Melbourne-based Parish Engineering has invested in an Index turn-mill centre to keep up with production and enter new markets.
The family-owned business, which specialises in repetition engineering for a wide range of industries, has also recruited Paul Rafferty to the role of business development manager.
Rafferty will lead the company’s expansion efforts into the mining, medical, defence and heavy manufacturing industries.
He brings to the job an impressive track record of success, having served more than 38 years at Australian repetition engineering companies where he held multiple executive positions.
“After we have seen a significant decline within the automotive industry in recent years, we decided to expand into growing markets and industries,” Rafferty said.
“In order to service these and other industries – which require more complex components with a high degree of accuracy in exotic materials – we recently invested in an Index turn-mill centre, which will help us meet these requirements.”
The compact turn-mill centre G200 is designed for complete machining and features a B-axis for inclined, off-centre drilling and milling, and an additional milling spindle.
The option for simultaneous machining on the main and counter spindles results in reduced cycle times. It features a bar loading capacity of up to 65mm and 28 tool stations.
The G200 is engineered for high-precision machining of simple and highly complex parts in small to large batch sizes.
Parish Engineering CEO Nicole Sinclair said in the past, the focus was on high volume repetition machining on up to 6-axis conventional and sliding headstock CNC turn-mill lathes.
“However, we were lacking in capabilities to handle larger and more complex components," Sinclair said.
"We have seen growth in the requirements for these large, complex components which was the main driver for purchasing a machine with a Y- and B-axis.”
With the additional B-axis in the upper tool carrier, Parish Engineering is now equipped to machine highly complex parts and complicated contour elements that also require additional operations such as milling, drilling, lateral drilling or transversal threading.
“Tapping into industries like defence and medical requires accurate and versatile machines, and the investment in our Index turn-mill centre will certainly pay off,” she said.
