Peter Day makes machinery investment

1 min read

A Christchurch-based sub-contract machinist has invested in CNC technology to help it meet a 20% growth in orders.

Peter Day Precision Engineers, which is part of the Venture Precision Engineering Group (VPEG), has installed a Nakamura WY150 from the Engineering Technology Group (ETG) into its 14,000 sq ft facility on Airfield Road.

The twin-spindle, twin turret configuration gives the company the ability to remove a lot of secondary operations making the overall ‘turning’ process quicker for customers.

Explains Peter Day Precision & Hightown Engineering general manager Pete Makosa: “Our work is very much around manufacturing complex machined components that have to perform in demanding environments. Whether that is for aerospace, oil & gas or the medical sector.

“Over the last 12 months we have seen a 20% increase in orders, which will see the wider VPEG group break through £10m turnover this year. This, combined with a strong pipeline of future orders, means we need additional CNC turning capabilities so asked long-term supplier ETG to come up with a solution.”

He adds: “We go back more than eight years and have always been impressed with ETG’s ability to understand our situation, what we want the machine to do and then deliver a range of different options.”

Peter Day, which supplies components for blue chip customers including Curtiss Wright, Planer, Armfield and Eaton, installed the new Nakamura in June and it is already having the desired impact of freeing up capacity and meeting increased volumes generated by the clutch of contract wins. ETG took just five days to install and configure the WY150, with two staff now fully trained and getting the most out of the technology.