View various clippings of articles written by Pulse for different magazines
That boy – Mr Russell Nicholls is now the Managing Director of Nicholls Engineering Systems Ltd, a Stratford based company that still manufactures steam and rail models via its subsidiary the Cotswold Heritage Steam Collection. With a theme based on steam engines, Nicholls has a railway complete with turntable, station and level crossing around its factory. However, the company has diversified to predominantly supply design and manufacturing services to the aerospace and communications sector – with the help of Cincinnati machine tools.
As Mr Nicholls comments: “Over time the business has grown and diversified into the aerospace and satellite sector and it is the expertise, technical know how and equipment we employ for this sector that enables us to continue our success as a world leading model manufacturer.”
Nicholls Engineering manufactures complex components from aluminium, steel, castings and difficult to machine aerospace materials such as titanium for a customer base that includes prestigious companies such as Smiths Aerospace, Messier Dowty and Airbus. “We have worked in this sector for many years and built considerable expertise and a reputation to match. As for our equipment, we have always aimed to work with British machine tool manufacturers, but always made a point of reviewing the marketplace and employing the best available technologies,” says Mr Nicholls.
“We used to have machine tools from numerous manufacturers, but we bought a series of Cincinnati Arrow machining centres and we haven’t looked back since.”
The ISO9001 and AS9100 registered company purchased its first machining centre in the early 80’s – a Cincinnati Arrow 500. Two additional machines followed in quick succession. “The machines were high quality, value for money machine tools. At the time there was criticism of steel rather than cast based machines. However, those three machines have stood the test of time and are still running to this day with no problems whatsoever. They have served us well and with continued service and maintenance they are still highly productive machines. Even today more than 20 years after purchasing the machines, one of the Arrows is machining a particularly onerous aerospace job from difficult to machine material to a relatively high tolerance with an exceptional surface finish,” continues Mr Nicholls.
It is this ability to stand the test of time by maintaining productivity, accuracy and surface finishes that led Nicholls Engineering toward further Cincinnati purchases. “Our machines provided by alternate manufacturers often proved troublesome and required considerable maintenance. Following the track record of the Arrows machining centres, when we looked at acquiring new CNC lathes, we looked at the Cincinnati Hawk machines.”
The purchase of the company’s first Hawk turning centre enabled Nicholls to exploit the next generation of tipped tooling, which it could not do at that point. The Hawk allowed the 20 employee manufacturer to ‘push the envelope’ and reduce cycle times considerably, in some cases cycle times were halved.
“At that time our competitors were winning business we could not compete on price. However, the improved productivity and accuracy of the Hawk enabled us to compete and win considerable business. It was such a success that we followed that up with a number of Hawks. We now have the Hawk 150, 200 and 250. The advantage of buying Cincinnati machines for us is the ability to buy a standard machine and up-spec the machine to meet your needs as time goes on. This has allowed us to install bar feeders and part catchers as our work has developed. Added to this factor is the interchange-ability of tooling and peripheral equipment between the ranges of machines,” continues Mr Nicholls.
From an accuracy standpoint, the Cincinnati machines at Nicholls continually hold a 5 micron tolerance in every day machine shop conditions. Inherently stable machine tools, Nicholls never has any issues with accuracy. This can also be said of maintenance and downtime. The Hawk and Arrows machines are all well maintained and this keeps downtime to a minimum. As Mr Nicholls continues: “With regular maintenance, the machines very rarely incur any problems and if anything does occur, the Cincinnati service is exceptional.”
The forward thinking subcontractor has purchased a 750 series machining centre and yet another Hawk turning centre in the last 18 months. Maintaining the focus upon Cincinnati machine tools is based upon productivity, reliability and service support. As Mr Nicholls concludes: “To remain competitive in the aerospace sector where margins are tight, we have no space for scrap parts and machine downtime. The Cincinnati machines give us exceptional productivity and part quality with machine reliability that is second to none, which is a necessity for our business.”
