Uno Engineering purchases Okuma LB4000 EX II turning center

The machine is the first of its kind to be installed in South Africa.

“Buying capacity does not always mean just buying a new machine or a different machine to the ones you have on your floor. You also have to look at the capabilities of each machine and the disciplines they are performing. In our case our machines have had middle of the road capabilities which has in some cases excluded us from pitching for contracts that have larger components to machine,” says Denis Fiorot, Director of Uno Engineering.

“That was until 2011 when we invested in our first big machine – a Samsung PL 45 MC CNC turning center that has an 18” chuck, 775mm maximum swing diameter over the bed, 650mm maximum turning diameter, 2 255mm maximum turning length, 115mm bar capacity, a 132mm spindle bore, programmable steady and driven tooling.”

“The machine was at the time the first of its kind in South Africa and, because of its size, it opened up new possibilities for us. I know Samsung is not active in South Africa anymore but that has not deterred us. We have always serviced our own machines and the Samsung is no exception. We can still get spare parts if we need them and this has allowed us to continue using the machine. I know the brand is not very popular in South Africa and people knock it but we have surprised them as the machine is still fully operational today.”

Uno Engineering’s latest investment is an Okuma LB4000 EX II turning center that is built on Okuma’s Thermo-Friendly Concept to ensure minimal thermal growth and the slanted box bed construction translates into high rigidity. Equipped with Okuma’s high-power, high-torque PREX motor, this machine delivers high-quality machining from heavy to high-speed cutting with a through-hole diameter able to accommodate larger workpieces. The operator-friendly, open-architecture OSP-P control makes this machine not only easy to operate, but also to integrate with other peripheral equipment. The machine was supplied by Integral Machine Tools

“The machine is over 12 years old now so there is old technology in it but it has served its purpose at Uno Engineering, a company started by my father Mario Fiorot, an Italian immigrant, in 1990 when conventional machines were still prevalent and loved by many of my father’s contemporaries.”

“Machining to tight tolerances is our game. My late dad, who was my mentor, was a stickler for precision and tight tolerances, a discipline he installed in me from the time I started to tinker with the machines while still at school.”

He was not alone. Many immigrants at the time and before 1990 came from Italy, a country that was known for producing expert artisans, especially in the engineering environment. Many would work for a company in South Africa before venturing out on their own and starting their own machine shop business. Fortunately their skills would be passed on to their son and other family members and there are still many of these companies that exist and are very successful.”

“The advanced technology of the machine is really mind boggling. It has taken me a few weeks to get used to – it was only installed in Mach 2023 – but now that I am just about there, I am realising the potential of it. It comes including live tooling, sub-spindle and a Y-axis, it has a maximum turning length of 2 150mm, a maximum turning diameter of 380mm, rapid traverse on the XZ of 25/30m/min and it has a 30/22kW motor.”

“The transition from conventional equipment to CNC equipment was normally a challenge for the father son relationship but once the older generation saw the benefits of the new technology there was no holding back. My father embraced the CNC technology from the beginning and we already purchased our first machine – a Hitachi Seiki 20 R lathe – in 2000. Sadly Dad only had two years of experiencing the significant reductions in the time we saved when machining components on a CNC. He passed away in 2002 at the very young age of 53.”

Embracing technology“I have continued to embrace technology whenever the company can afford it. Especially if it came to purchasing new equipment. This strategy has certainly enabled us to gain a competitive edge and win confidence with prospective clients.”

“However, because I have seen the benefits of using CNC machines, we made a strategic decision to invest more in them over the years. But we decided that, rather than get an order first and then look for a machine to increase our capacity to accommodate the order, we should be in a position to have the flexibility of satisfying the customers’ needs as soon as the order is placed with us.”

“We had some shaft work to do the other day and the 75 shafts only took me two days whereas on the Samsung it would have taken me over a week.”

“As a result, at times we will always have excess capacity but it does fill up very quickly and then we are in the market for another machine. When we moved from the Booysens area in 2004 we only had seven machines and now we have 20.”

Latest investment – Okuma LB 4000EX II“Our latest investment is an Okuma LB4000 EX II turning center that is built on Okuma’s Thermo-Friendly Concept to ensure minimal thermal growth and the slanted box bed construction translates into high rigidity. Equipped with Okuma’s high-power, high-torque PREX motor, this machine delivers high-quality machining from heavy to high-speed cutting with a through-hole diameter able to accommodate larger workpieces. The operator-friendly, open-architecture OSP-P control makes this machine not only easy to operate, but also to integrate with other peripheral equipment.”

“The advanced technology of the machine is really mind boggling. It has taken me a few weeks to get used to – it was only installed in Mach 2023 – but now that I am just about there, I am realising the potential of it. The machine was supplied by Integral Machine Tools.”

Components machined by Uno Engineering

“It comes including live tooling, sub-spindle and a Y-axis, it has a maximum turning length of 2 150mm, a maximum turning diameter of 380mm, rapid traverse on the XZ of 25/30m/min and it has a 30/22kW motor.”

“We had some shaft work to do the other day and the 75 shafts only took me two days whereas on the Samsung it would have taken me over a week.”

“This versatile machine provides the capacity to efficiently turn and mill pipe-type products for the oil and gas industry. It puts in the limelight for large machining work.”

BLM EM80 end-machining center“Another workhorse on the floor is our BLM end-machining center. We acquired this machine seven years ago for a specific contract we had won and it has not stopped working since.”

Another workhorse on the floor is a BLM end-machining center. The BLM EM80 end-machining center is an integrated solution for cutting and machining operations on tube or bar ends from 10mm to 80mm and solid bar from 10mm to 60mm

“The BLM EM80 end-machining center is an integrated solution for cutting and machining operations on tube or bar ends from 10mm to 80mm and solid bar from 10mm to 60mm. This combination of a saw and machining center provides the flexibility of a turning center with the productivity of a rotary transfer machine and is designed for tube processing in order to cut, chamfer, face, bore, thread and profile.”

“The machine operates in several stages or stations. It first cuts the tube or bar to length, the second for turning operations such as roughing and finishing and the third stage for boring, tapping or measuring with part washing between. The unit comes with a bundle loader to handle up to 4 000kg and can be loaded at any time during the operation. A conveyor brings the parts toward a two-position chute to allow the parts to be dropped in to the appropriate bin. The conveyor also handles chip removal.”

Own productAlthough the majority of the production at Uno Engineering is contract work the company does have one product that it is proud to talk about.

“After running out of space in Booysens we moved to the current facility in Alberton in 2004. Our neighbour is in the transport business and he was experiencing theft of wheels from his trucks. He approached us to see if we could come up with a solution.”

The machine operates in several stages or stations. It first cuts the tube or bar to length, the second for turning operations such as roughing and finishing and the third stage for boring, tapping or measuring with part washing between. The unit comes with a bundle loader to handle up to 4 000kg and can be loaded at any time during the operation

“We designed an ant-theft wheel nut which is simple in design but very effective. It is made up of two components that inter-lock and an added advantage is the business can have their company name marked on the nut. As a result of this we are now manufacturing over 4 000 of these a month and have a dedicated machine turning them out.”

As they say, behind every Italian man is a good wife and mother and this is certainly the case in the Fiorot family. Mum Patrizia has been involved with the business from the beginning and today looks after the financial and administration side of the company.

For further details contact Uno Engineering on TEL: 011 902 4221