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After just six months of its current financial year Jemtech is reporting a significant increase in demand for its range of Blaser metalworking fluids, WaterHog fluid evaporation system, and Cleanmist mist extraction units.

Turnover for the six month period is 34 per cent higher than the corresponding period in the last financial year and, more encouragingly, the last quarter between January and March shows an increase in sales of 52 per cent compared to last year. While some of this growth is attributed to increasing demand from existing customers, Jemtech is extremely encouraged by the number of new customers that are recognising the fact that the products provided by Jemtech can offer distinct advantages in productivity, increased tool life and improved working conditions.

“You get what you pay for is a well worn phrase, but we are finding a greater recognition among our customers that there is a large amount of truth behind it. In fact, it has never been more appropriate, especially with the renewed drive for improved health and safety, it makes perfect commercial sense to buy the best rather than the cheapest. In terms of metalworking fluids the days of price per litre being the driving factor are diminishing as those engineering facilities with a focus on delivering quality and profitable manufacturing are now taking notice of higher quality fluids that will deliver benefits across the board,” Says Steve Coull, Managing Director, Jemtech (UK).

Another important element in the growth in turnover at Jemtech is the acceptance by many engineering companies that the maintenance of metalworking fluids is equally important as that of maintaining the machine tools. The type of company that understands that caring for cutting fluid is essential, not just for the welfare of your employees, but in order to produce components faster, and to a higher standard and at a lower cost, are the same companies that Jemtech is targeting for new business. “We are happy to work with any business where we can enter into discussions around productivity gains, lower costs and a safer working environment. In working in partnership with these customers we can ensure that their metalworking fluid will deliver considerable benefits, their employees are better deployed in the manufacturing process rather than looking after coolant, and there is a definite cost advantage through efficiency savings in allowing our team of experts to manage these fluids.”

The final pieces of the jigsaw that will help Jemtech to maintain this surge in sales growth are new products. Of particular interest is the recently introduction of Blaser neat oils into the UK for sliding head and gear cutting machines. The enhanced performance of these oils, delivering at least double tool life, and enhanced process and machine security, far outweigh any argument related to cost per litre. “By using the correct cutting fluid the cost, as a percentage of the overall component cost, is minuscule, so saving 50 per cent of nothing by buying cheaper product is nothing halved. However, if by using the optimum fluids you reduce cycle times by 10 per cent, increase uptime by 5 per cent, lower waste by 30 per cent, reduce scrap tooling or component costs by 5 per cent and lowering tooling spend by 20 per cent, significant savings are being made, which in reality can render the expenditure on cutting fluid immaterial.”

Less is more for Jemtech as it works with its customers to improve the management and use of metalcutting fluids and help reduce their manufacturing costs.

As part of its ongoing Lean Programme Roscomac has identified non-core elements of its business in order to drive up the efficient use of its own people and resources. One area that has seen such improvement is cutting fluid management.

In order to avoid the pitfall of trying to constantly manage its business from the top down, Worthing-based, Precision Engineer, Roscomac has actively involved its entire staff in its Lean Programme. The result is a concentration of the core business of manufacturing precision components with suppliers providing the support services that the company needs to function on a day-to-day basis.

“In the past few months we have invested over £3 million in new machine tools, including six horizontal machining centres, four with 630mm3 pallets and two with 500mm3 pallets, says Joe Martello, Roscomac’s Managing Director. “I would much rather my people are focussed on ensuring these machines are making components rather than worrying about whether the coolant is at the correct concentration.”

To address this Roscomac has signed a Fluid Management agreement with Jemtech (UK) to provide a supplier drive, cost-effective fluid monitoring service for all of the company’s machine tools. As part of that service Jemtech is on site three mornings per week to monitor fluid use, pH values, coolant concentrations and general checks to ascertain whether tramp oil and odours are an issue.

If any issues are notified to, or identified by, Jemtech then it has the autonomy to carry out a root and branch investigation to resolve them. “We have direct contact with the senior people at Jemtech and if we raise any issues they are dealt with immediately. As a result of the support they are providing and since they have replaced our cutting fluids with Blaser products we have had no health & safety issues, or skin related problems, and tool life has increased dramatically, ten-fold in some applications.”

Before Roscomac invited Jemtech to undertake this fluid management project and switch all of its machines over to Blaser Swisslube products it may have had up to ten people with some level of responsibility for monitoring cutting fluids. As this was only a part of their job function the temptation was for them to keep it at a stage where it is OK, rather than investigating why a situation may have arose and remedying it.

“In Jemtech we have a supplier that has a highly pro-active, can do attitude and one of the reassuring things about working with Jemtech is that we can give them our instructions and be confident that they will be carried out completely, if not improved on,” says Joe Martello. “This means that we are able to totally rely on them to maintain our cutting fluids and by default the performance of our machines. Having taken this decision to outsource fluid management we do not want to be spoon feeding our supplier. With Jemtech, they turn up, do what needs to be done and leave, we hardly notice them, which is a sign that the process is working extremely well.”

