The new 8.5 tonne computer-aided machinery will speed up manufacturing times and bring control back in-house of 90% of all machined components. The new lathe has been supplied by TW Ward, a Sheffield-based specialist in CNC machinery chosen because of their excellent training and aftercare support.
The new lathe will be programmed and operated by two of Penny Hydraulics’ machining apprentices, who are currently in their final year at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre Training Centre. The introduction of the lathe will provide learning and development opportunities to the apprentices, who have already enrolled on a three-day course to sharpen their skills on the machine with the support of TW Ward.
The lathe will support in the design and production of specialist component parts for SwingLift cranes and Mezzanine Floor Goods Lifts. In addition to this, Penny Hydraulics now has more scope to create bespoke items for chandelier winch systems – for use in royal estates – as well as parts for the rapidly expanding nuclear power industry.
Robin Penny, Managing Director at Penny Hydraulics, said:
“This is our first venture into computer aided manufacturing but the time is right to make the investment and so improve our service to customers. The temporary tax incentive from the Treasury and provision of a grant from the D2N2 Growth Hub has enabled this project to go ahead and we are extremely grateful for this help.
“These latest generation machines are extremely user friendly and designed to cope with manufacturing a wide variety of components without time-consuming programming. In addition to this, our apprentices will gain valuable experience working on the new lathe and we are excited to see their skills develop thanks to its introduction.”
