MACHINING & MACHINERY ROCOL ULTRACUT 370EP
ROCOL
Abbey Cuts Fluid Costs With ROCOL
Like many subcontract companies , Abbey Tool and Gauge Ltd was started by a husband-and-wife couple out of a small shed near Kelso Abbey – hence the name . The ethos of the subcontracting company since it opened its doors in 1970 , has been to buy the best equipment and machine tools possible . In its 50 years , this has seen the company invest in numerous Nakamura- Tome , Doosan and DMG MORI machines with a spend of more than £ 6m in the last 5 years on five through to 9-axis machines for one-hit machining .
Under the management of secondgeneration brothers Iain and Alistair Reid , the subcontract company has expanded its portfolio , now working in the oil and gas , nuclear , automation and medical industries . The ISO : 9001 and ISO : 14001 certified manufacturer has a programme of continuous improvement that not only encompasses machine tools , but also complementary technology . This is why Abbey Tool and Gauge Ltd has invested in cutting fluid from ROCOL . Taking up the reasoning behind switching its fluid provider , Abbey Tool and Gauge Ltd Director , Mr Iain Reid says : “ At first , we were a little sceptical when ROCOL came in to see us because they said they could run our oil consumption at 2 % - and we were running at somewhere
Since implementing the ROCOL Ultracut 370EP , the benefits have cascaded throughout the business .
between 6 and 8 %. Alistair and I thought long and hard about it , and we filled two machines with the product . We ran the two machines for six weeks - and we were delighted .”
“ This change is good for the environment as it is only running at 2 %. It will be good financially for our business long term , as there will be a big saving , which we are monitoring at the moment . Thirdly , the backup and support we have had from the ROCOL team have been absolutely phenomenal .”
Since implementing the ROCOL Ultracut 370EP , the benefits have cascaded throughout the business . Alluding to machining performance , Iain continues : “ We have had some really good feedback from the guys on the shop floor . We were initially concerned as we machine a lot of super duplex and we thought that the ROCOL Ultracut 370EP wasn ’ t going to do the business there - but it most certainly has . It has also been a huge success on materials like Inconel , 625 , 718 and many others .”
The Roxburghshire facility in Scotland is home to more than 30 machines and despite the volume of machine tools , the facility is completely odour free . As Iain says : “ It ’ s quite incredible because the odour disappeared almost immediately . We do manage the coolant very well and a ROCOL engineer comes in every couple of weeks and tells us where we are with regards to our coolant management . So , the fluid is managed to a very high standard .”
Whilst the cutting fluid is managed both internally and at intervals by ROCOL engineers , the fact that ROCOL Ultracut 370EP is free from bactericide , silicone , chlorine , formaldehyde , nitrites and any animal-derived materials prolongs fluid life and performance . Additionally , ROCOL Ultracut 370EP is compatible with hard and soft water , it is tolerant to tramp oil and is low-foaming and it also demonstrates exceptional residual corrosion protection .
Trying to quantify savings since instigating the change of cutting fluid supplier to ROCOL , Iain continues : “ I think the savings could be anything from £ 20,000 to £ 40,000 , but as we have not been using the ROCOL fluid for a full 12-month period , we cannot give an exact calculation at present .”
David Mylet from ROCOL with Abbey Tool Director Iain Reid
Referring to the impact ROCOL has made on tool life and performance . Iain continues : “ With regards to the cutting tools and looking at our historical usage , we would estimate that we have already saved between 10 and 12 % on our cutting tool costs and this is massive in our game . We always try to minimise the tip changes , and in some cases , we slow the machines down to eradicate the tip changes . We find it is better to run the machines for eight hours at slower speeds and then change the inserts at the changeover shift , rather than change the tips three times per shift by running faster . We get a higher volume of parts by running like that and the ROCOL coolant helps us in extending the life of our tips hugely .”
104 PECM Issue 55