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CUSTOMERS BENEFIT SIMPLICITY AT ITS BEST Machine operator Aaron Holt. www.engineeringnews.co.nz 11 economically out of the south.” Although there is certainly work around the Dunedin region for Farra, Mike says that the Division needs to grow so attracting work from outside the local area is something “we constantly work on and again it falls back to evaluating what we offer and to discover ways of improving upon that offering. Internal evaluation.” To complement the new DMG Mori NHX8000 machine, a 5-axis Okuma mill has also been added to the workshop. With larger than normal 5-axis capabilities it’s described as a good piece of equipment capable of performing simultaneous 5-axis machining with a capacity of 1600mm in X,1 metre in Y and 750mm in Z. Mike says it’s a big unit that fills a hole where there was previously no 5-axis capability and “we like to have as larger capability as possible”. Heat treatment is not new to Farra, with the company having operated a foundry up until recent times - sold and then closed down. But Farra moved to purchase the equipment again and now it can continue on with these services, straight out of the Machining Division. “There’s good capacity and it would be one of the largest out there for heat treatment of batches of smaller through to significantly large items or stress relieving of fabrications and alike.” The workshop has the capacity for very large, small, or simple one-offs, through to complex 5-axis machining operations and can cover a multitude of facets from small CNC to large manual turning of up to 30 tons unsupported between centres. Farra’s website sums up its operational philosophies – a company split into trading Divisions - with thoughtprovoking succinctness. “Customers don’t tend to care about how a company is structured, though they quite rightly care about their job. “The specialisation of the Divisions enables particular skills to be developed and maintained, whether it is those necessary for the fabrication of micro-breweries, or the refurbishment of turbines for the hydro power industry. With such specialisation comes efficiency and quality; that’s the customer benefit.”


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