The Company is primarily focused on the prismatic machining of iron castings for chassis components; engine parts; and gearbox parts. Over the past five years its turnover has increased some five fold and is currently growing at 30% a year. To support this and future growth it has just moved from a 5,500 m2 facility into a new 10,000 m2 facility, and is investing £5 million in new machine tools this year. The Company became part of Castings plc in 1996.

Workforce
CNC Speedwell’s highly capable workforce has played a critical role in the Company’s success. It is very much a hands-on business, with a belief in training and good communication, where all the managers and supervisors have come up through the ranks from the shop floor

Investment
CNC Speedwell believes that it is right to continuously invest in production capabilities. 90% of its machines are less than five years old.

Production approach
To achieve the maximum return on its investment, CNC Speedwell works its machines hard and makes sure that they are covered for as many hours as possible. It uses as few machine tool suppliers as possible for maximum flexibility, and uses standard setups, even if this means putting small parts on large machines. Twin-spindle machining centres make up around 70% of CNC Speedwell’s machining capacity and give around 75% more productivity than equivalent single-spindle machines.

Machines generally have a swivel table for in-cycle loading. Hydraulic fixturing incorporating automatic clamping elements is used, with a standard tool plate for flexibility. The hydraulic approach is used as it gives quick load / unload, accuracy / repeatability, and allows the machine to be pushed hard. Where possible, sets of parts are machined together and the fixtures are designed for finish machining in one setup.