West Midlands subcontractor Ufone invests to capitalise on economic recovery and sees drilling and milling cycle times cut byup to two-thirds
Ufone, a Black Country specialist in subcontract machining of large, heavy components, has taken delivery from DMG of the UK’s first DMF500 Linear 4/5-axis vertical machining centre with five-metre X-axis. It significantly extends the size of prismatic component that the Dudley-based precision machinist can produce, as the previous maximum was three metres in X. Investment by Ufone in the DMG machine and a new CNC lathe from another supplier for turning parts up to 800mm diameter exceeds £500,000 within the past year. It demonstrates Ufone’s confidence that the economy is emerging from recession, at least in the sectors that it serves.

A large component for the oil industry being machined on the DMF500 Linear at Ufone’s Dudley works.
Capable of producing parts weighing up to seven tonnes within a 5,000 x 1,100 x 900mm working envelope, the DMF machining centre has a linear motor that accelerates the spindle head in the X-axis at 6 m/s2 to a rapid traverse speed of 80m/min. Non-cutting times are therefore minimised, resulting in high productivity.
http://www.theengineer.co.uk/mwp/in-depth/machining%C2%A0-centre-boosts-capacity-and-productivity/1002994.article