🎧Manufax follows the Leader

As a leading name in the design, production and fabrication of engineered solutions, Manufax in Stockport manufactures jigs, fixtures and components primarily for the aerospace, defence, automotive and nuclear industries. Now in the third generation of the Rhodes family, Manufax has just invested in a large horizontal borer from Leader CNC Technologies.

The investment in a Fermat machine from Nuneaton-based Leader CNC is part of an ongoing diversification strategy. As David Baines, Group Production Director for Manufax Engineering says: “Up to and during Covid, we were heavily into the aerospace industry with around 90% of our work in the aerospace sector. We suffered hugely during the pandemic, so we needed to diversify and we now do a third of our business in the aerospace market with another third in defence and the remaining third in the nuclear sector. With this diversity, we have seen the need to invest heavily in new technology for the future.”

Looking at the company’s plans for diversification, David adds: “The criteria we were looking for was a good horizontal borer and I found that the Fermat machine was a very good replacement machine with modern capabilities such as the rotary table that we have built into the machine. The quality of this machine builder is excellent.”

Vince Heffernan, Leader CNC Technologies Technical Manager says: “The Fermat WFT 13 is the machine that has been supplied to Manufax. Fermat is a brand that has been around for over a hundred years and it now makes over 100 machines a year. As a machine builder, Fermat will cater to the specific needs of the customer, providing fully modular machines with up to 90 tools on the ATC or a robot loading system that can load an infinite number of tools. The Fermat WFT 13 has the option of different heads, so customers can have a 5-axis head.”

The machine has a 2.6 by 1.8m table with 4 by 2.5 by 1.5m of travel in X, Y and Z axes with an additional W-axis that expands by 600mm. “The advantage of the W-axis is that customers can do some deep hole boring. The machine also has a large capacity where you can fit anything on the machine. You can always do a small part on a big machine but you can’t always do a big part on a small machine,” continues Vince.
David from Manufax adds: “The relationship with Leader CNC has been fantastic and they have helped us with the implementation of the machine and getting Fermat engineers over here to install and commission the machine.”

Adding to this, James Leet from Leader CNC Technologies says: “We work closely with Manufax as the company trusts Leader CNC Technologies as a business that they can consult with on quite a complex issue. If we were positioned to sell hundreds of machines a year, we couldn’t consult and support our customers – we are not positioned to do that. We are positioned to help companies like Manufax. The word ‘partnerships’ is used a lot in this industry, but you cannot make installations like this happen without a partnership approach.”

Concluding on the installation, David says: “This is our first machine from Leader CNC Technologies and it’s very exciting for us to be collaborating with them – and we are looking forward to the future with Leader CNC.”