Machinery investment at Wolverhampton-based Utopia Furniture Ltd will have exceeded more than £1m in the past two years when a Morbidelli machining centre is installed during December.
The purchase of the Author 636 Twin machine, equipped with a 3600x1300mm nesting table, allows the machining of two components at the same time. It follows the recent introduction of an Author 430, which is being used for routing and point-to-point drilling.
Other technology supplied by Leeds-based Machinery Sales Ltd during the past two years includes an Author 660 throughfeed machine and two purpose-designed OMAL CNC drilling and dowel-inserting units, the LINEA 2000 and the single-sided INSERT 1300.
Utopia’s heavy investment in machinery is a result of rapid business growth, with turnover rising from £6m to £18m in the past six years. The boom follows its decision 10 years ago to concentrate solely on bathroom furniture.
Morbidelli and OMAL machines were specified for their high production capabilities and versatility.
The previous three single-head CNC machines operated by Utopia ran 16 hours a day but could not keep up with demand. The Author 660 tripled capacity by running 15 hour shifts.
Utopia speeded up its drilling and dowel-inserting work by buying the single-sided OMAL INSERT 1300 and double-sided LINEA 2000.
The INSERT is designed to aid versatility, whether working on one panel or 20 panels, and it can handle 8mm and 6mm diameter dowels.
The LINEA, which handles panels as small as 168x100mm, is specially equipped with pre-selectable horizontal drills.
