One-stop subby relies on Hurco

Considering itself as a ‘one-stop-shop’, Wolverhampton-based Varlowe Industrial Services Ltd is a subcontract manufacturer that specialises in machining, specialist pipework, steel fabrication, Class 1 coded welding and electrical services. For a ‘one-stop-shop’ of everything from prototypes to small batch manufacturing, pride of place is a host of CNC machine tools from Hurco.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2023, the company works with everything from hospitals and theme parks to automotive and more. With specialist pipework, fabrication and welding being the foundation blocks of the business, precision machining was a bolt-on, as Steve Varden from Varlowe Industrial Services Ltd says: “From a commercial point of view, we needed to keep control of our processes and delivery dates, price points and customer satisfaction. We manufacture everything from jigs and fixtures, prototypes, design and build everything from the basic shaft or gear to specialist projects.”
Looking at why the company invested in Hurco machines, Steve says: “They are very reliable and come at an excellent price point. They are fit for purpose and the company is relatively local to us. Additionally, the service is excellent.”

Adding to this, Mike Boylan from Varlowe says: “We are predominantly making small batch work and one-offs. The parts have to be precise and are often quite complex, so there is a wide variety of components made from engineering steels such as ferrous and nonferrous materials as well as plastics. We primarily manufacture prototypes through to small batches of 10 or 20-off.”

Discussing what the company needs to produce such components, Mike says: “This is one of our newest machines, the VMX60i is the largest machine we have and we bought it because our existing machines did not have the capacity to machine our large parts. This machine has the same characteristics as our other machines, we have the tool carousel, through spindle coolant and lots more.”
“Hurco machines are great quality with a small footprint – they give us everything we need for comprehensive 3 and 4th-axis machining and turning.” Alluding to the programming, Mike continues: “We have a mixture where we program with CAD/CAM and we also have operators and setters programming at the machine. This is feasible as the system is very user-friendly and easy to use. Additionally, being able to program on the machine gives us flexibility and speed. On our newest Hurco machines, we now have dual screens and this allows us to look ahead and remove any potential errors as we can run both screens at the same time.”

“The machines are regularly serviced by Hurco, we also have CMM inspection to ensure we are hitting the tight tolerances our customers require. The inspection department also qualifies that the machines are hitting their tolerances and delivering what we need.”

Concluding on the Hurco machines, Steve says: “As a result of having these machines, sales and productivity have improved and we can control our margins better. We now have 10 Hurco machines.”