HGL moves into machining
The Harlow Group (HGL) has added a machining centre to complement its fabrication service which can produce high quality, precision products for the aerospace, medical, marine, communication and associated industries.
For over 40 years HGL’s core business has been in sheet metal fabrication and for the first time the company has expanded into machined parts manufacturing.
Traditionally a supplier of precision sheet metal parts, the company offers a full fabrication service including finishing and assembly. As a ‘one stop shop’ is becoming increasingly important to customers, the decision was taken to diversify and provide a service that was historically bought in from a sub-contract supply base.
HGL have invested in two of the very latest state of the art YCM milling machines. Driven by Heidenhain controllers the NXV1020A milling machines are highly accurate with direct drive motors and capable of producing market leading accuracy.
HGL Managing Director Bill Timpson said: “We have a large mix of high precision components that we supply and in many cases machine parts go hand-in-hand with the sheet metal parts. So with customers demanding more from suppliers, it was a natural development to add machining to our portfolio of services. The YCM machines are excellent introductory models, providing versatility and reliability in manufacturing complex parts. “
The machines have been carefully designed and produced with the most up to date advances available in mechanical and electronic technology. They are low noise, low friction and smoother movement in high speed traverse.
Given the challenging nature of the industry sector, the machines have the capability of producing highly accurate complex components in both small and large batch quantities. The company has also invested in a highly skilled workforce and included the machining centre into their apprenticeship training programme.
The cell entered service within days of installation and the employees have just completed their training on ‘SolidCam’ programming. The strategy behind our latest investment is to control our manufacturing costs more closely and improve production control. The intention is to run the cell on a rotating shift basis to maximise output.
Supported by AS9100 aerospace accreditation the cell is maintained through all stages of manufacture. The facility can produce parts in a variety of materials including copper, aluminium, steels and plastics.
Established in 1975, the Harlow Group is a precision metal fabricator providing design, prototyping, laser cutting, CNC punching, welding, forming, machining, finishing and assembly operations, from a single source. Operating out of 65,000 square foot of manufacturing space, the Harlow Group uses the latest sheet metal technology and manufacturing techniques and the company employs over 100 people.