Kingsbury Q&A – Large Part Machine Team

Kingsbury’s Large Part Machine team explains why their approach to large machining offers great benefits to UK customers.

Q: What issues did the manufacturing industry face ahead of Kingsbury forming its dedicated Large Part Machine department?

A: Many companies within the UK had not invested in their large machine portfolio for many years as they had seen a lot of this type of work going offshore. But this was beginning to change, and they needed a reliable partner for their machine tool investment plans that had a background in, not just supplying a single machine tool, but a complete manufacturing solution. 

The industry had also changed; customers are now looking to the suppliers for much more than they’d offered previously. Technology has moved on and many of the machines were now out of date. Some companies did not have the large number of internal engineers to run the type of program that an investment in a large machine needed. They were looking for a partner who could not only help with the machine tool investment but assist with all of the other factors involved with the complete purchasing process. The need for a full turnkey solution was becoming apparent. 

Q: What sets Kingsbury apart from its competitors?

A: There are several factors that set us apart from the rest. Principally, it’s our people. People can elevate a company from the competition, whether this is in the sales process, pre-sales engineering, project realisation or, most importantly, the after-sales support. 

Although our people are highly-skilled in their particular fields, we always remember that you ultimately are most experienced in your manufacturing requirements. We bring to the table our wide industry knowledge that can help you look at things in a new way and you bring your expertise about your customer’s manufacturing needs. We believe that this kind of project collaboration is the way forward in our industry. 

Q: Looking back, what challenges did you face and how did you seek to overcome them?

A: We had to develop a method of working, both internally and externally, that got the best results for the client and this took some time to develop. One of the main areas of development in the company was the addition of a full project management team. Not many machine tool companies have this capability, and this really sets us apart from the competition.

We also had to develop additional skills that were new to us, such as the civil engineering skillset. We had to heighten our knowledge in many areas of the support process for the machine tool, including CAD, CAM, spindle tooling, cutting tools, and fixturing, to name a few.

Q: What were the reasons behind choosing the range of principals that you have within the Large Part Machine program?

A: We chose our Large Machine partners very carefully. Having worked with high-performance companies for our smaller machines for many years, we decided that this would also be our guiding principle on the larger machines.

We agreed that all of our large machine partners should be the best in their sector. They would all also be engineering-based companies that could offer a very high level of custom engineering so that our customers would get the most out of their machine tool investment.

Q: Why choose Kingsbury?

A: When you invest in a large machine tool, you invest not only a lot of company capital but also a lot of personal capital. This is a big decision for you and your team, so complete trust in your investment partner is paramount. You need the security and peace of mind that they will be with you from the start of the process and for many years to come—and Kingsbury will deliver just that. 

Q: How can you help with my large component manufacturing?

A: Our machine and process technology is highly innovative, and we can provide tailored solutions that meet each customer’s individual requirements.

Our in-house expertise in automation also means that we can improve the efficiency of your solution, maximising your return on investment.

Q: What does the future hold for Kingsbury’s Large Part Machine program?

A: We see a number of trends in large component machining. Many customers are now looking to do more with their machine investments and multi-task machining is seen as the way forward. This doesn’t just include the traditional turning and milling operations but also the addition of gear cutting, in-process inspection and surface scanning, to mention a few.

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To find out more about how our large part machines can benefit your business, contact the Kingsbury team today.

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