That boy – Mr Russell Nicholls is now the Managing Director of Nicholls Engineering Systems Ltd, a Stratford based company that still manufactures steam and rail models via its subsidiary the Cotswold Heritage Steam Collection. With a theme based on steam engines, Nicholls has a railway complete with turntable, station and level crossing around its factory. However, the company has diversified to predominantly supply design and manufacturing services to the aerospace and communications sector – with the help of Cincinnati machine tools.
As Mr Nicholls comments: “Over time the business has grown and diversified into the aerospace and satellite sector and it is the expertise, technical know how and equipment we employ for this sector that enables us to continue our success as a world leading model manufacturer.”
Nicholls Engineering manufactures complex components from aluminium, steel, castings and difficult to machine aerospace materials such as titanium for a customer base that includes prestigious companies such as Smiths Aerospace, Messier Dowty and Airbus. “We have worked in this sector for many years and built considerable expertise and a reputation to match. As for our equipment, we have always aimed to work with British machine tool manufacturers, but always made a point of reviewing the marketplace and employing the best available technologies,” says Mr Nicholls.
“We used to have machine tools from numerous manufacturers, but we bought a series of Cincinnati Arrow machining centres and we haven’t looked back since.”
The ISO9001 and AS9100 registered company purchased its first machining centre in the early 80’s – a Cincinnati Arrow 500. Two additional machines followed in quick succession. “The machines were high quality, value for money machine tools. At the time there was criticism of steel rather than cast based machines. However, those three machines have stood the test of time and are still running to this day with no problems whatsoever. They have served us well and with continued service and maintenance they are still highly productive machines. Even today more than 20 years after purchasing the machines, one of the Arrows is machining a particularly onerous aerospace job from difficult to machine material to a relatively high tolerance with an exceptional surface finish,” continues Mr Nicholls.
It is this ability to stand the test of time by maintaining productivity, accuracy and surface finishes that led Nicholls Engineering toward further Cincinnati purchases. “Our machines provided by alternate manufacturers often proved troublesome and required considerable maintenance. Following the track record of the Arrows machining centres, when we looked at acquiring new CNC lathes, we looked at the Cincinnati Hawk machines.”
The purchase of the company’s first Hawk turning centre enabled Nicholls to exploit the next generation of tipped tooling, which it could not do at that point. The Hawk allowed the 20 employee manufacturer to ‘push the envelope’ and reduce cycle times considerably, in some cases cycle times were halved.
“At that time our competitors were winning business we could not compete on price. However, the improved productivity and accuracy of the Hawk enabled us to compete and win considerable business. It was such a success that we followed that up with a number of Hawks. We now have the Hawk 150, 200 and 250. The advantage of buying Cincinnati machines for us is the ability to buy a standard machine and up-spec the machine to meet your needs as time goes on. This has allowed us to install bar feeders and part catchers as our work has developed. Added to this factor is the interchange-ability of tooling and peripheral equipment between the ranges of machines,” continues Mr Nicholls.
From an accuracy standpoint, the Cincinnati machines at Nicholls continually hold a 5 micron tolerance in every day machine shop conditions. Inherently stable machine tools, Nicholls never has any issues with accuracy. This can also be said of maintenance and downtime. The Hawk and Arrows machines are all well maintained and this keeps downtime to a minimum. As Mr Nicholls continues: “With regular maintenance, the machines very rarely incur any problems and if anything does occur, the Cincinnati service is exceptional.”
The forward thinking subcontractor has purchased a 750 series machining centre and yet another Hawk turning centre in the last 18 months. Maintaining the focus upon Cincinnati machine tools is based upon productivity, reliability and service support. As Mr Nicholls concludes: “To remain competitive in the aerospace sector where margins are tight, we have no space for scrap parts and machine downtime. The Cincinnati machines give us exceptional productivity and part quality with machine reliability that is second to none, which is a necessity for our business.”
