Start-up company Endeavor Engineering selects Mills CNC and Doosan

Formed by directors Andy Strong and Martin Bell, with trading commencing in August 2012, the company's focus to manufacture high precision components delivered on time, every time at a competitive price, and to provide customers with high quality manufacturing solutions accessed from a single-source. The company's Didcot location was deliberately selected not just because the directors knew the area well, but also because Oxfordshire has a thriving manufacturing base supplying the UK motorsport sector and a number of scientific research organisations and facilities (Harwell Science & Innovation Campus; Rutherford Appleton Laboratory; Diamond Light Source Ltd etc) in close proximity. Says Mr Strong: "We knew from our own experience, and by researching the potential customer base that, as long as we had the right manufacturing technologies and business systems and processes in place, we could attract and win business, and succeed." Endeavor Engineering has invested in four new Doosan machine tools from Mills CNC. The first three machines - a Puma 2600 lathe, a Puma 2600Y lathe with integrated Y-axis, and a DNM large-capacity 650 vertical machining centre – were installed in August 2012, with a second vertical mill – a Doosan DNM 500 – in August 2013. Explains Mr Bell: "There is an obvious temptation for new companies to invest in used, as opposed to new, machines. "However, the performance of used machines can be inconsistent and we certainly couldn't afford to compromise the very essence of our company vision (quality, reliability, speed of delivery etc.) by investing in machine tools that weren't up to the job." Although both directors had experience of working on Doosan (Daewoo) machines in the past, it wasn't a foregone conclusion that Doosan would be chosen. Recalls Mr Strong: "We did our research, using the internet and social media channels. We talked to other manufacturing companies about the best-performing and best-value machine tools on the market. "We attended the MACH 2012 show to talk directly with machine tool suppliers and to evaluate the support services (after-sales, finance, technical and applications support, training etc.) they could provide to new start-up companies." Following the shortlisting of a number of companies, he adds: "We found that Mills CNC were onboard with us straight away and adopted a proactive approach. "By discussing our needs with them, we agreed that we would (initially) invest in two Puma lathes and a large capacity DNM milling machine. This investment would give us the machining capacity and manufacturing flexibility required to manage everything from one-off/small volume part production through to large batch manufacture – irrespective of the materials being machined (aluminium, steels, stainless, Duplex, titanium etc.). The Puma 2600 2-axis machine has a 10" chuck and has a maximum turning diameter of 480 mm and 760 mm maximum work-piece length. The lathe was installed with a bar-feeder. The Puma 2600Y with its +/-52mm Y-axis and C-axis enables more complex parts to be machined in one set-up. To manage the company's milling requirements, Endeavor installed a DNM 650 vertical machining centre, equipped with a 15 kW 12,000 rpm spindle and a large-capacity work table (1,300 mm by 670 mm) and, 12 months later, followed this up by investing in a smaller DNM 500 machine. Endeavor's decision to invest in Doosan technology was heavily influenced by the support services provided by Mills CNC. Explains Mr Bell: "Doosan machines perform well. They are reliable and cost-competitive, but what really swung the deal was what Mills brought to the party. "Mills' after-sales support is first-class, as was evidenced when we experienced a power surge after the machines has been installed. "The surge, occurring during a toolchange operation, caused one of our machines to freeze. "This happened on a Friday evening and we had planned to run the machine over the weekend. "We called Mills' Help Desk to see if they could assist us and, having been talked through how to reset the parameters of the machine, were soon back-in-business." Some 15 months since, the company was created Endeavor has grown. It has recruited an additional operator/programmer and is now securing high value work from other sectors (for example,oil and gas).