In the past, five-axis machining has been cost-prohibitive for many small manufacturing businesses, leaving companies with little choice but to make complex workpieces on three- or four-axis machines, suffering the consequences of more setups, longer cycle times, and increased scrap.

Capecchi Srl of Italy is an example of how even smaller firms can now access affordable multi-axis CNC machine tools, such as the Haas UMC-750 Universal Machining Centre. The company’s new machine is making light work of complex, prismatic parts, at a unit-cost unimaginable just a few years ago.

The Capecchi Srl machine shop is located alongside the beginnings of the low Tuscan hills, just outside Florence, Italy. Visitors to this 50-year-old family owned business can read its history from a collection of example parts exhibited in two glass-fronted display cabinets in the building’s foyer. Apparently, Capecchi once made components for optical instruments, such as theodolites. Later, it designed and built its own range of optical instruments and gauges – solid looking devices with powder-coated cast-iron bases and polished machined components – that look as purposeful and well-designed now as they did half a century ago. Most European companies that once made similar products are now extinct. Capecchi has survived because it has moved with the times. The most recent parts in the cabinets are seemingly random, prismatic components of relative complexity; parts made mostly in aluminium, many with features and faces that could have only been created using a five-axis CNC machine tool.

In fact, the company’s latest investment is a Haas UMC-750, a machine that allows Capecchi to compete with far larger workshops by producing complex parts without the costs typically associated with multi-axis operations.

Today, Massimo Capecchi and his brother Andrea co-own the company that their father founded in 1962. Under the pairs’ leadership, the business has diversified, survived, and even thrived through multiple recessions and in the face of overwhelming odds.

Some of the instruments and gauges on which it made its name remain core to its business. Indeed, rail industry gauges for testing rolling stock still account for around 20 percent of turnover. The other 80 percent comprises work for sectors including laser technology, industrial automation, durometry, stereocartography and topography, through to radar, ophthalmology, and the textile and biomedical industries.

The strength of the company is its ability to provide high-quality, precision components at affordable prices with on-time delivery and a comprehensive service that includes design, prototyping, machining, inspection, and assembly.

To continue to move forward, the Capecchi brothers recently found themselves faced with the daunting prospect of investing in five-axis machining.

“It had been a few years since we’d made any serious investments,” says Massimo Capecchi. “We found ourselves looking for machines that would help to increase the productivity of the company; to make a quantum leap in terms of efficiency and quality. Many of the machines on offer were too expensive and too complex. But, we discovered in the five-axis Haas UMC-750 a machine that offered a very good relationship between quality and price. We didn’t have to look any further; our decision was made.”

Mr. Capecchi first saw the Haas machine at a trade fair before entering discussions with the local Haas Factory Outlet (HFO).

“We knew we had opted for a machine that was designed to work on a stand-alone basis, and would allow us to make parts that before we were forced to do with our three- and four-axis machines,” he says. “We can now complete more work with the Haas UMC-750, because it is better suited to the complex parts we are increasingly asked to produce.” If the Haas machine had not been available, 

the Capecchi brothers would have been stretched to fund an alternative, much more expensive solution.

Batch sizes at the firm range from 5 to 200-off, although 15 to 20 is typical. For relatively low numbers, the ease and speed of set-up on the UMC-750 is vital to hitting output and productivity targets.

“The goal is to continuously improve the accuracy of what we do, and the quality of what we do,” explains Mr Capecchi, “but at the same time reducing cycle times. We are achieving this, because a five-axis machine such as the UMC-750 can approach multiple faces simultaneously, in a single setup.” This is an advantage other, bigger machine shops have been able to exploit for some time. But, five-axis technology has usually been too expensive for smaller businesses.

The Capecchi brothers say that they have enjoyed great support and assistance from Haas, both during the purchase and installation and since the UMC-750 was commissioned, in October 2014. The Haas control proved particularly easy to learn in comparison with other machines, recounts Massimo Capecchi, and in recent months the company has been busy gradually moving more and more work onto the new machine.

“For example, the workpieces currently on the machine have just been moved there,” says Mr Capecchi. “We decided to transfer these components to the UMC-750, because we can produce them so much more quickly. However, in this instance, it’s not just about cycle time, because the parts are complex, but just as much about accuracy. Fewer setups mean less opportunity to introduce inaccuracy in the finished part.” That means less scrap and more reliable deliveries, which are essential for any machining business, especially if, like Capecchi Srl, it plans to be around in another 50 years.

A small but ambitious prototyping shop in Barcelona has invested in a Haas UMC-750 five-axis machining centre. The machine, which has cut set-up times dramatically, is producing complex parts to tight tolerances, from materials ranging from various aluminium alloys, to titanium and surgical-grade stainless steels.

It’s not easy to start a machining business. Often, success depends on bringing something new to the market. For their USP, the founders of Barcelona-based Blumeprot decided in 2011 to create a subcontract machine shop specialising in higher-value parts, particularly prototypes and small series pre-production batches.

The idea was inspired by the rise of 3D printed parts. While these are currently popular with engineering companies, designers are often frustrated at receiving parts that are not made from design-intent materials. Blumeprot seeks to address this issue with CNC machining. However, to keep up with the speed of 3D printing, the company relies on its Haas machine tools, the most recent addition to which is a UMC-750 universal machining centre.

“We already had one small, five-axis model from another machine tool manufacturer, so we were aware of the potential savings in set-up time, but we needed another with larger capacity,” explains company Director, Josep Marsol. “We were attracted to Haas because of the impressive quality-price ratio. We also discovered that not only is the Haas UMC-750 the perfect size for our requirements, but it also is quicker and more precise than many other machines on the market, and produces better quality surfaces. Some of our clients want aesthetics, others want accuracy; many want both.”

Around half of the output at Blumeprot is destined for customers in the medical device sector, including the likes of Grifols, a market-leading manufacturer of blood-plasma processing products. A further 20 percent of throughput is for the automotive industry, for clients such as VW and Seat, as well as motorcycle producers. Other sectors served include motorsport, aerospace, and science, to name but a few.

“Each application requires a different approach to manufacturing, and our mission is to advise clients with the solution that best fits their needs,” says Mr. Marsol. “We are always happy to help analyse the functionality of prototypes. We also collaborate with clients to study a redesign in order to achieve lower costs and maximise the benefits in subsequent volume production.”

The parts being machined on the Haas UMC-750 on the day the photos were taken were a batch of wheel hub components for a French rally car team. The complex parts, which are made from magnesium, require the production of numerous features, including scallops, ribs, bosses, irregularly shaped pockets, and inclined surfaces, some to tolerances of 0.02 mm.

Mr. Marsol says that the aim of Blumeprot is always to deliver very-high-quality parts quickly, at the right price. To help with this, there’s a seat of Missler TopSolid at every machine in the workshop, so each machinist has full responsibility. Shop floor staff here are clearly more than just operators.

“We are like a training school,” Mr. Marsol laughs. “All of our machinists are trained to a very high standard. We need them to be switched-on, so that we can meet our tight deadlines, especially since installing the UMC-750, which has already helped us attract more work.”