With a desire to produce parts with superior accuracy, increased complexity in a faster turnaround time, Ram Reman Ltd, a specialist in the production and refurbishment of hydraulic equipment based in West Moors Dorset have invested in a XYZ 320 LTY turning centre.
For over 30 years, this Dorset based business that started life as a family concern before becoming part of the Rotec Group back in 2015, have provided services to the hydraulic industry with the ability to design, manufacture, repair and machine a host of components utilised in a range of industry sectors including, defence, marine, aerospace and utilities to name but a few.
Being in control of the manufacture of components such as cylinders, manifolds, fittings and caps has been at the heart of Ram Reman for many years. These critical parts have been produced on a range of manual and CNC machines including a 6m between centres manual lathe, an XYZ SLX 425 x 2 metre lathe and an XYZ RMX5000 bed mill with 1500mm travel in the X axis.
But as is the case with many manufacturers, pressure has been growing to make more with less and reduce costs when it comes to the production of parts. Tony Foster, Technical Manager, at Ram Reman opens by saying “We manufacture a lot of parts that need both turning and milling operations. Although our existing capacity is able to handle the work, we really needed a solution that would help reduce manufacturing costs through less set ups and allow us to free up the other machines for work that they were better suited for”.
The decision for Ram Reman to purchase an XYZ 320LTY came about following a visit by Russell Bedford, XYZ’s Area Sales Manager for Dorset. Tony continues “We had already started to investigate purchasing a machine to increase throughput when Russell made one of his regular visits. We started chatting to him about our requirements and he then started to discuss with us the features of the machine with its 78mm bar capacity, large turning capability that can go up to 320mm, the maximum main spindle speed that is an improvement over what we currently had of 3300 rpm and the main spindle motor having 32kW (43 hp). All these features plus the advantage of having driven tools and a Y axis with 100mm of travel, highlighted how we could speed up production and following a quote from Russell the machine was purchased”.
Being incorporated into the Rotec Hydraulics group has led to an increase in demand for parts manufactured by Ram Reman and these are not always connected directly to fluid control. Tony continues “One of the differences we are seeing since the installation of the 320 LTY is the speed and flexibility of manufacturing parts. A recent component that was processed through the 320 LTY was a large stainless-steel part where we halved the machining time compared to using the older machines that we have. The spindle power had a lot to do with that but the 12 station VDI turret allows for tool changing without operator intervention and even calibration of the tools is quicker with the Renishaw presetting arm that is fitted to the machine”.
Tony concludes “The speed and performance are just two elements of how we are benefiting from this investment as it also now allows us to think about the way we manufacturer parts such as the scroll located on the end caps. Traditionally we “threaded” the face with a restriction on the depth of cut, but now if we wish, we can mill the scroll into the face without depth restrictions. The purchase of the XYZ 320 LTY has created opportunities for us to become more efficient and productive which was something we needed to achieve and with the help of XYZ we are someway to improving our competitive capability.”.