Hone-All responds to oil industry price pressures with new boring machine

Leighton Buzzard subcontract machining specialist Hone-All has now taken delivery of the first of two new deep hole boring machines from TIBO Tiefbohrtechnik. The German built TIBO B250 machine arrived in February and will increase the company's capacity and reduce production costs at a time when the UK oil & gas industry is demanding greater efficiencies from its supply chain to counteract the falling oil prices.rnrnThe new acquisition marks the first stage of a £650,000 investment that will also see a smaller TIBO B80 deep hole boring machine being delivered in early April. Highlighting the importance of the investment, Hone-All Director, Andrea Rodney says: 'The fluctuating prices in the oil & gas industry are creating an impact on the complete supply chain. Listening to our customers increasing 'cost-down' approach, these acquisitions are a rapid response by Hone-All and it will enable us to meet these demands without creating an impact upon our business. Furthermore, the new arrivals will enable us to alleviate any capacity issues whilst giving us the opportunity to win new business beyond the scale of our existing plant list.'rnrnThe largest deep hole boring machine at Hone-All prior to delivery of the TIBO B250, had a capacity of 200mm diameter and 2.8m in length. The TIBO B250 will give Hone-All a 250mm diameter capacity with 3.2m machining length. Discussing the importance of the first of the two new arrivals, Hone-All Managing Director, Colin Rodney says: 'Our size restrictions limited our ability to quote for jobs and we were losing work that was just beyond the size limits of our existing machines. By taking delivery of the TIBO B250, we will instantly increase our productivity, sales, capacity and extend our product offering for end users. Simultaneously, we will reduce our costs, cycle times, energy consumption and eliminate any inefficiencies throughout the deep hole boring department.'rnrnThe colossal TIBO B250 has a 9.5m bed length and 14,000kg payload that is encapsulated in an FEA developed base that guarantees thermal stability, stiffness and accuracy. The result is a highly robust base that supports a drill spindle motor output of 71kW and a workpiece spindle headstock motor with 15kW. For Hone-All, this means that diameters beyond 200mm diameter can now be drilled in a single pass rather than 3 or 4 passes. Essentially, this will reduce cycle times on the large diameter drilling by upwards of 50% as the company moves forward.rn