The installation of an XYZ TC 400 turning centre at DAS Engineering is the 25th machine purchased from XYZ Machine Tools by this successful subcontract machining business started back in 1990 with just a manual turret mill and centre lathe. Dave Stone, Owner of DAS, made his first purchase of an XYZ Vulcan turning centre back in 2002 and it was the start of a relationship that has helped the company based in Swillington, Yorkshire to outgrow 2 industrial units and now employs 22 machinists.
That original purchase of an XYZ turning centre was a story of desire as Dave recounts “We went to a MACH show in 2002 specifically to see the up-and-coming XYZ Machine Tools and made a beeline for their stand. As soon as I saw the Vulcan turning centre, I fell in love with it and knew I needed to have one. Within a couple of weeks of the show, we had purchased one and 23 years later the machine is still doing 45 hours a week and holds tolerances just as it did on day one”.
It was the reliability of this turning centre and the Siemens control fitted with Shopturn conversational software that inspired Dave to start investing in more XYZ products. He continues “The combination of the mechanics of the machines and the easy-to-use Siemens conversational controls have proven to be the cornerstone of our business. We absolutely love the Siemens control and, in my opinion, has to be the most user-friendly control on the market”.
Over the years since that original purchase, DAS have purchased a range of XYZ products including box section and linear rail constructed machining centres, various sizes of CNC lathes and even a surface grinder. The most recent acquisitions have been an XYZ 800 HD machining centre and the TC 400 2 axis turning centre. Dave explains the thought process behind the investment in the turning centre “We needed a machine with greater metal removal capability. The TC 400 fitted the bill perfectly with its 43hp spindle motor and 40 VDI 12 station turret we knew it would be robust enough to increase the material removal rates and hence reduce cycle times. The maximum turned diameter capability of 400mm, and maximum turned length of 600mm increased the capacity over the machines we already have and with its 78mm bar capacity it opened up the opportunity to put bigger stock down the spindle drawtube. Within an hour of the commissioning being completed we were producing parts. This is a testament to the ease of use of the control and our familiarity with it”.
The new TC 400 is fitted with the Siemens 828D control utilising a 15” touchscreen control. The team on the shopfloor at DAS have migrated to this latest incarnation of the control system with ease as Dave comments “There was a slight trepidation when moving to the touchscreen version of the control but within hours the guys adapted to it and say it’s a dream to use. That is the thing for us here at DAS all of the machinists can use the control and even if we had 21 of the 22 guys off ill, the last man standing could get the machines running and we continue to make parts for both our long-standing customers and new customers who are coming on board, some of which have been attracted to use DAS due to our ISO 9001 accreditation”.
Dave was a beneficiary of a new service being offered by XYZ which is the ability to provide a walk round video of the product. Mike Corbett, Product Presenter at the Devon based company observes “Here at XYZ although we have showrooms located around the country, we know it’s not easy to get out and see a machine in the flesh. We have recently started to offer a walk-around video service which Dave took advantage of as we produced him a personalised presentation of the machine and all of its key features”. Dave adds “We were 70% sure we wanted to purchase the machine but the walk round video covered the final details we needed to know and convinced us it was the right product for us”.
In a closing comment about the latest machine purchase and the long-standing relationship between DAS and XYZ Dave closes by saying “Over the years we have built a great relationship with the team at XYZ. They have support DAS on our journey to where we are today and the products and services they provide are second to none. Whether that’s the Area Sales team providing sound advice, programming support helping us out, the service team during visits or the occasional spare part we need which is always here the next day, the backup has been fantastic and that’s why we keep going back to them time after time”.
