EDM Excel Precision's smart bet on Sodick drives growth

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Excel Precision Group, the UK's EDM specialist, boosts production and slashes energy consumption by 57 percent with a fleet of eight Sodick machines. The investment has propelled the company to a 22 percent average yearly growth, halved its carbon footprint, and proven critical in navigating recent energy price surges.

Since 2019, the UK subcontract EDM specialist, Excel Precision Group, has taken delivery of eight Sodick machines from Sodi-Tech EDM, a mix of wire and spark-erosion models. Technical Director Steve Batt outlines the company’s reformative machine tool journey over the past four years: “Prior to investing in Sodick machines, we had seven older wire-erosion and seven older spark-erosion models,” he explains. “The initial aim of replacing those machines was simply to reduce our consumption of electricity and EDM consumables.”

After investing in its first two Sodick machines in 2019, Excel Precision learnt they performed as well as the sales literature set out, especially in terms of energy efficiency. This realisation soon led to the arrival of more Sodick machines, including two AG60L die-sink models.

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“We went from seven EDM spark-erosion machines to three, reducing our power consumption by 57 percent,” says Mr Batt. “Moreover, despite reducing machine numbers, we actually managed to increase our production and turnover from die-sink work.”

The resounding success of this project led the company to invest in three further machines, including Sodick’s largest wire EDM, an AQ1200L model, and ALC400P and ALC600P wire machines. Today, the company has eight Sodick EDM models across its three UK manufacturing facilities: five in Gloucester, two in Birmingham and one in Leeds. The Gloucester and Birmingham facilities are Nadcap-certified, which means they undertake Excel Precision’s notable quantity of aerospace work.

“We produce a lot of fuel pump parts for aeroplanes and helicopters, typically made from ‘S’ grade high chromium-nickel stainless steels,” explains Mr Batt. “Some components are very small and undergo several spark-erosion operations, but the majority are wired.”

Critical among the features of these fuel pump parts is the aperture, which carries a very tight tolerance to allow a specific flow of hydraulic oil. Any compromises in precision can compromise data feedback to the fuel system’s computer, which constantly monitors hydraulic pressure and flow to ensure correct operation. The Birmingham facility of Excel Precision manufactures various fuel pump parts in batches of several hundred a month. Here, high-performance EDM machining is paramount.

“On the Sodick wire machines we’re achieving better surface integrity in less cuts: two instead of three,” states Mr Batt. “Our throughput speed is also significantly higher, perhaps up to 30 percent. These benefits, added to the aforementioned reduction in machine numbers and consumables, means the carbon footprint of our wire EDM department is now 50 percent smaller.”

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Looking back, Mr Batt admits that if Excel Precision hadn’t made the transition to high-efficiency, high-performance Sodick EDM machines and instead continued with its 14 legacy machines, the recent spike in electricity prices would have likely seen the business struggle to move forward.

“Commencing this strategy in 2019 saved a lot of cost,” he says. “We started out looking to save money in electricity but obviously we didn’t know that in 2022 our electric bills would increase in price fivefold! We had to make some incredibly difficult decisions in late 2022 to ensure the business could move forward on a solid footing, but switching to Sodick machines certainly helped us get through an incredibly difficult period in our company’s history.”

But the company’s gains from Sodick machines do not end there; Excel Precision also enjoys high machine reliability and flawless aftersales support, as Mr Batt confirms: “Sodi-Tech calibrates the Sodick machines at Gloucester and Birmingham as part of our annual NADCAP AC7116/3 rev B audit. The service is always impeccable.”

Excel Precision currently has a strong order book, particularly on the aerospace side of the business, helping to drive average linear growth of 22 percent in the ten years since 2013.

“Aerospace customers are interested in two factors: zero defects and on-time delivery,” says Mr Batt. “However, we can only provide that level of service if we have the experience, skill set and the best machines for the job. Going forward, as and when finances allow, we’ll look at buying more Sodick machines to continue driving improvements across our business.”

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