W O R K S H O P
HIGHLY AUTOMATED PRECISION
MACHINING SOLUTION
BOOSTS ADEPT’S MOULD MAKING AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT STRENGTH
Shaping tomorrows world
6 OF THE 12-STATION PALLETISATION
WITH 90% OF ALL PRODUCTS MADE
BY ADEPT NOW EXPORTED, ITS
MOULD MAKING OFFERING IS A
CRITICAL PART OF THEIR SUCCESS
2-6 McDonald St, Morningside
PO Box 10075 Dominion Road
Auckland 1446, New Zealand
Telephone: +64 9 815 2999
DDI: +64 9 815 52 86
Mobile: +64 021 814 864
Adept, a product development company providing
high end tooling and injection moulding services
to the medical and industrial sectors, has
recently added a NZ first within the toolmaking
environment. With 90% of all products made by
Adept now exported, its mould making offering
is a critical part of their success. Their latest
purchase aligns well with their highly automated
injection moulding facility that includes 24-hour
operation and robotics not seen in any other
factory of its type in New Zealand.
In 1990, ceo of Adept -
Murray Fenton saw the need
to align inhouse toolmaking
with the injection moulding
plant and purchased the first
3 axis Makino CNC machining
center. Fast forward almost
20-years and Adept have
added the most sophisticated
toolmaking/machining solution of
its kind in NZ, the Makino D300
5 axis machining centre with a
12-station palletisation system.
This machine now sits alongside
the Makino D500 that was
installed in 2013 and is a clear
indication of the commitment to
the high-end Japanese brand.
Palletisation systems of this nature
are nothing new within parts
production environments but are
seen in only a few toolmaking
locations around the world. What
Adept is doing is a first within the
NZ toolmaking sector as it aims to
ensure recognition on the international
stage. It will enable quicker
production of tooling components
and in turn offer improved speed
to market for Adept’s in-house
offerings, as well as those for
external customers.
Adept’s real strength in the market
is their ability to deliver end to end
solutions, which means they take
responsibility for the entire process
from tooling to moulding and
product validation. In years past
tooling construction times were
often quoted in months, however
expectations are now more in the
range of weeks and sometimes
even days, and the only way to
make this possible is to employ
technology capable of running all
hours of the day and night.
Technology and accuracy have
now improved to the point
where lights out dissimilar parts
machining has become possible.
The real challenge in toolmaking
is that every component is
different, so machining several
different items during the night
on one machine has until now
seemed impossible. However,
over the last 10-years Adept
has had a solid focus on
creating robust systems and
production-based theories that
would overcome and maximise
40 February 2019