A machine shop told its supplier that if a new CNC automatic could produce parts quicker than an existing machine it would buy it - the new automatic doubled output.
Since its inception in 1984, Rowan Precision of Birmingham, UK, differed from its competition, as it was one of the few local manufacturers of Swiss type turned parts. This niche market saw the company expand and move to larger premises within its first five years. To maintain its competitive edge, the company invested in its first CNC machine in 1995 - a Tornos ENC 162.

Rowan Precision Director Chris Kent comments: 'The Tornos machines were a good move for us, they had a better build quality than the competition and this inevitably led to us purchasing another three ENC 162 machines as well as a number of Tornos ENC 167 machines.' Kent added: 'When the new Tornos Deco range was launched in 1997; we once again evaluated Tornos machines against the competition'.

'We identified that the build quality was still far superior to competitor machines as was the power of the driven attachments'.

'This was supported by excellent service and reliability'.

'With this in mind, we put a proposal to Tornos - if the Deco 10 could produce a current component significantly quicker than our ENC 167, we would buy one'.

'The machine proved more than twice as productive'.

'Over a period of time we replaced 21 Tornos Bechler cam machines almost exclusively with the new Tornos Deco range of machines'.

'The speed of the Deco was a complete revelation and we followed the purchase with another four Deco 10 machines'.

'The Tornos Deco 10 proved very efficient and capable of producing extremely complex components.' Now, the GBP 2.3 million turnover company employs 16 people and operates 17 CNC machines on single shift basis with unmanned production.

Eleven of the 17 machines are now Tornos, with five Deco 10, two Deco 13s and the most recent acquisition being a Deco 32.

Producing 2,000 to 20,000 component batch runs from alloy steels, stainless steels and a host of other materials for high precision markets such as the electronics, medical and aerospace industry; the Tornos machines have proven the ideal solution for Rowan Precision'.

' 'We have the expertise, the machines and more importantly the confidence of our customers to provide the required level of support'.

'We currently export 150,000 parts per month to three UK customers that have moved to Malaysia'.

'Based on our technical expertise and the capabilities provided to us by the Tornos machines we can provide high quality, cost effective parts - something that many foreign markets cannot provide,' continues Kent'.

' 'For peace of mind, many customers now want to know how our information is being stored'.

'Our Deco machines all run off the same software, which is DNC linked with offline programming'.

'All this is backed up remotely on a system that stores all our programs dating back to the introduction of our first Deco machine in 1997'.

'This further instils customer confidence in our company and is an important consideration with regard to machine selection.' Kent said: 'The TB-Deco programming from Tornos not only suits our company philosophy; it is simplistic and very user friendly compared to competitor software systems'.

'Our shop floor is proficient with the TB-Deco programming system and when staff revert back to alternate software on competitor machines they all agree upon the ease of use of the TB-Deco operating software.'