The introduction of design, machining and inspection software from Delcam has helped Birmingham-based Pro-Mil move into large-scale 3D machining for a range of industries. Pro-Mil was established as a division of the Kingsbury Group 25 years ago to specialise in large-scale production machining. It installed the first twin-drive Asquith machine ever built and has since expanded to five machines, with the largest having a 9m x 4m bed.

Since then, Pro-Mil has developed broad experience in machining large components to high accuracies, especially for the aerospace, automotive, marine and railway industries.

The company added its first seat of PowerSHAPE and PowerMILL in 1998.

'At that time, we were still doing mainly 2D work but we could see the way the industry was going, with both more competition for the simpler work and more demand for more complex 3D machining,' explained Pro-Mil's general manager, Ian Hinton.

'We looked at the type of work that we wanted to take on and planned accordingly.' The success of that plan was confirmed four years later when the amount of 3D work had increased to the level where a second seat of Delcam software was needed.' He said: 'The Delcam software was pretty easy to pick up.

You can try different strategies very quickly so I soon found the best ways to use the software for the various types of work that we do.

The flexibility of the software is a big benefit for us.

Like other sub-contractors, we have to be able to do anything our customers demand, including working in all types of materials from specially-hardened steels to polystyrene foam.' Davies added: 'PowerMILL is also totally reliable, which is essential for the size of project we handle.

For example, one aerospace component that we machined started from a specially-made block of aluminium that would have taken 12 months to replace.

In another case, we spent almost four days roughing 15 tonnes of steel from the starting block.

You don't want to think about the cost of scrapping a part like that with a gouge during finishing.' Pro-Mil's second programmer, Mo Khan, said: 'PowerSHAPE is equally important, we still receive many of our projects as drawings so we need to be able to create 3D models for programming.

Even when we are sent CAD models, they often need work to make them suitable for manufacture.' Both programmers were equally enthusiastic about the hardware that was also supplied by Delcam and the support provided by the staff on the help desk.

'We've never had a job we couldn't do, thanks to their assistance,' claimed Khan.

'The user meetings and seminars organised at Delcam are also a great help; you always learn some useful tips.' The latest addition to Pro-Mil's Delcam software is the On-Machine Verification version of the PowerINSPECT inspection software.

'We have never had a coordinate measuring machine,' said Hinton.

'With the size of parts that we produce, it would be impossible to justify the cost.

On-Machine Verification has been an ideal fit with the work that we do.' Explained Davies: 'Before we added PowerINSPECT OMV, I had to create a probing program manually.

I would select a number of points on the model, extract the xyz data with PowerSHAPE and create G-code to drive the probe to the points.

Even a basic inspection would take two or more hours to prepare.' Davies said: 'With PowerINSPECT, the process is much easier and much faster.

This means I can take many more measurements in much less time.

In addition, I have customised the report template to our company standard, so our customers can confirm quickly that the job is within the specified tolerances.' He added: 'The PowerINSPECT interface is similar to our existing Delcam software so I was taking measurements with the program within a day of receiving it.

I have also started using the system to assist in set-ups, especially to check the amounts of material left on castings that we are sent for finish machining.' With the specialist nature of its business, Pro-Mil is less vulnerable than many other subcontractors to competition from overseas.

'The equipment and expertise we have built up here would be very difficult to duplicate anywhere else,' said Hinton.

'In addition, the weight of the components would make shipping very expensive.' Hinton commented: 'Unlike many companies that are always looking to cut costs, even when it means risking a drop in quality, we are prepared to spend what we need to spend to provide the best possible service to our customers,' he commented.