Dugard puts productivity behind bars at Stoke Heath

Wednesday August 20 2014

The rehabilitation and re-introduction into society of prisoners from Stoke Heath Prison & Young Offenders Institute has been made more relevant to modern manufacturing practices with the introduction of CNC machine tools from Dugard.

The 800 inmate prison near Market Drayton is one of the UK’s 14 HMP Service facilities that offers an engineering workshop. The workshop at Stoke Heath not only provides rehabilitation and training, it also provides a cost effective service to HM Prison Service and the taxpayer with inmates producing anything from cell door components and hinges to trolleys and trolley parts such as castors, wheels and small parts from steel and stainless steel for the whole HMP Service with over 120 facilities.

This internal market is also supported by conducting commercial work with turned parts such as bushes being produced for local industry. To meet its internal and external commitments and social responsibilities, Stoke Heath has acquired a Dugard 100, a Dugard 400 with Fanuc 0iTD controls as well as a Dugard ECO1000 and Dugard 1000E with a Fanuc 0iMD control system.

Commenting on the acquisitions, HM Prisons (Operations Manager), Mr John Rigden said: “We have a national framework contract for suppliers, and to get onto our framework and preferred supplier list, machine tool vendors have to meet strict criteria. The criteria can include the diversity of products available, machine build quality, capabilities, productivity, user friendliness, reliability, servicing, quality of training packages and support. Dugard has comfortably met our criteria for a number of years and have supplied machines to numerous prison sites. Two key elements for us have been the excellent service and support as well as the reliable and robust build quality of the machines.”

The first machine installed was a Dugard 100 CNC turning centre with a Fanuc 0iTB control unit. The turning centre offers a potential turning diameter of up to 260mm with a maximum length of 290mm, comfortably meeting the small turning capacity requirements of the Stoke Heath facility. From a productivity perspective, the 30m/min rapids on X and Y axis with a 12 turret tool capable of rotating in 0.3seconds ensures the productivity of the Dugard 100 will be relevant to HMP for years to come.

The next addition was a Dugard ECO1000 machining centre with a Fanuc 0iMD control unit. Incorporating a BT40 taper spindle and direct drive axis movement for fast feed rates that are based on a robust Meehanite cast iron base, the Dugard ECO1000 was a natural choice. With a 1000 X 600 X 600mm X, Y and Z axis travel, the 3-axis VMC is ideal for the day-to-day demands at Stoke Heath. Furthermore, the ECO 1000 is available with the choice of Heidenhain, Fanuc, Fagor or Siemens control units. This enabled the prison to select the industry standard Fanuc control for training its inmates and maintaining synergy with the control units of its other machines.

For larger capacity turning, the prison acquired a Dugard 400 slant bed turning centre. Capable of turning diameters up to 550mm and bar lengths of 820mm, the 10 station turret turning centre proved the perfect complement to the Dugard 100. The 8500kg centre is a rigid and robust package supplied with a Fanuc 0iTD control with a 10.4inch monitor that gives inmates experience of modern industry standard control units that work in synergy with a large turning centre.

The most recent addition to the Dugard machine tools in use at Stoke Heath is the Dugard 1000E vertical machining centre.  It’s another sturdy machining centre with a heavy duty cast iron frame; it has 1m X axis travel and 540mm Y axis travel, a 10,000rpm spindle for speed and a Fanuc 0iMD control, again giving the inmates experience of industry standards.

For more information on any of the Dugard machines in use at Stoke Heath call us on 01273 732286 or email [email protected].  If you’d like to speak directly to your area salesman go to our sales team page where you can find all the contact details for each of our salesmen.