Autodesk Customer Success Story

The Company

Eccles Tooling Systems is the trading

name of H Eccles (Patternmakers) Ltd,

which was founded in Oldbury, West

Midlands, in 1945. Eccles is now located in

Halesowen, near Birmingham, and faced

similar problems to many established

engineering companies. Older staff were

reaching retirement age and it was

difficult to find skilled replacements. The

company met the challenge by recruiting

apprentices and by introducing

improvement programmes for the older

staff it was able to recruit.

The Challenge

A steady expansion of its capabilities has

seen the arrival of ten CNC machines, all

Correas, with the largest having a bed size

of 8m x 2m. Two of the machines have full

five-axis capabilities, with a further four

able to undertake positional five-axis

operations.

Eccles began as a patternmaker to the

automotive industry but over the years

expanded into supplying other types of

tooling, including moulds, casting

equipment, and jigs and fixtures, as well as

Easy-to-use software helps to fill

the skills gap

Eccles reduces the amount of hand finishing needed

with PowerMill.

Eccles Tooling Systems

LOCATION

Halesowen, United Kingdom

SERVICES

Autodesk PowerMill

prototypes and machined components.

Similarly, the company has expanded its customer base, mainly in the aerospace

industry and, to a lesser extent, in the marine

and rail sectors.

Over the last five years, Eccles has put an

emphasis on increasing its number of

customers, often by taking on projects where

other suppliers have claimed that they can’t

be done.

“Our combination of machines and software

allow us to undertake more difficult jobs,”

said Mr. Gerrard. “We like to take on a

challenge, plus, when we are successful, the

customer will often return with more routine

work. Shorter lead times and consistent

quality make us more competitive, and

ensure that we keep customers that need the

higher-level service we provide.”

The Solution

With the Autodesk software being central to

the company’s operations, training in the

programs was an important part of the

introduction of the new staff and the benefits

of the new interfaces soon became apparent.

Image courtesy of Eccles Tooling Systems.

“The new interface style is

easier to learn so we were

able to get people up to

speed more quickly.”

“It also makes the software

faster to use, especially for

new users.”

—Neil Gerrard, Works/Production

Director at Eccles

Autodesk Customer Success Story

Autodesk, the Autodesk logo,PowerMill, PowerShape and PowerInspect are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2014 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

“The new interface style is easier to learn so

we were able to get people up to speed more

quickly,” explained Neil Gerrard,

Works/Production Director at Eccles. “It also

makes the software faster to use, especially

for new users. It leads you through the

process, whereas previously you often

needed to be an experienced user to find the

right commands.”

Eccles introduced CADCAM during the early

1990s and now runs six seats of the

PowerShape design solution, five of the

PowerMill CAM programming software and

three of the PowerInspect inspection

program, one for a FARO arm and two for

static CMMs.

The combination of software allows Eccles to

provide a full service, comprising design,

machining and inspection, plus reverse

engineering if required. The company has

also maintained its hand-working skills, with

Mr. Gerrard claiming that “hand work will

never go away completely.”

In addition to introducing the new interfaces

across its manufacturing software, Autodesk

has continued to develop the capabilities of

the individual programs.

Mr. Gerrard highlighted how PowerShape has

become more capable in dealing with data

from other CAD systems used by his

customers. In particular, it has become much

easier to interrogate modified models of

parts sent by the customers, to find the

changes and update the tooling designs

accordingly.

Eccles was an early adopter of programming

on the shop floor and can program all ten

machines with its five PowerMill seats

simultaneously by running multiple sessions

of the software.

“Having PowerMill on the shop floor makes it

easier to edit programs to reflect the cutters

that are available and other changes,” said

Mr. Gerrard. “In addition, the shop-floor

operators can make small CAD changes, such

as adding run-off surfaces or capping holes,

without having to go back and forth from the

design office.”

The accuracy of the finish possible with PowerMill

means that minimal hand finishing is needed

Higher quality finished parts straight

off the machine

Enhancements in PowerMill allow Eccles to

work more efficiently, in particular to get

closer to a finished part on the machine, so

reducing hand work and achieving more

accurate and more consistent results.

“With our big machines, we are often making

large components that used to need a lot of

finishing,” explained Mr. Gerrard. “Now, they

frequently come off the machine ready for

delivery.”

Like most sub-contractors, Eccles sees

increasing demand from its customers for

comprehensive inspection reports. Reports

from PowerInspect now need to be supplied

with 99% of the jobs, with inspection often

required both against the original CAD data

of the customer’s part and against Eccles’s

tooling design. Some customers even ask to

be present while the inspection is taking

place.

Inspection also forms an important part of

the ongoing support provided by Eccles to its

customers. The portability of the FARO arm

means that worn tooling can be checked on-

site to confirm whether or not it is still within

tolerance, and to estimate the cost of any

repair that might be necessary.

Preparing for future growth

The future looks bright for Eccles with the

new team built up by the directors. The

company has projects going into next year

and continues to recruit new apprentices

attracted by the diversity of the work and the

advanced level of the technology it involves.

Further investments in machine tools are

also planned.

“With our big machines, we

are often making large

components that used to

need a lot of finishing. Now,

they frequently come off the

machine ready for delivery.”

—Neil Gerrard, Works/Production

Director at Eccles