News from Roscomac

Roscomac were recently featured in a one-and-a-half page editorial in 'Machinery Market'.

See below for the full article.

Mazak helps ‘first tier’ Roscomac to go the extra mile

“Satisfy our three key criteria – machine performance, productivity and service back-up – and I’m a happy man,” says Joe Martello, Managing Director of Roscomac, referring to the capital investment programme that has underpinned this ISO 9001:2000 accredited firm’s emergence as one of the UK’s largest subcontract engineering companies.

With a plant list of more than 50 computer-controlled machine tools, 40 per cent of them supplied by Yamazaki Mazak UK, multi-million pound turnover Roscomac provides a ‘first tier’ subcontracting service to its customers, among them ‘blue chip’ companies in the aerospace and medical equipment sectors. This service embraces every aspect of the manufacturing process, from involvement in initial design, prototype development and low to medium batch production through to delivery of complete sub-assemblies. Much of the day-to-day production work is done on a KanBan basis, with buffer stocks of fully-inspected components and sub-assemblies available for delivery to the customer’s shopfloor on a daily, weekly or fortnightly basis.

Founded in 1976 by Fernando Martello, the current Chairman, and operating from its own two-acre site in Worthing, Sussex, Roscomac has succeeded in maintaining a family business ethos, both within the 100-employee company and in its approach to customers. “We know that, in today’s climate, quality service and the personal touch – going the extra mile – are important to our customers,” says Joe Martello, “and when coupled with ongoing investment in the latest machine technology we know we have a winning formula, particularly when we are prepared to invest to meet specific customer requirements. Failure to invest year-on-year will inevitably threaten our ability to maintain our levels of service and competitiveness. Consequently, we actively budget for the ongoing replacement of machines and, in that way, ensure Roscomac is always at the leading edge of technology.

“I look for machines that deliver this leading edge technology while combining durability with long-term accuracy and repeatability. Mazak has a good record in this respect; the Mazatrol CNC is very user-friendly; and we have always enjoyed excellent after-sales service and support.” 

Recent purchases include a Mazak Quick Turn Nexus 250 MSY turning centre equipped with rotary tools, second spindle, Y axis and integrated bar feed. This is the fourth Nexus series machine with Y axis capability to be installed in Roscomac’s 40,000 sq. ft. premises, testimony to the machine’s ability to withstand the cutting forces created by heavy-duty milling and turning operations. A 26 kW/4000 rev/min main spindle is teamed with an 11 kW/6000 rev/min sub-spindle and a 5.5 kW/4500 rev/min rotary tool spindle. Maximum machining diameter is 380 mm (75 mm diameter bar) and maximum machining length is 504 mm. 

“With the MSY lathes we are using special tooling set up for the machining of specific families of parts from bar in varying batch quantities,” says Joe Martello. “This enables us to be competitive on low volume, tight tolerance work where I cannot justify the use of more sophisticated machines that will

take much longer to set up. Nor do I want to see several separate machining operations involving work-in-progress all over the place, several first-off inspections and several set-ups. Work flows quickly through Roscomac and one-hit machining suits our requirements, because our competitive edge is not just about machining a part a couple of seconds faster, it’s also about an immediate response to, say, a last minute design change or an unscheduled production request.”

The four Quick Turn Nexus turning centres have now been joined by a 30 kW/18,000 rev/min Horizontal Center Nexus 5000 twin-pallet machining centre. This has X, Y and Z axis travels of 730 mm x 730 mm x 740 mm, and is equipped with twin 500 mm x 500 mm pallets. All five Nexus CNC machines have been bought with specific applications in mind – as were Roscomac’s two Mazak Multiplex gantry load/unload multi-tasking machines and other Mazak turning machines and machining centres