Investing in efficient and reliable machinery is a productive way to grow a business. GoTools, a leading precision tool-maker in the UK discovered this “key to success” after purchasing EDM and milling machines from OPS Ingersoll. MC Machinery is a distributing partner of OPS Ingersoll in North America.
When GoTools was founded in 2012, problems quickly arose when electrodes took too long to be machined and workers could not feed the sparker quickly enough. This resulted in unproductive use of the EDM machines that GoTools had at the time.
The purpose of GoTools was to create precision tools for work in high volume and demanding environments, but the growing business struggled to keep up with constant incoming orders. Possessing a need for machining solutions, Managing Director, Andrew Millard, headed to the Mach exhibition in 2014, in Birmingham, with hopes he would find someone who understood his vision for GoTools’ future.
Millard came across OPS Ingersoll and discovered that the Gantry Eagle 400 was the machine that best fit GoTools’ needs. The machine’s speed and excellent electrode wear properties led to better machining overall.
“Suddenly, we were able to machine more in a day than we had done before in a whole week!” says Millard. Shortly after the first EDM machine purchase, GoTools invested in the Eagle V5 high-speed milling centre to machine graphite electrodes in addition to metal parts for the tools, themselves.
In a little over 5 years of existence, GoTools has managed to record a growth of about 50% per year. That success started with the decision to buy a new EDM machine, and because the growth of the company was very much correlated to the reliable machines used, the company recently decided to purchase another machine from OPS Ingersoll—the Gantry Eagle 800.
The goal for GoTools was to have a fully automated production with machines running 150 hours a week. The company believes it is highly likely that this goal will happen very soon thanks to their new EDM machines.
To read the whole story featured in European Tool and MoldMaking magazine, click here.