Wanting to improve the working environment at its Hyde, Cheshire manufacturing facility, Coleherne Ltd turned to Jemtech (UK) to provide a two-fold solution to removing the problem of coolant mist in the air.

The products machined by Coleherne require some heavy-duty metalcutting to take place, and the previous cutting fluid was generating steam from the heat created in that process. This then became a ‘smog’ that hung in the air of the factory. Obviously a health & safety issue, Coleherne turned to Jemtech to supply an alternative solution to the problem.

The installation of Cleanmist oil air mist filters and use of Blaser’s B-cool cutting fluids has significantly improved the working environment at fluid-filled hydrodynamic bearing manufacturer, Coleherne. A further bonus is that this combination of cutting fluid and filtration is allowing Coleherne to increase cutting data, reduce cycle times and improve overall delivery performance for its customers in the oil & gas, power generation, and pump & compressor sectors.

The addition of Cleanmist oil air mist filters has helped to drastically reduce the amount of mist escaping to the atmosphere, while the use of Blaser Swisslube B-Cool 655 water miscible cutting fluid allowed cutting data to be increased without any detrimental effect on cutting tool performance. “As a business the cost of manufacture is extremely important, but there are hidden costs that need to be taken into account. Since making this switch to Blaser cutting fluids and the Cleanmist filters, the health and safety and working environment aspects of our business have improved. This has a cost benefit to the business as we have eliminated the skin issues that we had before the change, people are not taking time off as a result and the morale on the shopfloor has improved,” says Jeremy Taylor, Coleherne’s Machine Shop Manager.

“By converting Coleherne to the Blaser B-Cool 655 mineral oil-based cutting fluid we enabled them to increase cutting data on some of the materials that they are machining,” says Alan Dalton, Director, Jemtech (UK). “As it is designed to handle heavy machining applications the amount of mist produced under these conditions is reduced, with the Cleanmist units, and their patented Venturi system, easily able to deal with what remains. The fact that Coleherne is now reporting few, if any, skin issues is also testament to the development of cutting fluids by Blaser that do not contain EP additives with chemicals such as sulphur, Chlorine, zinc or Phosphor in them.”

In addition to providing the cutting fluid and mist extraction Jemtech (UK) can also provide management and monitoring of the fluids, including weekly dip slide tests to comply with Health and Safety Executive guidelines, as well as its machine tool valet service, whereby a service engineer will clean the machine’s coolant system and ensure that it is operating at its optimum.

The pressure to reduce the cost of manufactured components, particularly in the high-volume turned parts market, has led many companies to review their own manufacturing costs. Some have chosen the route of sourcing lower cost consumables, while others, such as Roscomac, have looked beyond price, to address the value they are getting and are now benefitting from reduced manufacturing costs, improved performance and enhanced process security.

A fire in a machine tool is not normally seen as a positive event but in the case of Roscomac, the Worthing-based specialist sub-contractor of high quality precision engineered components, it proved to be a catalyst for change. They felt that the fire was caused, in part, by the low flash point of its existing neat cutting oil. “We had been using this particular oil on our sliding head section as it was a considerably cheaper per litre option than those on offer from suppliers, such as Jemtech,” says Tim Osman, Roscomac’s Sliding Head Supervisor.

This particular oil had been in use for some time and had been causing a number of issues, in particular poor tool life. “The issues were more noticeable on one particular stainless steel threaded component,” says Tim Osman. “We were only managing 300 parts per insert with almost 100 per cent inspection being required on the threads. Inserts were being changed every four hours and the lost time and potential for scrap was becoming expensive. “We looked at everything to solve the problems, new inserts and machine alignments; ignoring the oil completely, despite being told by Jemtech’s Mark Drummond that it was at the heart of the problem. That was until the fire.”

This dramatic event gave Roscomac the incentive to switch cutting fluids to Blasomill 22, which has a much higher flash point than what they had previously used. Jemtech’s technicians drained the coolant tank, cleaned it and refilled it with Blasomill 22 in under two hours. The improvement witnessed by Roscomac was instant, with tool life increasing to 3000 parts per insert and insert changes occurring every 40 hours rather than every four. The consistency of size on the threaded element of the part was also improved dramatically, resulting in a requirement to check only one in 250 parts, freeing up operator time for other jobs. “What was a job that was challenging is now so, so, easy to manage,” says Tim Osman.

