46 | MANUFACTURING CNC Machining Co Proudly supporting CNC Machining Co Ltd with expert electrical solutions—powering sustainable infrastructure across Aotearoa. NZ-owned Ultimate Anodise offers precision anodising with superior corrosion resistance and consistent quality. Trusted for architectural and industrial aluminium finishes, we combine expert service with fast turnaround. • Automotive • Mechanical engineering • Medical • Marine • Defence • Aerospace 2/28 Henderson Valley Road, Henderson 0612, Auckland Phone : 09 836 8889 • www.ultimate-anodise.co.nz Technology improving efficiency, capability The workshop houses a mix of CNC lathes and machining centres, including five two-axis lathes and three live-tooling machines. T T Russell Fredric “The five-axis machines are probably our most soughtafter machines. They’re incredible, especially the Matsuura, with 60 tools and the quality, accuracy and repeatability.” Based in Papakura, Auckland, CNC Machining Co Ltd has been delivering precision-machined components to New Zealand and international industries for more than 40 years, building a reputation for quality, innovation and reliability. Today, the business employs around 25 highly skilled staff, and supplies customers across industries including aviation, medical technology, agriculture, marine, automotive and aerospace using a broad range of high-precision CNC lathes and machining centres. Key account manager, Vinny de Pater, has been with the company for almost two decades and has seen customer expectations, and the technology needed to meet them, change dramatically over that time. The workshop houses a mix of CNC lathes and machining centres, including five two-axis lathes and three live-tooling machines capable of completing multiple operations in a single setup. The business has also invested in five-axis technology, including two Haas UMC 750 machines and a Matsuura MX-520, capable of achieving micron-level accuracy. “The five-axis machines are probably our most sought-after machines. They’re incredible, especially the Matsuura, with 60 tools and the quality, accuracy and repeatability,” says Vinny The company’s investment in live-tooling technology has expanded what can be produced efficiently. Features that once required components to move between a lathe and a milling machine can now often be completed in a single operation, reducing handling, setup time and lead times. “It means lead times are reduced, because we don’t have multiple setups. If the part lends itself to being able to do this, you can just run them overnight and have complete parts coming off that are ready to put into a box.” Keeping pace with advances in machining technology has also been essential to maintaining competitiveness in a specialised manufacturing sector. “There are plenty of machine shops with live tooling now, so it’s difficult to compete if someone else can complete a part in one operation and you can’t,” Vinny says. The company is also focused on reducing setup times throughout the workshop. Zero-point clamping technology enables operators to swap fixtures rapidly, reducing downtime between production runs, improving repeatability, and increasing machine utilisation. The business supplies customers across a diverse range of industries, with aviation, medical and agricultural manufacturing forming a significant proportion of its workload. It also produces components for Rocket Lab, marine, automotive and civil engineering applications. While the company is not a product design house, it regularly works alongside customers to solve manufacturing challenges. Most projects begin with a technical drawing or digital model, but the team can also reverse engineer existing components when required. Most production consists of small- to medium-volume manufacturing runs rather than one-off jobs. Typical orders range from 20 to 100 components, although some recurring contracts involve quantities in the thousands and have been part of the business for decades. Automation is another area of investment. A robotic loading system is already operating on one machine, automatically loading raw material, unloading finished components, and restarting the machining cycle without operator intervention. “We’re not trying to replace people; we’re trying to let our skilled people focus on skilled work,” says Vinny. “Automation takes away the repetitive tasks so our team can concentrate on problem- solving, quality and the work that only people can do.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=