mould & die
Rationalisation in the press tool and plastic injection mouldmaking
sectors has seen of firms going out of business, including some of the
biggest names. But mould and tool making is still viable in the UK
Bucking the trend
THE trends in press tools and injection
mould making have been reflected around the
UK as OEMs either relocate overseas or buy
their tools from low-wage countries. But one
Birmingham company bucking the trend is
A&M EDM. It is one of the few electric
discharge machining specialists in the UK that,
working in partnership with other tool
makers, helps to manufacture a wide range of
tools including single-stage press tools,
progression tools, injection moulds, blow
moulds, composite moulds and, increasingly,
foundry patterns. Set up in October 2002 by
partners Mark Wingfield and Arthur Watts,
the firm has invested over £1million in shop
floor plant, notably wire-cut, die-sink and
EDM drilling machines from Sodick, and
machining centres from Hurco.
The customer base numbers more than 200,
including all the remaining major press
toolmakers in the West Midlands and many
pressworkers, as well as automotive and
motorsport companies, aerospace
manufacturers and even universities. 60% of
turnover is derived from tool making, the
remainder being general subcontract work.
Says Wingfield: ‘It is sad to see such a
significant reduction in our tool making
industry, which has resulted from some UK
suppliers trying to charge excessive rates and
some buyers willing to sacrifice our indigenous
manufacturing base by going overseas to
extract every last bit of profit. However, the
skills are still here in the UK and if you quote
the right price and supply a top quality tool on
time, the business is there to be won, especially
if the tool is complex or needed quickly.’
The company’s progress over the last four
years is proof of that, and as there are fewer
competitors around, its success is likely to
continue. A&M EDM is also helped by negative
issues associated with putting work abroad. For
example at the time of interview, a tool
produced in Estonia was having to be
extensively reworked, as it had out-of-tolerance
features and had not even been dowelled. ‘That
tool will end up costing the buyer more than
having it made here’ observes Wingfield.
Electric discharge machining is the mainstay
of the firm’s expertise and accounts for 80% of
value-added metalcutting. Milling has been
growing since mid 2004. At that time, the
copper and graphite die-sink electrodes were
becoming more complex, necessitating either
uneconomical wire-erosion or putting the
work out to a subcontractor with 3D
machining capability. Keen to keep electrode
manufacture in-house to control lead-time,
quality and cost, the company decided to buy a
vertical machining centre to produce the
electrodes. In addition, more and more
customers were asking for a total package
including sparked and wired tools plus
machined plates, the latter needing a
machining centre for their production.
As he had worked very satisfactorily in the
past with a combination of Sodick EDM
machines and Hurco machining centres,
Wingfield decided to go the same way again
and bought a Hurco VM3 with 1,270 by 457 by
457mm machining capacity. When customers
saw the new metalcutting facility, other work
started to come in for it. Then A&M EDM
invested in a large wire eroder with 1,100 by
700mm cutting area, so a larger machining
centre was needed to make the tool and die
plates. Furthermore, people were asking for
larger, non tool-related prismatic parts to be
machined. To avoid having to turn this work
down, in 2006 the company installed a larger
Hurco VMX64 with a 1,625 by 864 by 762mm
machining envelope.
Almost all jobs on both Hurcos are
programmed quickly by manual data input at
the controls on the shop floor, as components
are generally not very complex. Even some 3D
28 MWP january 2008
The two Hurco machining centres on the
shop floor at A&M EDM, Birmingham.
The Hurco VMX64 is seen here machining a
mild steel rolling mill plate.
cycles such as for machining electrodes are
programmed on the Max and Ultimax CNC
systems, proprietary controls fitted to the VM3
and VMX64 respectively. Camtek PEPS and
Delcam Powershape systems are reserved for
programming the Sodick machines.
Although parts produced on the machining
centres are relatively simple, such as platework
for the moulds and tools, total tolerance on
relative bore positions, for example, can be as
tight as 10μm, easily held on the Hurcos. Jobs
being produced when the machine shop was
visited were part of a composite mould
requiring 3D surface milling on the VM3; and
mild steel rolling mill plates on the VMX64.
The future for the company will be
continued steady growth coupled with the
pursuit of additional industry approvals
(including aerospace) and recognitions to add
to the ISO 9000 and BS EN 9100 (aerospace)
quality standards already held. Furthermore, at
one of A&M EDM’s local customers - Burcas -
there is an ongoing supply chain development
programme, funded by the DTI manufacturing
advisory service, MAS West Midlands. Aimed
at the aerospace, automotive and defence
industries, the approach is based on TEC-
Concepts, fusing best practices of Six Sigma,
Kaizen Blitz and Lean Enterprise with sectorspecific
standards related to quality, the
environment and health & safety. The result
will be recognition of high performing,
integrated management systems throughout
the Burcas supply chain, including of course at
A&M EDM.
www.hurco.co.uk
www.sodi-techedm.co.uk
www.amedm.co.uk
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