October 2020

35 www.drivesncontrols.com October 2020 MACHINE BUILD n UK-built smart rotor milling machine heads to Japan H olroyd Precision, the UK-based manufacturer of special-purpose helical components and machines to produce them, is about to ship a £1.4m rotor milling machine to a leading Japanese producer of refrigeration compressors. The 3EX-R machine is one of the first from Holroyd to support advanced technologies such as RFID tagging and IO-Link communications. The machine will be used to manufacture helical rotors up to 350mm in diameter. After undergoing pre-acceptance trials at Holroyd’s machine technologies centre in Milnrow, it is being shipped to Japan, ready for commissioning in late October. The machine will form part of an automated production cell, where its RFID tagging capabilities are expected to prove useful. The system has been developed to ensure that manufacturing cannot commence unless the correct chuck, collet, cutter and tailstock – in fact, almost any component or tooling item that needs to be switched between manufacturing cycles – is in place. The machine is also the first from Holroyd Precision to incorporate single-cable IO-Link communications. “The opportunities that IO- Link connectivity provides for process data collection and analysis are immense,” explains the company’s regional sales director, Steven Benn. “We selected IO-Link for its ability to handle vast amounts of data, its recognised capability in providing powerful opportunities for industrial automation, and its capacity to communicate at every level, right down to the simplest automation. “For this customer and hopefully many others going forward,” he continues, “the real benefit will be the opportunity to learn from incredible levels of rich, real-time production and performance data – in order to make comparisons that can benefit efficiency, accuracy and quality, and determine trends. “Similarly, from our perspective,” he adds, “gaining a much better understanding of how a particular machine performs in quite different manufacturing environments, will enable us to deliver even higher levels of support.” Holroyd’s rotor-milling machines are designed to be integrated with automated parts-handling systems. They can be used to produce complex components with helical screw profiles, as well as milling gear parts such as worm shafts. “Holroyd machines are renowned for their uncompromising levels of accuracy and build quality, as well as their ability to simplify even the most complex of manufacturing processes,” Benn says. “Through features such as advanced RFID tagging and IO-Link communications, we are now also providing future-proofed manufacturing capability, regardless of an organisation’s individual Industry 4.0 strategy. These are significant features that our Japanese customer was keen to take advantage of.” Holroyd Precision is a member of the Precision Technologies Group (PTG) which also includes Powerstir Friction Stir Welding. PTG designs and builds machine tools for creating complex helical components used in specialised applications such as compressor rotors, pump screws and high- accuracy gears. Holroyd has production facilities in the UK, the US and China. n A UK manufacturer of rotor milling and grinding machines has produced a precision milling machine incorporating smart technologies for a customer in Japan. Holroyd’s precision milling machine will be used in Japan to produce helical rotors up to 350mm in diameter