Five-year investment plan takes shape at Velden with support from CERATIZIT
Bolton-based precision sub-contractor Velden Engineering has, throughout its 45-year history invested to ensure that it delivers ‘engineering excellence’. The company under the guidance of managing director Austin Kitchen is now embarking on a new five-year plan that will see the business expand its current capabilities with new and upgraded machining capabilities, supported by its cutting tool partner CERATIZIT.
This first year of the five-year plan will see several new machine tools, including an Okuma Multus U3000L and Nakamura WT150ii multi-axis turning centres, a DMG DMU 50 five-axis machining centre with a PH150 pallet loading/unloading system, which are now being complemented by the latest arrival, a Star ST38 sliding head lathe, which will extend the company’s sliding head capacity to 42 mm diameter. All these machines will be supplied with WNT tools from Ceratizit UK & Ireland as part of its ongoing partnership with Velden. In addition to investing in equipment, Velden is also investing in people and testament to its commitment in this area is the fact that Clifford Bromilow, who has recently completed his apprenticeship with the accolade of Mechanical Engineering Apprentice of the Year Award from apprenticeship training provider Alliance Learning will be taking on responsibility for the new Star ST38 as programmer, setter and operator.
“The arrival of the Star ST38 with its T565 barfeed will significantly enhance our sliding head capacity, which up until now has been limited to 25 mm diameter. The Star machine will allow us to provide one-hit machining and fill the gap between our smaller sliding heads and our fixed head lathes,” says Austin Kitchen. “The design of the machine with its turrets rather than platens for the tooling will help reduce set-up times, which for the low- to medium-volume work that we currently undertake is a big advantage. Having CERATIZIT continue to support us with specific sliding head tooling from WNT is also a major factor in improving productivity. The performance of the tools, along with the support and service that Ceratizit UK & Ireland provides are the reasons we have developed such a strong relationship with them across all of our machining activities. This is our first Star sliding head machine and it provides a great opportunity, not only for the business, but for Clifford to develop his skills and experience, and is part of our commitment to the future of the business.”
Velden continues to be very busy with work coming from a range of industry sectors. The development of its machining capacity with the support of suppliers such as Ceratizit UK & Ireland and WNT cutting tools are vital as we maximise our capabilities to deliver a true one-stop-shop for customers covering machining, assembly and finishing services.”
