toolpost from Brazil, as it wasn't available locally, and that took just just three days by air. Service and support strength are another element highlighted by Mr Reeves. "Brazil is only two hours behind us and the factory is open from 07:30 till 17:00, which means that sales, service, technical support and spares are available throughout the day, bar half an hour." Further telephone support is available from within Europe, while, at Rugby, there are two in-house service/support staff. And for peace of mind, a 12-month warranty is offered, although this may soon become a two-year offering. Also at the Open House this week are barfeed supplier Hydrafeed, which will support Sandretto Romi UK's barfeed requirements, including installation; cutting tool firm M A Ford; Rugby-based rotary table specialist TDT; and Romi sales agent Mid Bucks Machine Tools.