A generous specification for a cost-effective price and a short delivery time led to the choice of another CNC punch press by a switchgear manufacturer, based on past experience.

Howarth Switchgear has built its business on providing exactly what customers want when they want it, and to give it the capacity and flexibility to meet these demands it has just invested in a new LVD Parma 1212 CNC punch press. Director Chris Howarth says that the key arguments for the Parma were that it gave a generous specification for a cost-effective price and a short delivery time. He was also convinced it would be reliable, as the company had been running a punch press from LVD's predecessor Shape Machines for the past twenty years with very few problems - and those problems that did occur were fixed very quickly.

'The Shape machine has worked well for us with very few breakdowns, but we thought it was time to move on,' he said.

Howarth's business is building electrical switchgear systems for all kinds of non-domestic premises - from banks and call centres to chemical plants, food processors and military installations.

And even though they try and incorporate standard elements, no two systems are the same.

'Every building is different and the system requirements in buildings are changing all the time,' said Howarth.

'If you are refurbishing a building you are going to need 100 to 150% more power because everything now is IT-oriented.

And if you have more computers you need more air conditioning to deal with the heat they give out.

The result is that they end up trying to get much more switchgear into the same space as they used before.

So it all has to be specially built.

The other problem is that sometimes the switchgear may be in a basement or on a roof and you have to design it in sections so that you can get it through the existing services.' Co-director Anthony Howarth added, 'Because we have a bespoke product we feel we have to do all of our own sheet metal.

Although systems may look similar there are always small differences that would make it very difficult for someone working with standard cut parts or bought-in frameworks.

If we relied on anyone else's casework we wouldn't be flexible - we give the customer what they want rather than what someone else stocks.' As well as this flexibility, the other factor that allows Howarth Switchgear to offer a premium service is its speed of delivery - and again, the only way to ensure that is to manufacture the critical components in house.

'We are mass producing one-offs, but that is what you have to do.

The Parma might seem quite a big machine for what we do, but the way we see it is that if you can do what the customer wants and react more quickly you will get more work in.

Because we can deliver on time with what the customer wants, they will be able to get the plant up and running sooner.' The LVD Parma punch press offers the speed and flexibility of programming and production that Howarth Switchgear needs.

With a 21-station turret including three direct-drive 50.8mm auto-index stations it gives a wide range of options with a standard tooling setup - and it needs it as Howarth designs and makes around 250 new parts every month.

The Parma 1212 features GE Fanuc 0iP CNC control, and rugged frame and table design to achieve tight tolerances and consistent punching accuracy.

LVD says that it can deliver up to 300 hits/min on 25.4mm centres, and nibble at up to 650 hits/min with a finished part accuracy of +/-0.1mm and +/-0.05mm finished part repeatability.

As Anthony Howarth explained, 'Auto-indexing isn't new technology but it will offer a lot more possibilities, and the programming is much more flexible and faster.

We aren't stubborn and are very prepared to grow into the capabilities of the machine and the software.

One of the things I liked about the Parma was that the punch press and the software came as a package, and the Cadman P 3D software has an unfolding module so that you can flat pack your parts from a 3D file.' The speed and quality of the manufacturing process is extremely important to Howarth's work and cash flow, said Chris Howarth.

'These can be really large installations and a considerable amount of cash (in components) can be tied up on the shop floor.

What we were looking for with the Parma was performance and flexibility at a cost effective price and we are now applying the Parma's advanced technology to speed up our work flow which in turn can only benefit our customers.'