One-Hit Machining of Power Generation and Oil & Gas Parts

BSL Industries Ltd. (Tamworth, UK) aims to generate around $332,720 turnover per employee – about three times the industry average – by using high technology machine tool equipment and methods in partnership with DMG Mori Seiki (Coventry, UK).

The manufacturer specializes in the power generation and oil and gas industries and focuses on the top five percent of complex, difficult-to-manufacture parts. Managing Director Andy Forryan, formally the head of manufacturing with PFW Aerospace UK (Farnborough, UK), says, “We have already developed a relationship with leading companies in this sector and this will enable us to expand our penetration of the market by working with other worldwide divisions of these organizations.”

Because of the high cost of a component failure in the power generation and oil and gas industry, there are high barriers to entry for manufacturers before they can get the necessary accreditation. For example, a typical component produced by BSLI is a sensor used in drilling processes that can operate 9.3 miles underground. These very expensive devices are built to the highest standards, but if the equipment fails during drilling the operating cost is many times higher than the purchase price.

Forryan refers to John Ruskin’s 19th century Common Law of Business Practice, which states, “When you pay too much, you lose a little money, that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the things it was bought to do.”

“The track record of our engineers is the key to our success as we have many years of experience in the industry, and we understand and deliver reliability in our components and processes,” notes Forryan, adding that his shop chose DMG Mori Seiki because it has over 17 years of experience with their machine tools. “We need top end machines to manufacture the high value goods we produce and to achieve the levels of reliability we offer our customers.”

Currently the shop uses a NTX2000 mill-turn center, a NMV5000DCG 5-axis vertical machining center and a NLX2000SY twin spindle lathe with Y-axis, with plans to add another NTX mill-turn to match production requirements. Their goal is to achieve one-hit machining that eliminates any problems with concentricity or accuracy, minimizes setting and change over times, uses a standard set of tools and produces an exact and predictable cycle time.

http://youtu.be/Uymm8voUpsA
This demonstration of the NTX2000 turn-mill center shows a high-precision, high-efficiency integrated machine designed for small parts, medical equipment and measuring instruments. It offers extensive features including advanced thermal displacement compensation, a 40 percent smaller footprint than previous models, and original DDM®, ORC® and BMT™ technologies.

“The only secondary operations left to do will be tasks like ultrasonic cleaning, deburring and pressure testing. In our competitive evaluation process, these machine tools produced the best test parts by working easily within 10 microns to eliminate grinding operations,” explains Forryan.

http://youtu.be/K6-m76xK7fk
Here is a demonstration of a NV5000DCG 5-Axis Vertical Machining Center machining a large turbocharger impeller, showcasing its high speed 5-axis countouring, very large angular envelope, 20,000 rpm spindle, and the very latest in Fanuc high speed look ahead software.

BSLI works with a range of materials, including nickel alloys, high tensile steel, aluminium, bronze and even plastics. Currently it is working on a high temperature alloy thrust reverser part that is being turned at 18 rpm, which shows the low speed power and versatility of these machine tools.

Forryan is excited about what the future holds his shop as it is rapidly expands its already successful team of engineers. “We will be adding many more these machine tools over the next few years. So far we are $2.5 million into an $8.3 million investment program that expands our factory by 75 percent, making it able to service customers with only 80 percent of our capacity,” he says. “This will give us the ability to respond to urgent requirements and take on new clients. We have a history of working with large and demanding companies where we can collaborate with them to solve complex machining problems. We operate a lean and proactive operation and DMG Mori Seiki plays a crucial role in our success.”

BSL Industries Ltd., Unit 2, Kingsbury Link, Trinity Road, Tamworth, Staffs B78 2EX United Kingdom, +44 (0)182 723 0888, Fax: +44 (0) 182 723 0889, info@bslindustries.com, www.bslindustries.com.

DMG Mori Seiki UK Ltd., 4030 Siskin Parkway East, Middlemarch Business Park, Coventry, CV3 4PE, United Kingdom, +44 (0) 247 / 651 6120, Fax: +44 (0) 247 / 651 6136, www.dmgmoriseiki.com.