Hone-All Completes £650k Investment Program

29 April 2015

Subcontract machining specialist Hone-All has now taken delivery of its second new deep hole boring machine from TIBO Tiefbohrtechnik. This latest addition to the plant list is a TIBO B80 deep hole boring machine that will enable the Leighton Buzzard company to increase 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.

In February, a German built TIBO B250 machine arrived to enable Hone-All to increase its capacity for large work whilst providing a work envelope to process parts previously beyond the scope of the existing plant list. The most recent addition, the TIBO B80 is the final stage of a £650,000 investment program that has been implemented to improve lead-times and efficiency for the subcontractor. Whereas the TIBO B250 will give Hone-All a 250mm diameter capacity with 3.2m machining length, the latest TIBO B80 acquisition has been added for machining up to 80mm diameter with a machining length of 3.2m.

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 machines 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."

Hone-All has carved a niche as a market leading manufacturer of components beyond the capacity range of most subcontract manufacturers. This is emphasised by its plant list that offers Gun-drilling services from 3 to 25mm diameter with a maximum length of 2m, honing from 1.5 to 500mm diameter to depths of 3m and its large capacity turning up to 550mm diameter with a maximum length of 4m. With this extensive and sizeable plant list of highly productive machine tools, the two new TIBO boring centres will compliment the existing plant list and take productivity and capacity to a new height.

As Andrea Rodney concludes: "As well as supporting our existing subcontract customer base with enhanced lead-times and quality, the new TIBO boring acquisitions are perfectly aligned with the demands of the print roller business we recently purchased. The addition of a new product line of dynamically balanced precision rollers for the print, packaging and converting sectors has increased our production and the TIBO machines will alleviate any capacity issues whilst extending the range of rollers that we can offer our customers."