Cheers! Sun Hydraulics beats shop-floor bottlenecks

with its Amada THV460 duplex milling machine − helped by Accurate Cutting Services from the start

Coventry-based Sun Hydraulics Ltd has responsibility for all European production of ductile iron manifold and integrated packages, used to control force, speed and motion as integral components in fluid power systems, for the global Sun brand. So when operations manager and company director Mark Bennett describes the productivity gains achieved with an Amada THV460 milling machine as impressive, the story is one worth hearing.

“The Amada machines four sides of the workpiece for a single job set-up,” Mark explains. “Also, the operator can set up another job on the control unit, with one still running, for an immediate follow-on. The Amada even enables continuous cutting of a manifold block on the machine, while the operator is setting it up in readiness for the next job.”

The Amada THV460, installed at Sun early in 2018, handles 50 per cent of its manifold production, replacing two Nichols machines which had been fitted with CNC controls by Sun. Only a Kearney & Trecker machine remains active, alongside the Amada. Mark reckons that the Amada duplex milling machine has significantly reduced the job throughput times − which he says is ‘An amazing achievement!’

The Amada THV460 was supplied by Accurate Cutting Services, and Mark was impressed with the “very easy” operator training. “There were two days of training on site, with a further day on offer to check how well the operators had settled into their routines. The support from both Accurate Cutting Services and Amada has been very good.”

The THV series of duplex milling machines handle up to 1200 x 1200 x 400mm material and are equipped with two milling heads which self-centre to the component to reduce setting time. Each head can be fitted with multi-face cutter blocks to mill faces and corners in the same operation. These features offer a high angularity and parallelism, and speed of changeover, to reduce costs and time.

Accurate Cutting Services, established in 1969, are able to provide a full range of high performance blades and quality sawing machinery suitable for all cutting requirements. They carry a wide range of spares, as well as providing full service back up from their Midlands and West Yorkshire locations.

They also offer the UK’s largest and most versatile sub-contract sawing service, enhancing customer production efficiency prior to machining and after casting, forging, fabrication or extrusion.

The company also saws material and scrap for reclamation and reuse and for the investigation of component failures, offering value-recovery opportunities.