PRECISION CNC ENGINEERING
From the beginning Nas and I took the decision that if we were going to be successful and competitive we would have to regularly invest in new equipment. The business already had CNC lathes and mills and some conventional equipment, most of which are still working today, but from the start of our transition into the company we knew that modernization would be the key part of our emerging production strategy.
The first machine we acquired, the same year that we purchased the business, was a Victor V-Turn 26 that has a 380 mm maximum turn, 520 mm maximum swing and 650 mm between centers. It was the first of many more Victors that we would purchase and was also the first machine that Dudley Meredith from Victor fortune ever sold. This machine is still very much in operation and the machinist that we assigned to the machine, Derek, is still working on it.”
“We have subsequently purchased another five CNC horizontal lathes, a vertical machining center and a CNC vertical turning lathe from Victor”
Because pumps come in many shapes and types requiring many different sizes of components to match each pumps capacity, pump manufactures require a wide variety of new and replacement parts. The majority of the components that go into assembling a pump require minimal setup time and precision machining.” The pump manufacturers are constantly looking for job shops that can machine these most popular types of pump and valve components at very competitive prices and as a result it becomes a “dog eat dog” business.
We decided that we did not want to operate in this area and we have created a niche for ourselves in machining the axisymmetric shapes, so lathe work is the main part of the production, but as we have grown and added more equipment to the shop floor so we have added the variety of operations and components that we are able to machine.
The challenge facing us going forward is that as the equipment becomes more and more sophisticated, it offers opportunities for other players to enter our arena.
To combat this we continue to invest in equipment that is out of the reach of most and allows us to offer more to our clients.
Manufacture and Repairs of Pumps and Valves