The two hours that Jemtech needed to clean out the old oil and replenish it with Blasomill 22 has proved to be highly beneficial to Roscomac. Beyond the savings that are being made on the sliding head machines in terms of process security, product consistency and a significant reduction in the amount of cutting oil that is being ordered, due to BlasoMill 22’s longevity; they are also benefitting further down the line as the improved surface quality of the machined parts now requires less polishing, generating even greater cost savings.

Other benefits from switching to Blasomill 22 are the oils chlorine-free status, which ensures no corrosion on the machine or parts from its use. The inclusion of anti-wear and extreme pressure additives, along with its exceptional lubricating properties delivers extended tool life and good surface quality. And, with a flash point of 180 degree C the likelihood of another fire has been severely reduced.

“Switching to Blasomill 22 from Jemtech is a perfect example of how all manufacturing companies should look beyond the price of a product and concentrate on its value to the business,” says Brian Greenslade, Roscomac’s Production Manager. “The benefits that we are gaining, such as process security, reduced oil use, increased tool life, better working environment, are far outweighing the price saving per litre offered by our previous oil. The easy option of looking for a cheaper alternative is not one that has any long-term benefits while the added value of a highly technical solution, supported by qualified technicians has proved itself to be the winning solution.

“That said, it wasn’t an easy task to persuade the operators that changing the oil would be a positive thing. At first they were highly sceptical, taking the attitude that they had heard all of the salesman’s claims before and were of the opinion that simply changing the oil wouldn’t make a difference. However, within hours of the first machine being changed to Blasomill 22 they were clamouring for the other seven sliding head machines to be converted. Following the success on the sliding heads we are now looking at switching to Blaser cutting fluids on our turning and machining centres.”

The management of cutting fluids should not be considered as a ‘necessary evil’ by manufacturing companies, especially those working in high added value areas, with exotic (expensive) materials being cut. Steve Coull, Managing Director of Jemtech (UK) explains why good housekeeping is essential to performance, HSE, productivity and profitability.

Good management of cutting fluids benefits every department within a business. Production gains from increased tool life, reduced machine downtime and reduced scrap and rework. Purchasing will see reductions in consumable budgets whilst health, environmental and safety procedures will be enhanced. However, many businesses do not recognise the potential of good quality fluid management, with some ignoring it all together. In truth, no fluid management is better than poor management. At least it gives you a baseline, whereas poor management can be moving you further away from where you need to be, without you even knowing it!

Through our partnership with Blaser Swisslube we have many years of experience in cutting fluid technology and the correct management of it. And what we see when correct management is in place are increased fluid life (reducing usage by 15 – 20 per cent), significantly increased tool life (typically 10-20 per cent), especially when machining exotic materials, and improved process security, which in turn leads to reductions in scrap and rework. Also of significance is the lowering of waste volume of around 25 per cent. With disposal costs running at £500/2000 litres and a typical user producing 20 000 to 30 000 litres of waste per year from cutting fluids, the cost and environmental advantages are plain to see.

To achieve these results cutting fluid housekeeping needs to be undertaken in a positive manner, by factory-trained technicians, either in-house employees or provided by suppliers such as Jemtech. Throughout the process there are many pitfalls that can so easily be avoided. For instance, poor fluid management will inevitably lead to the concentration of the coolant being inconsistent. The weakening of the strength of the fluid leads to much lower lubricity and the risk of tool breakage. Going in the opposite direction and increasing the volume of concentrate above the recommended levels is simply wasting money as there is no perceivable production benefit of doing so.

Another area that may affect the quality/performance of cutting fluid is a drive from purchasing to reduce costs. As has already been highlighted, these cost savings can be achieved through good fluid management, but if the decision is taken to reduce purchasing costs by buying cheaper in an attempt to deliver the same results this can lead to significant issues in production.

If we take a typical machine tool for high value, precision aerospace components costing around £350,000 including the machine purchase, training, tooling package, software and installation, this is a major investment in anyone’s terms. The coolant tank on a machine of this type would hold 1000 litres, requiring 80 litres of concentrate. The cost to fill this tank using Blaser Swisslube products would typically be £400 or £5/litre. By switching to a product at, say, £2/litre you would save £160 on a £350,000 investment! However, by using a low cost product you are restricting the use of the machine tools full potential.

The question that needs to be asked, especially in the aerospace sector is: Can you justify the potential cost of a tap breaking in a component manufactured from expensive (limited availability) material, which has had many hours of machined value added to it for the sake of saving £240 on cutting fluid?

This is why management of cutting fluids is so vital to the well being of a production environment. Users must look at value rather than purely price and ensure that they are achieving the maximum they can from their cutting fluid, in terms of tool life, fluid life, waste reduction and finally cost benefits. The complete control of cutting fluids is vital to the production and financial performance of any business involved in metalcutting. It is control that will deliver consistently high quality components, on time, and profitably.

At Jemtech this is a service that we feel is central to our business and is the reason why we offer it as part of our bespoke service packages.