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Growth Through Adversity for Gloucestershire Engineering Firm

Wed, 18 Aug 2021 10:41:46 GMT

Following a period of impressive growth through an uncertain climate, Stratos Precision Engineering Ltd are celebrating a number of key achievements as the go-to plastic and aluminium CNC machining specialists in the UK.

Established in 2012, Stratos is an ISO 9001:2015 accredited CNC engineering company based at Waterwells Business Park in Quedgeley, Gloucester, and has seen considerable growth through what has been a time of global uncertainty for many businesses. With two awards under its belt as a direct result of work with Rolls Royce Consortium led VentilatorChallengeUK during the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, Stratos has played a key part in business growth in the county through adversity.

Despite the obvious challenges that so many businesses have faced, Stratos remained operational, and the business is now seeing significant growth leading to a number of key organisational decisions and developments to further propel the business and contribute to the expansion of the economy.

Talking about the developments, one of the company’s founders and Managing Director, Jon Caple, explained,

“The last 18 months hasn’t been without its challenges of course, but we’re extremely fortunate to have worked through the pandemic and have so many customers that were understanding of our extra commitments as key workers. As businesses began to reopen, it became clear to us that we needed to expand and diversify if we were going to keep on track with our ambitious plans.

In the last year we’ve invested in excess of £200,000 into additional machinery, staff, infrastructure and software to galvanise and future-proof the business.”

Stratos Engineering has made a number of strategic investments since incorporation, the latest of which includes the installation of a 1000+ sqft mezzanine factory floor to create space for new top-of-the-range CNC machinery. A second Citizen CNC Sliding Head machine (L20 with LFV technology) allows for 7-axis precision machining from Ø3mm – Ø25mm, and a new Coordinate Measuring Machine, the Aberlink Axiom Too CMM, gives accurate 3D measurement and 0.1µm scale resolution; perfect for quality-critical parts such as those used in the medical sector. The addition of a new laser engraving machine with Lightburn® technology will also open up new routes to market and help Stratos to keep up with the growing demand for plastic and metal machined components in industries including motorsport, food and beverage, medical and electronics.

Jon added “These significant investments will also allow Stratos to better support local and national manufacturing businesses and help us to increase our market share. With our additional space and new ERP system, Emax, in place, we’re in an excellent position to position to offer stock-holding for our customers via blanket/call off orders, enabling them to receive components on a next day basis whilst not having to hold stock themselves. It means customers can save money by not having capital tied up in stock inventory. They will also benefit through cost reduction by ordering in bulk, with components being delivered in a timely fashion. This is key for fast-paced industries such as food and beverage, and medical, where timing can be critical, and we can only achieve all of this with the support & dedication of our fantastic team here at Stratos.”

This period of uncertainty has been challenging for so many businesses, but as we emerge from the wave of the global pandemic, it’s time to focus on recovery and economic growth within our County.

Stratos Precision Engineering is the UK’s plastic and aluminium CNC machining specialist, and strives to be the first choice for CNC milling, turning, routing, sliding head, and laser components.

To find out more about Stratos and the services available call 01452 840422, email sales@stratosengineering.co.uk , or click here .

Peace of Mind with New ISO 9001:2015 Certification

Wed, 23 Jun 2021 11:52:49 GMT

It's been a challenging 18 months, but at Stratos Precision Engineering, we've kept the customer at the centre of our business. We always gone above and beyond to ensure our customer service, CNC engineering, and processes are excellent and robust.

We're extremely pleased to announce that we have once again renewed our ISO 9001:2015. This shows our dedication and gives peace of mind that our internal procedures have been rigorously checked and our products confirmed to be of a great quality.

ISO 9001 is the international standard for a robust quality management system held by an organisation and in order to achieve this certification Stratos had to demonstrate the ability to consistently provide products and services of the highest quality, with processes in place to capture any areas of improvement.

If you'd like to find out more, take a look at our ISO 9001:2015 certification and be sure to get in touch . Your projects and work are in safe hands with Stratos Precision Engineering.

Significant Growth During a Worldwide Pandemic

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 13:10:12 GMT

As we approach the first anniversary of many people adjusting to a life working from home, we've taken a moment to reflect on the last 12 months and the changes we've seen at Stratos.

