A timber playschool equipment and toy manufacturer has doubled production in five years since buying its first CMS CNC router in 1996.
Community Playthings of Robertsbridge, Sussex has now invested a further £200,000 in two Giotto CNC routers from Rye CMS to keep up with its 15% year-on-year growth.
The company is part of the Christian Community which has two factories in the UK and eight in the US making equipment for children from softwoods and solid maple.
The business began to become extensively automated in 1988 and now all the timber components are cut, shaped and sometimes decorated on the CNC routers.
The first CMS machine bought for the UK factory was a PF 102 fixed gantry, moving table CNC router with twin tables. The two tables mean the operator can unload and reload one table at a safe distance while components on the other are being machined to extremely fine tolerances.
As sales grew, an order was placed for a Giotto twin table CNC router with an Osai CNC controller and a tool magazine of eight tools.
CNC programmer David Stevenson said: ‘A large selection of tools enables us to duplicate certain tools which might become blunt or are liable to damage.’
This year booming sales made a second similar machine necessary. Both twin table machines are equipped with an 8kW high-speed spindle and a drill-block to maximise productivity. The twin tables can be locked together to function as one when required for machining large workpieces.
