Removing Swarf with Cromar’s New Swarf Management Systems and Solutions at MACH 2018

Ben discusses the benefits of the new Cromar Swarf Management Technologies and Products.

Gio Albanese:       Ben, today we're going to take a closer look at your Swarf Management Systems and conveyors and the innovation behind them, and how they've evolved over the years. 

Ben Crowther:       Yeah, well they've evolved generally with the machine tools that we supply. All our customers, we start with a product, we develop it. Their machines develop. The customers develop might be new cutting processes, different coolants, different products being made. The machine has to provide a good service, so ours is the conveyor. In the past they may not have been considered so much, but their value now is so important the customer is now understanding that if they buy the right conveyor, everything will perform as they're meant to perform.

Gio Albanese:       I mean, when I was on the shop floor, Ben, I definitely overlooked swarf conveyors. I didn't realize the importance of them. The machines have evolved significantly. They're producing more Swarf. But your Full Swarf Management Systems, they don't just get rid of the swarf, do they?

Ben Crowther:       Well, no. This conveyor, for example, is a standard conveyor. It gets the swarf, puts it in a bin. That's all it does. It does it reliably, but that's all it can do. And then go to this product, which is series 4. It's a newly developed product. It has the drum filteration, which has been around a long time. It's proven and customers are happy with it. But we're taking it to the next level. We have to consider the environment, the working environment for the engineers, and also the coolant. While we can clean the coolant with the filters, in a conveyor, for example, you can see around here you've got areas where there's no coolant pumped. So effectively they become a dead zone. There's no agitation.

Ben Crowther:       So actually, inside this tank, there's a hard pipework running all the way around the conveyor and there's a dedicated pump circulating that coolant, so it's continually moving. That reduces the opportunity of it going off. 

Gio Albanese:       No, I mean, it's fascinating, the technology that goes behind these swarf conveyors. It's phenomenal. And you're not only making a standard swarf conveyor, you're making them bespoke to suit a machine and bespoke to suit a solution.

Ben Crowther:       Yeah, completely bespoke solutions. Again, that boils down to working with our customers, and customers, OEMs, and one of the advantages we have as a company, everything's made in the UK. Everything is made within our own business. We're not relying on any subcontractors, so that gives us a flexibility to provide a better product, at the end of the day, for the customer. 

Gio Albanese:       I'm privileged to have a tour of your facility and to see how these Swarf Management Systems were manufactured. It was brilliant, really, Ben, and I appreciate that. Now, the longevity of the product as well. UK manufacturing is booming, but not only the longevity, the quality, but the delivery and the service.

Ben Crowther:       Well, delivery's always a consideration for people under continual pressure. Again, back to what we can offer, because we do it all ourselves, we give the flexibility. Okay, we may not be able to do a two-week delivery on a Swarf Management System, but what we can do is try and support the customer's requirements with the delivery of the machinetool.

Gio Albanese:       I think it's imperative. I've been talking to people about productivity. People are looking to run overnight now, to kind of get a better return of investment on their machinetool. Now, you need to have a good Swarf Management System to enable you to do that. 

Ben Crowther:       Yeah, you do. You do, Gio, yeah, exactly. If you want to run overnight, you need the right system. Simple as that. The thing is, if you load a machine up at the front, you need to take the back, which is where we're involved in removing the waste, into consideration.

Gio Albanese:       And I just want to summarize, really, anything to do with swarf management, you're the man to get hold of.

Ben Crowther:       Absolutely. 

Gio Albanese:       You've also got other products that you offer that people may be unaware of.

Ben Crowther:       Yeah, obviously conveyors are our main business with the standard conveyors, entry-level Swarf Management Systems, full Swarf Management Systems, high-pressure coolant. We do swarf bins, steel telescopic covers, spin windows, wash guns, oil skimmers, all manner of ancillary equipment for machinetools.