A highlight on the NCMT stand during MACH 2014 was the receipt of an order for the supply of a Makino MAG3 five-axis, horizontal-spindle machining centre to Magellan Aerospace UK.

The machine is being purchased with support from Invest Northern Ireland. It will join six similar machining centres and two smaller MAG1s at the aerospace subcontractor's recently acquired factory in Greyabbey, near Belfast, formerly John Huddleston Engineering Group.

The model to be supplied to Magellan will have a 3-metre X-axis and a maximum table load of 3 tonnes. Numerous high-productivity features include a 120 kW spindle, high acc/dec for fast and accurate profiling, and intelligent workpiece weight sensing that allows the axes to move faster when lighter components are being machined.

Haydn Martin, Business Development Director at Magellan Aerospace UK, said, "We needed extra capacity in our Northern Ireland facility for the production of complex monolithic aircraft parts from aluminium billets, in particular in response to the ramp-up by Airbus of A350 production.

"Although this is the first Makino machining centre that Magellan Aerospace has purchased in the UK, one of our Canadian divisions in Kitchener Ontario has a number of Makino machines in FMS cells. Also, the MAG machines in Greyabbey have operated successfully for more than 12 years."

NCMT's Sales Director, Laurence Ireland, added, "We are delighted to have secured our first Makino sale into Magellan and look forward to a long and successful working relationship with this leading company in the aerospace supply chain in the UK."