Bruderer signs million-pound deal on MACH day three

News

MACH has attracted exhibitors of all sizes, from well-known global corporations who fit the event into their busy programme of international trade shows, to UK SMEs investing almost 100% of their annual marketing budget in their presence at the NEC.

Adrian Haller of Bruderer (left) with Neil Geoghegan of Clamason Industries

In the former category, Swiss press manufacturer Bruderer signed a million-pound deal on the third day of MACH 2018 with precision metal components manufacturer Clamason Industries to supply its largest-ever press.

Clamason, a specialist supplier to the automotive, medical and building products sectors, will use the 300-tonne ZANI Motion Master press to target up to £6m of new orders. The Kingswinford-based company is hoping that the speed and additional bed size will unlock larger pressings and stampings opportunities.

Celebrating 50 years since setting up in the UK, its MD Adrian Haller signed the agreement on its stand at MACH. He said: “We knew we were close to a deal, but never expected to secure it at the event, so this is an extra-special birthday present for us. We listened to the technical team at Clamason and, through our understanding of the business and its objectives, we put together a turnkey package that not only met its requirements, but actually surpassed them.”

At the other end of the scale, we spoke to Steve Price, MD of SSP Technology Ltd, a small Black Country-based exclusive UK agent for several brands of honing and manual/NC/CNC grinding machines and associated technologies. What caught the eye on SSP’s stand was equipment not seen anywhere else across the six halls of the NEC where MACH is being held.

Swiss manufacturer Schneeberger was uniquely represented at MACH by its Aries NGP 5-axis milling machine on the SSP stand. Developed to be the compact size of a tool cabinet and aimed at the regrind market, Price says the Aries can potentially save 50% of tooling costs by taking regrinding away from sub-contractors.

Centre stage was another piece of Swiss-built equipment, the Pemamo vertical honing machine, which guarantees up to 1µ and typically produces parts to 1.5µ cylindricity, making it an attractive proposition for manufacturers looking for precision and repeatability.

Making up a trio of unique products on the SSP stand was a Taiwan-built Palmary PC-12 NC centreless grinding machine that grinds from 1mm to 4mm with high accuracy, either plunger or through-feed.

“We’ve had a pretty good MACH,” says Price, “especially today (Wednesday). The customers I wanted to come along have come along, and there have been some new enquiries too.”

As MACH moves into its penultimate day, it continues to attract qualified visitors in large numbers, meaning exhibitors of all sizes have the opportunity to display their wares on an equal playing field, all under one roof at the NEC.

VISITOR VOX POPS

Alex Guntripp, Lecturer in Computer Aided Design & Engineering, Canterbury College

What persuaded you to come to MACH today?

We’ve been really fortunate to have won a bit of bid money for some capital machinery, so we are looking around to see if we can get the best second-hand CNC equipment we can to try and improve our department.

Couldn’t you have done that via the internet?

We can, but we wanted to come and talk to the vendors and see what’s best for us; the fact that there are several different vendors here makes that a lot easier.

What other technology has caught your eye?

I do a lot of 3D printing as part of my course, and I saw a lot of new and interesting machines whilst walking through the 3D printing zone. It’s been an eye-opener – lots of things that I haven’t seen before, and it’s been nice to see a wide range.

Dariusz Majer, Technical Manager, OSG Poland, Warsaw

Why are you visiting MACH?

Many reasons. MACH is also a good opportunity for me to visit OSG UK.

What is interesting to you here?

Quite a lot – 3D printers, robotics, high-speed technology… I am looking at what my customers might be interested in, as well as seeing what my competitors are up to.

What are your impressions of MACH.

It is very big and in a nice place.

David Hills, Design Technician, University of Southampton

What is your reason for visiting MACH?

I operate a design studio, and we get a constant stream of students through. I need to be familiar with up-and-coming technology and machinery just to keep the students abreast. It’s very useful to talk to the people face-to-face.

Did you find what you were looking for, as well as any other interesting technologies?

Yes. There are a lot of variations of the things I am interested in. It’s also been interesting to talk to other educational establishments, and to invite suppliers to speak to our students.