Nupress Tools
Established in 1972 Nupress Tools is an advanced manufacturer of precision machined components and assemblies based in Cardiff, a suburb of Newcastle, on the NSW coast.
Competing in an increasingly competitive international marketplace Nupress focuses on working smarter not harder. Their innovative manufacturing approach positions them for the manufacture of unique and complex parts while also being able to excell in high quantity batch manufacturing.
This commitment to innovation and quality led to Nupress’ MD Murray Claire and CEO Craig McWilliam embarking on an analysis of suitable Coordinate Measuring Machine technologies to compliment and enhance their other leading edge technologies.
Amongst other parameters the key criteria established by Murray and Craig was threefold :
- The system should enhance their process control capabilities and must include continuous analogue scanning.
- The selected unit should be suitable for use in both a production and QA role.
- To get the best out of any system extensive on-going local support is critical
After evaluating three potential suppliers Nupress decided on a Hexagon Global Classic SR 09.12.08 CMM with PC-DMIS software and analogue scanning. In late 2016 Hi-Tech Metrology installed and calibrated the machine then provided the operator training to ensure that Nupress gained maximum benefit from their investment.
Now, a short two years following the CMM installation, when asked about the tangible benefits achieved by Nupress Murray Claire commented :
‘A lot of customer drawings have dimensions to intersection points in space or tight tolerance diameters at a gauge plane dimension along a taper. In the past we would manufacture gauges and checking jigs that would take not only manufacturing resources but also engineering resources with considerable cost associated. Now we can eliminate that part of the cost equation’
‘There has not been any direct labour savings, I mean we have not reduced the workforce at all. However, we have been able to use the labour we have more efficiently for a large percentage of the time’
When asking Murray about the on-going benefits of sourcing the technology from Hi-Tech Metrology he makes the following point:
‘Local support - the equipment itself is only one part of the total value proposition. It is when the machine is not running or when we need to have more people trained that puts the Hi-Tech solution to the top of the list. The local support and rapid responses to questions made the whole transition very smooth’
Nupress Tools
'The equipment itself is only one part of the total value proposition, it is when the machine is not running or when we need to have more people trained that puts the Hi-Tech solution to the top of the list. The local support and rapid responses to questions made the whole transition very smooth'