Despite it being a challenging year with countless uncertainties, as a business we've managed to keep going and form some strong business connections which has helped us to come out the other side stronger than ever.

Through our work with Ventilator Challenge UK, we were given key worker status and ran our CNC machines 24/7 to produce 30,000 critical parts for ventilators on our Citizen L32 sliding head CNC lathe . The commitment to helping during such a difficult time was recognised in the form of two awards - Business & Community Champion (Punchline Gloucester) and Engineering Company of the Year 2020/1 (Corporate LiveWire Central England Prestige Awards).

Talking about the awards and work during the COVID-19 pandemic, Stratos Managing Director Jon Caple said

"Staff adapted brilliantly to a new shift pattern, with engineers coming in at 6am and working till 12 midnight. But the real heroes are the people out there on the front line who will put everything we make to good use."

Although the last 12 months has been extremely challenging, in order to keep up with demand and open up new opportunities for growth, we've invested in a number of new machines including a HAAS VF-4SS Vertical Machining Centre, Aberlink Ltd Axiom too CNC CMM inspection system with 0.1µm scale resolution, a second Citizen Sliding Head, and Laser engraving machine.

We've also welcomed new staff in the office and shop floor to help improve systems and keep up with the increased demand on the business.

It's been a challenging year but the future is bright and as the UK's plastic and aluminium machining specialists, we're proud of our determination and the growth we've achieved.

So if you would like to work with an award-winning business and the experts in CNC milling, CNC turning, CNC routing and CNC sliding head subcontract work, then get in touch with our team today on 01452 840422

Stratos Support Local Cancer Patients Charity after a Challenging Year

Thu, 10 Dec 2020 13:42:59 GMT

2020 has been an extremely challenging year for everyone and we know that many charities are struggling due to a reduction in fundraising activity.

As key workers making components for VentilatorChallengeUK Stratos have been working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, however, once lockdown restrictions were lifted, the team held a fundraising event for a charity close to their hearts, Focus at Cheltenham and Gloucester Hospitals Charity .

Focus is the charitable fund for the Gloucestershire Oncology Centre, raising funds to make a direct impact for local cancer patients and their families. Focus aims to create a comfortable environment for all patients and staff by investing in facility improvements, state of the art equipment and additional care above and beyond NHS provision.

Staff at Stratos managed to raise £220, which was then matched by Managing Director Jon Caple, bringing the total raised for the charity to an impressive £440.

Officially receiving the donations, Jan Thomas, Fundraising Support Officer at the charity said,

"Thank you to everyone at Stratos Precision Engineering who took part and donated to the cake sale. Your donations will help make a big difference to the lives of local cancer patients, as well as giving our staff some great news at this time! Thank you so much for supporting us."

Thank you to everyone who donated and thank you to Shelley Vine and Samantha Davis for organising the charity fundraising event back in October.

Stratos Commit to Precision Engineering with New Innovative Metrology Solution

Thu, 03 Dec 2020 12:32:55 GMT

Precision engineering is in our name and we pride ourselves on our high levels of service and the quality of our components.

2020 hasn't been without it's challenges, however we're very proud that despite this, we're still growing and have been able to continue to invest in the business to protect our future and continue to serve our customers.

Throughout the year we've manufactured thousands of components for ventilators and life-saving equipment, and we've expanded our customer base within the medical business. Due to the nature of the parts required, we took the decision to invest in a Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) with 3D measurement software and solidify our commitment to precision engineering and delivering quality.

The new Aberlink Ltd Axiom too CNC CMM inspection system with 0.1µm scale resolution is the latest machine to join our growing plant list. With this innovative metrology solution we can reliably and accurately measure components to much tighter tolerances and guarantee quality. Every single time.

Not only is this essential for many parts in the medical industry , but this will also benefit our subsea customer base and food and beverage machine manufacturers among other sectors where precision is critical.

By including this CMM and revolutionary measurement software to our factory, we're committing to accuracy, so when the quality of your parts is paramount, you know you can rely on us as your plastic and metal CNC engineering company.

Precision by name, precision by nature!

Take a look at all our machines , and get in touch if you want to take advantage of our new CMM, or call us today on 01452 840422 to discuss your upcoming projects.

