The Biesse Rover B 5-axis at Tauranga Laminates generated extra capacity and extra ability for the benchtop manufacturer.
5-axis adds capacity & dimension Tauranga Laminates purchased a Biesse Rover B 5-axis machining centre two years ago to increase capacity in the face of an expanding workload. Since then it has taken care of managing the company’s growth and has also enabled Tauranga Laminates to extend their work activity into new areas where only the 5th axis can reach. Tauranga Laminates manufacture benchtops and provide surface solutions across a range of surfaces and situations. By 2014 they had been experiencing solid growth for around 5 years and needing extra capacity to keep pace with this they began looking for a new CNC. “We were currently running a Biesse nesting set up which had worked well (and continues to do so), so there were advantages in purchasing another Biesse in terms of staff familiarity with the machine and ease of servicing,” says Company Director, Rowan O’Brien. “We viewed the Biesse Rover B 5-axis operating at AWISA in Brisbane in 2014 and were impressed with its performance and features. It looked an ideal machine to give us the extra capacity we required as well as adding to the type of work we could offer, it was also on offer at a price that bettered some of it European counterparts, so we put in an order. “The machine arrived a couple of months later, commissioning and install were uneventful and we were up and running in two weeks with very few issues.
JOINERS Magazine March 2017 page 18
“We use the Rover B for standard production work as well as all our finishing work across a range of materials, surfaces and detailing. It is lot more accurate than the previous nesting machine, with the pod and rail set up giving greater precision and accuracy. The automatic cup positioning feature is great and saves a lot of time and a lot of potential errors. You can also run a decent sized saw blade for angle cutting which is pretty necessary for us. “The software package, bSolid is excellent and was a big part of our decision to buy. It is very intuitive, you can see what you are doing and make on-screen changes very easily, and a simulation of the machining process lets you know if there is an obstruction in the path. A lot safer and less possibility of damaging the machine. “We are still not using the Rover B to its fullest capacity but are expanding into it. It gives us diversity in what we can offer and we have gained some contract work which we would not have got previously. It gives us a point of difference, there are a lot of CNCs around but not too many 5 axis machines.
Automatic cup positioning saves time and errors.
“It is a great addition to our factory, we can achieve things outside the box, if people want something a little different or have tricky angle work, we can accommodate them, pretty much with ease.