Aerospace supplier invests in latest tool presetting technology

Benham Precision Engineering has been a leading supplier of complex components and sub-assemblies to the aerospace and defence sectors for many years, operating 22 machine tools to create a range of parts such as manifolds, bodies, castings and casings, each to exacting standards.

Based across two sites in Southampton, the company’s ethos has always been one of constant improvement in terms of its technology, people and processes, particularly when it comes to driving efficiency.

That dedication to being the best of the best has helped to steer the business’s continued success, and played a major role in the decision to invest in a Zoller tool presetting solution that continues to work seamlessly and help maximise Benham’s productivity, more than a decade after the Smile 600 machine was first installed.

Benham’s engineering manager Neil Griggs said: “We’ve got some 76-tool change machines in our factory. It was taking us up to three hours to find the tools, put them in the machine and measure them. That’s dead time.

“We’ve had the Zoller for about 12 years. We wanted to reduce cycle times on the shop floor – we’ve got a tool setter that builds the tools from our set-up sheet, he then puts them onto the Zoller and measures the lengths, diameters and so on.

“All the information is stored on the back of the chip and that is then put to the machine. Consequently, what that does is it saves time on initial set-up and probably reduces our set-up on long-running jobs with multiple tools by two hours.”

www.carfulangroup.com