A dramatic turnaround in the demand for conventional lathes has enabled a lathe builder to reduce the price of selected models in its centre lathe range by up to 40 per cent.

A dramatic turnaround in the demand for conventional lathes which has improved the benefits associated with economies of scale has enabled Colchester Lathe to reduce the price of selected models in its centre lathe range by up to 40 per cent. The new pricing structure is in response to Colchester Lathes' distributors reporting a world-wide resurgence of training schools and workshops who are preferring to buy known brands such as Colchester. This follows bad experiences such as long-term reliability, poor spares and service support and disastrous residual values that are a growing problem associated with the newer breed of low-cost centre lathe suppliers.

The effect of the market shift in Colchester's favour is qualified by a recent surge in demand where some GBP 750,000 worth of centre lathes have been ordered from seven different countries in the Far East, America and Southern Ireland.

According to Sales Director, Mike Dawes: 'Sales of our traditional centre lathes have experienced a dramatic turnaround.

This has motivated us to rationalise machines in the range and certain key component parts while maintaining or improving quality of build.

With orders rising, we have been able to instigate value engineering and more competitive sourcing which also capitalises on the efficient production methods that are well-proven on our two and three-axis Tornado CNC lathe range.' Over the last five years or so, Colchester Lathe has grown its market share with its CNC range of slant bed Tornado and the Combi combination lathe.

Says Mike Dawes: 'Now with the new economies of scale, we have justified a total re-focus on our conventional machines which has resulted in a massive 40 per cent reduction in price on selected models.' When this is added to the world respected name of Colchester, built-up from over a century of centre lathe manufacture and being Europe's biggest lathe builder, distributors have already responded with a growing order book.