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Industrial Tooling Corporation (ITC) is a company that creates machining technology that can produce mineral filled ACM boards and has seen a boost in this sector, following the serious fire in June 2017. To remain at the forefront of developing tools like the ones that can be used for ACM boards, ITC has installed a new AXYZ routing machine.

The Tamworth-based company also develops cutting tools and will use the new AXYZ 4000 Series machine to aid this. The investment will allow ITC to test, trial and tweak existing product lines, as well as allowing the research and development teams to work towards new tools in the future.

ITC’s Sally Hunt says that investing in the 4000 opens up new doors for the firm. She comments: “First and foremost, the new AXYZ investment is borne from our desire to develop new cutting tool technology. Furthermore, it opens up new opportunities for ITC and its customers. For any sign-makers witnessing issues with particular materials and jobs, we can take a sample of the material and do in-house testing without disrupting customer’s production.

Having our own machine avoids inconvenient customer downtime and gives us the opportunity to apply a variety of cutting tools and machining parameters to achieve the best possible result”

“Having our own machine avoids inconvenient customer downtime and gives us the opportunity to apply a variety of cutting tools and machining parameters to achieve the best possible result. We have already improved cycle times, tool life and surface finishes for end-users by having the time to offer in-depth investigation and analysis.”

Hunt adds: “Despite this service being in its infancy, we already have instances where we have identified best practice machining solutions whereby a client workholding or machine performance may be inappropriate for the materials, processes and even tooling types. In the face of mineral filled ACM, the challenge is that different manufacturers use different material compositions, and this has an impact on the cutting tool and machining process.”