A visit to CERATIZIT    for technical training

CERATIZIT recently invited West Pharmaceutical Services to their Technical Centre on the Advanced Manufacturing Park for one of their technical training days. This facility allows customers to receive in-depth cutting tool training and gain technical expertise from CERATIZIT.

West Pharmaceutical Services has been a valued customer for several years and was invited to the technical training day, by Iain Tattersall, Technical Sales Engineer for CERATIZIT UK & Ireland Ltd, who regularly visits the company, along with CERATIZIT Application Sales Engineer Vince Witham, to provide technical and tooling support. The invitation enabled the Cornish customer to be brought up to speed on CERATIZIT’s latest innovations, and advancements in tooling and be shown the latest and most advanced machining techniques that can then be transferred to the shopfloor. More importantly, training days, such as the ones CERATIZIT run every week, help to fill the skills gap present in the engineering industry. Realising the importance of passing on the knowledge that they have learned from years of industry experience, younger generations are encouraged to take part in these training days to ensure these technical skills are not lost in the future. Sharing innovative machining techniques practises and skills, CERATIZIT training ensures that customers get the most from the company’s tooling. 

The day started with a morning of in-depth theoretical training which was delivered by Shaun Thornton, Technical Manager for CERATIZIT UK & Ire Ltd. Covering everything from materials, tools and sustainability, to speeds, feeds and cutting data, this extensive training equips customers with a solid foundation that will be useful in maximising the performance and profitability of machines. Taking time to answer questions and ensure that everyone has followed everything covered in the theoretical training, Shaun then led the customers downstairs to the workshop where they could put all this theoretical knowledge to the test. 

With a passion for passing on specialised technical skills, the latest machine techniques and the most up-to-date practises, the engineers at the Tech Centre planned an afternoon of practical learning whereby guests could incorporate the morning’s theory with some engineer-led machine demonstrations. After lunch and a chance to recharge, the afternoon’s practical training began with an interactive cutting tool demonstration on the MAZAK Integrex I-250H. Allowing the customers to input the cutting data, the guests could see how each operation ran and which values of cutting data worked best for the specified machine conditions. Immersing guests in hands-on, interactive training, is at the heart of CERATIZIT training days. Furthermore, live video feeds from the machines, played on large screens throughout the workshop, meant that everyone could get a detailed view of how the operations were running and whether their cutting data had been calculated correctly. 

After the demonstration on the MAZAK, it was time for more interactive demonstrations on the XYZ machines. On the XYZ 800HD and the XYZ UMC 5X, the visitors were once again encouraged to work out the cutting data for themselves, before putting their knowledge to the test and running the specified programs. On the XYZ UMC 5X, guests took part in a machine demonstration whereby they were shown how their free aluminium pen pots, given out to customers on training days, were made. This machine demonstration also showcased CERATIZIT’s latest cutting tool technology; KOMflex and ToolScope. ToolScope is a process monitoring control system that can be retrofitted to most CNC machines. Monitoring spindle torque and live cutting data, this information can then be used to optimise things like tool wear and prevention of tool breakages and collisions. Pairing this with KOMflex, an actuated closed loop boring and probing system, the engineers demonstrated how these technologies streamline machining processes and prevent damages which occur thanks to the advanced monitoring they allow with ToolScope, while reducing the risk of scrapping costly components, with KomFlex.

Once everyone had finished their demonstrations and all questions had been answered, customers were given fully documented training booklets containing information on the tooling, machine demonstrations and cutting data that they had used throughout the day. After that, the customers headed home. Following on from the training day, Vince helped West Pharmaceutical Services to implement changes to the current tooling and cutting data back on-site in Cornwall. These changes, influenced by the training day, had an immediate positive effect on productivity, cycle times and tool life.  Continuing their strong working relationship with both Vince and Iain, West Pharmaceutical Services is regularly visited by both CERATIZIT engineers for unmatched technical support and tooling recommendations.