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Ettingshall nuclear company invest in four machining centres

Ettingshall-based Nuclear Engineering Services has invested in four CNC machining centres for the manufacturing facility at its Spring Road.

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The investment is part of NES's on-going commitment to developing a world class manufacturing facility for the UK nuclear market.

The purchase will strengthen the company's position within the nuclear decommissioning and defence markets. As one of the UK's leading suppliers of fully integrated bespoke engineering solutions, the investment will complement the significant progress made in the development of NES's supply chain partners.

The investment, in parallel with the work being carried out with the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Sheffield, and NES's enrolment to the National Skills Academy for Nuclear Manufacturing, helps position NES as a leading supplier of equipment to the UK nuclear new build market.

The first two machines – a Hartford Tornado HCMC13AG CNC vertical miller and a Hyundai Wia L300MC CNC lathe – are scheduled for November delivery with production availability in January.

The third machine installed will be a Hyundai Wia KBN135CL CNCborer with installation in January and the final installation will be the largest of the machines in March.

The Soraluce SM10000 fixed table travelling column CNC miller will have a 10m bed and significantly increase the size of items that can be machined by NES.

The new machines will have full CADCAM (Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacturing) capability, which will facilitate the seamless integration between engineering and manufacturing, allowing ProEngineer and AutoCAD models to be directly imported into the machines' CNC programming system.

The machines will also use an on machine verification programme that allows initial checking of machined parts to be carried out in-situ, rather than having to transfer them to a co-ordinate measuring machine for inspection.

NES Group managing director Mike Hawe said: "NES are committed to establishing a state of the art manufacturing base within the UK to support the growth ambitions of the company within the UK and European nuclear new build and nuclear necommissioning sectors.

"Key areas across the business have been identified where investment will further develop the NES product offering, providing our customers with the most innovative and best value solutions. It is an extremely exciting period in the history of NES, and the emergent opportunities in the nuclear new build market provide great development and growth potential for the business."

Alterations to the manufacturing facility infrastructure are scheduled to start this month in order to accommodate the new machines.

The existing machining capacity will be relocated, followed by significant alterations to the building services and floor loadings. The new layout will enable the seamless flow of machined items from the manufacturing area into the assembly bays.

NES employs more than 300 people at Wolverhampton and has a complementary facility in Beckermet, Cumbria, and centre of engineering excellence in Risley.

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