Subcontractor Roscomac’s competitively lean edge

Roscomac is producing evermore complex components in difficult materials, as Mr Mortello explains: "Customers are now combining so many different features into a part that modern production engineering often requires a totally different approach involving lateral thinking to create a competitive edge. To achieve this our workforce has to be trained and encouraged to maximise the benefits of continuous improvement." The philosophy is benefiting the Worthing-based subcontractor with £12 million in sales allowing £2.3 million to be invested into machine tools during 2010. The 40,000 ft² machine shop contains 60 CNC machines and a 100-pallet flexible manufacturing system (FMS). And 2010 improvements haven't ended yet with the recent purchasing of two Citizen CNC sliding head turn-mill centres as well as seven top of the range machining centres and an FMS cell being installed. The company is also re-laying out the machine shop, resealing the whole factory floor, installing low energy lighting and putting in a new central extraction system for the nine Citizen CNC sliding head turn-mill centres that run on cutting fluid. The business also has a wholly-owned 27,000 ft² subsidiary company Roscomac Cz based in Brno, Czechoslovakia. Here a further £1.5 million has been invested this year and some 14 CNC machines plus a 75 pallet FMS and robotic-loaded machining centres have been installed.