Like many subcontract companies, Abbey Tool and Gauge Ltd was started by a husband-and-wife couple out of a small shed near Kelso Abbey – hence the name. The ethos of the subcontracting company since it opened its doors in 1970, has been to buy the best equipment and machine tools possible. In its 50 years, this has seen the company invest in numerous Nakamura-Tome, Doosan and DMG MORI machines with a spend of more than £6m in the last 5 years on five through to 9-axis machines for one-hit machining.
Under the management of second-generation brothers Iain and Alistair Reid, the subcontract company has expanded its portfolio, now working in the oil and gas, nuclear, automation and medical industries. The ISO:9001 and ISO:14001 certified manufacturer has a programme of continuous improvement that not only encompasses machine tools, but also complementary technology. This is why Abbey Tool and Gauge Ltd has invested in cutting fluid from ROCOL. Taking up the reasoning behind switching its fluid provider, Abbey Tool and Gauge Ltd Director, Mr Iain Reid says: “At first, we were a little sceptical when ROCOL came in to see us because they said they could run our oil consumption at 2% – and we were running at somewhere between 6 and 8%. Alistair and I thought long and hard about it, and we filled two machines with the product. We ran the two machines for six weeks – and we were delighted.”
“This change is good for the environment as it is only running at 2%. It will be good financially for our business long term, as there will be a big saving, which we are monitoring at the moment. Thirdly, the backup and support we have had from the ROCOL team have been absolutely phenomenal.”
Since implementing the ROCOL Ultracut 370EP, the benefits have cascaded throughout the business. Alluding to machining performance, Iain continues: “We have had some really good feedback from the guys on the shop floor. We were initially concerned as we machine a lot of super duplex and we thought that the ROCOL Ultracut 370EP wasn’t going to do the business there – but it most certainly has. It has also been a huge success on materials like Inconel, 625, 718 and many others.”
The Roxburghshire facility in Scotland is home to more than 30 machines and despite the volume of machine tools, the facility is completely odour free. As Iain says: “It’s quite incredible because the odour disappeared almost immediately. We do manage the coolant very well and a ROCOL engineer comes in every couple of weeks and tells us where we are with regards to our coolant management. So, the fluid is managed to a very high standard.”
Whilst the cutting fluid is managed both internally and at intervals by ROCOL engineers, the fact that ROCOL Ultracut 370EP is free from bactericide, silicone, chlorine, formaldehyde, nitrites and any animal-derived materials prolongs fluid life and performance. Additionally, ROCOL Ultracut 370EP is compatible with hard and soft water, it is tolerant to tramp oil and is low-foaming and it also demonstrates exceptional residual corrosion protection.
Trying to quantify savings since instigating the change of cutting fluid supplier to ROCOL, Iain continues: “I think the savings could be anything from £20,000 to £40,000, but as we have not been using the ROCOL fluid for a full 12-month period, we cannot give an exact calculation at present.”
Referring to the impact ROCOL has made on tool life and performance. Iain continues: “With regards to the cutting tools and looking at our historical usage, we would estimate that we have already saved between 10 and 12% on our cutting tool costs and this is massive in our game. We always try to minimise the tip changes, and in some cases, we slow the machines down to eradicate the tip changes. We find it is better to run the machines for eight hours at slower speeds and then change the inserts at the changeover shift, rather than change the tips three times per shift by running faster. We get a higher volume of parts by running like that and the ROCOL coolant helps us in extending the life of our tips hugely.”
The improvement to tool life and machining performance can largely be accredited to the extremely high-pressure additives that provide medium to heavy-duty machining capabilities with excellent surface finishes on a very wide range of ferrous and nonferrous materials and aluminium alloys. Furthermore, the high performing semi-synthetic fluid enables the customer to rationalise one fluid for both machining and grinding operations.
Commenting upon the changeover from the previous fluid supplier to ROCOL and its Ultracut 370EP, Iain says: “There were no issues whatsoever in changing the fluid over. However, with so many machines on site, it was quite a lot of work and this meant we had to do the changeover over an extended period of time. One of the things I would recommend, is that you completely clear everything out of the machine and clean through the system. This was hard work for the guys, but it’s critical that you completely clear out the machine.”
As a manufacturer that has opted for the ROCOL Ultracare package of support, the team at Abbey Tool and Gauge Ltd have nothing but praise for the service. “Alastair and I will receive a report probably around four hours after the ROCOL engineer has visited. This report gives us a detailed state of every machine and this gives us peace of mind as a company, and also for our employees.”
Providing insight from a ROCOL perspective, Ian Fenney from ROCOL says: “The process has run really smoothly and we have changed the fluid in all of the machines. We cleaned the machines out and started afresh. Whether we follow this complete clean-out process or not depends upon the fluid we are providing, but in this instance, there were key differences between the existing product and the product that we proposed. The team at Abbey Tool and Gauge were a little sceptical at first about the projected savings, but we started on just one machine, we trialled ROCOL Ultracut 370EP and essentially we reduced the fluid usage, which obviously includes the financial spend. The fluid is also reducing the carbon footprint through buying less oil and having less waste.”
Alluding to the properties of ROCOL Ultracut 370EP, Ian Fenney continues: “All fluids will cut to a certain degree, but finding the right one for the customer, especially in a subcontract shop like this – there will always be a multitude of materials and machines. With Ultracut 370EP, we have something that ticks every box. At Abbey Tool and Gauge, they are both cutting and grinding with the same fluid on everything from cast-iron right through to Inconel.”
Concluding upon the Ultracare service package, Ian Fenney continues: “On this particular account, we supported the fluid changeover and we cleaned out a selection of machines and the Abbey Tool and Gauge team then took over and finished the project. Thereafter, we come in every fortnight and we are checking the machines to ensure all the machines are HSE compliant.”
