Vale Garden Houses, the Grantham-based manufacturer of high quality orangeries, conservatories, bronze casement windows and bronze doors, has purchased a second Mecal CNC machining centre from Addison Saws
The machine, a 4-axis Mecal MC 305 Kosmos, will be used in Vale’s highly specialised Bronze Department to drill, mill, slot and prep architectural bronze extrusions of up to 3.5 metres in length and from 3.5mm to 12mm in thickness.
“It was around ten years ago that we invested in our first Mecal CNC machining centre from Addison’s – an MC 305 4-axis model,” comments Vale’s Operations Director, Dave Cheney. “Extremely reliable and accurate, it brought significant advantages to our production schedules – and is still in everyday use.
“The expansion of our business into a new manufacturing facility just a few years ago, however, saw us place even greater demands on the Mecal. As a result, earlier this year we decided the time was right to invest in a second machining centre, to take on board 50 per cent of our Bronze Department’s machining requirements and ensure we are well equipped for future business growth.”
Service and reliability were key deciders
With a number of potentially suitable machines on the market, it was the reliability of their Mecal MC 305 model and the high levels of service provided by Addison Saws over the years that persuaded Vale Garden Houses to stay loyal to Addison and invest in a second Mecal machine from them.
Setting the bar for after-sales care
“Not only has our original Mecal CNC machine more than proved its worth, with an absolute minimum of downtime, the service from Addison Saws has also been outstanding,” adds Dave Cheney.
Chosen to service other Vale machines
“Any machine is only as good as the level of support provided and, in our opinion, Addison’s clearly set the bar in terms of customer care and after-sales service. Their response times, knowledge, attitude and commitment to getting things sorted are all second-to-none. For that reason, Addison Saws has been chosen to service and maintain some of our other metalwork machines – they know how to problem solve and get things up and running again as quickly as possible.”
Mecal MC 305 Kosmos – enhancing production
The new Mecal MC 305 Kosmos purchased by Vale Garden Houses offers a range of enhancements over their original machine. In particular, tool changes are much faster and the automatic clamping system, where the machining head positions the clamps, has made various manufacturing processes significantly quicker.
“The performance enhancements of the new machine are fantastic,” adds Dave Cheney. “At Vale, however, we are more concerned with accuracy than speed, as virtually every job we undertake is unique. We know we can count on both our Mecal CNC machining centres to deliver the clean cuts and high levels of precision that we demand.”
