CBE+ makes space for 5-axis growth

Subcontract specialist, Capabilities Beyond Engineering (CBE+), has installed its first five-axis vertical machining centre, a German-built Spinner U630. The investment is helping the business overcome complex manufacturing challenges for an R&D project as a precursor to the high-volume production of an aluminium space component.

CBE+ is a multidisciplinary engineering service provider specialising in precision CNC machining, electroless nickel plating and a range of complementary manufacturing services. Operating from a 9,290 m² facility in Chesterfield, the company offers up an integrated approach that enables customers to streamline their supply chains through a single trusted partner.

Watch this space

The decision to invest in the Spinner CNC machining centre, supplied as a turnkey package by sole UK agent Whitehouse Machine Tools, was driven by the need for an efficient way of manufacturing the complex, high-tolerance space component. The part would otherwise have required multiple operations across separate three- and four-axis prismatic machining platforms.

“While we had the engineering expertise to produce the component, we needed the right machine to enable its cost-effective production,” comments Marie Cooper, CEO of CBE+. “The quality and versatility of the Spinner vertical machining centre, coupled with the technical capabilities of Whitehouse Machine Tools when configuring the machine for our requirements, proved an ideal combination.”

She continues: “The project’s success has resulted in us becoming a strategic partner to our space industry customer, which is impressed with how we machine its high-value component accurately in a single clamping.”

Flexible friend

The Spinner U630 was set up specifically to meet this demand. It features a 650 mm diameter tilting/rotary table with an outer ring that is removable to reduce the interference profile to 500 mm when machining at angles of 90° and beyond. Such flexibility allows better tool access and the use of shorter, more stable cutters for producing high-accuracy features.

The machine delivers a fast spindle speed commensurate with roughing and finishing aluminium productively, and a large 54-pocket tool magazine to support completion of the complex program without in-cycle cutter replenishment. In addition, the Spinner U630 offers touchscreen programming functionality. The specification makes the machine a versatile platform for general subcontract work beyond the space project, especially with its ability to perform full simultaneous five-axis milling.

Other attributes of the VMC include generous axis travels of 630 mm in X, 530 mm in Y and 465 mm in Z, linear rapids of 48 m/min for short idle times, and a table capable of accommodating fixtured workpieces weighing up to 500 kg.

Growth target

This latest investment at CBE+ is a key part of the company’s strategic ambition to treble revenue over the next three to five years. By enhancing its shop floor with modern machining capacity like the Spinner U630 CNC vertical machining centre from Whitehouse Machine Tools, the subcontractor has not only become a strategic partner to its space industry customer, but also enhanced its ability to sell advanced services to new and existing clients globally.