Impressive Growth Through Challenging Times for Gloucestershire CNC Precision Engineering Company

Mon, 13 Jul 2020 09:18:40 GMT

At Stratos Precision Engineering, we specialise in manufacturing components from Engineering Plastics and Aluminium for a wide range of industries including sub-sea, energy, transport, oil and gas, food and beverage, playground and agriculture.

Joint owners Jon Caple and Mark Vine formed Stratos in 2012. In that time, we have rapidly expanded, currently employing 15 people and running 14 CNC mills, lathes, routers and a brand-new 7 Axis Citizen Sliding Head machine.

Jon explained, “Mark and I met some years ago whilst working at the company. We often talked about forming our own business and after working closely for two years we felt we had the interlocking skills to make Stratos a reality. Six months later we’d raised funds to buy our first CNC machines, one second-hand Haas VMC and one XYZ turret mill.

“Within just three months we’d attained ISO 9001:2008 accreditation. The business was picking up at a tremendous rate. After some very late nights learning the ‘dark art’ of search engine optimisation, our website was getting over 1,200 hits per month. The steady stream of work from repeat business became a torrent as more new clients joined our customer base. We knew we had to invest in both machinery and staff.”

“Our first Haas machines were a VF-0E and a VF-2,” added Mark. The VF-0E we bought second hand and have since upgraded it for a larger Haas VF4SS (super speed). Our investment in a new VF-2 was possible with help from a Regional Growth Fund grant. This grant also enabled us to take on another member of staff which allowed us to cope with the growing demand as well as increase our capacity to take on even more work.

“We decided on Haas machinery because having worked on them for fifteen years, I knew they were more than capable of providing the quality and accuracy to keep us and, more importantly, our customers happy. The VF-2 proved to be 20-25% more productive than our older machine, not only because it takes less time to generate a machine program using Visual Quick Code on the Haas control, but also due to the faster cutting feed rates and rapid speeds.”

To simplify setup, the VF-2 is fitted with the Wireless Intuitive Probing System for setting work offsets and tool offsets.

“We probe some of the critical parts 100 percent,” Mark said, “but generally, we use a probe hole to locate the vice or fixture, and a stop for the material.”

Mark Vine continued, “One of the Haas mills is currently cutting polypropylene clamping plates, which will be used to secure compressed air bottles to subsea ROV’s. This is a three-operation part with a cycle time of just under two hours, because of its many threaded cross-holes, counterbores, undercuts and slots.”

“The VF4SS is working hard producing a range of spares for the food industry. We can work from drawings or reverse engineer pretty much any part to produce small batches that will still work out way cheaper for our customers than the OEM’s own spares. Using our CAD package OneCNC XR6, we can accept customers’ drawings in various forms including DXF, DWG, PDF, IGES & STEP and transfer the program via USB to our Haas and other machines. Any adjustments can be easily made directly at the control.”

We've also added five Haas turning centres. The latest being a brand new ST-35 with a 3,200 rpm A2-8 spindle, 12” (305mm) chuck, cutting up to 4” (102mm) bar.

“The ST-35 has doubled our capacity of larger diameter turning, which is really important to us to gain new business and routes to other markets and larger projects as well as servicing existing customer requirements.

“It has some great features and we’ve really noticed the improvements to the UI; it saves time which saves money. We’ve been able to transfer some of the work from other machines to spread the workload and release the backlog to ease the pressure. This means our machinists can be more productive with their time. We also know we can add extra features to the machine down the line to future proof as required.”

“In the last five years we have quadrupled in size,” concludes Jon. “We’ve taken on new trained staff including skilled machinists and production manager as well as introduced finance and marketing departments. We’ve also moved premises twice; now operating from an 8,000 sq ft factory in the heart of Gloucestershire. Our investment in Haas machinery has aided our growth and enabled us to offer an improved range of services to our customers and we’re really excited about the future of Stratos Precision Engineering.”

So if you are looking for an established CNC machining company for plastic and metal components, get in touch by emailing sales@stratosengineering.co.uk or telephone 01452 840422 and let us know about your projects.

Working Around the Clock to Make Ventilator Parts During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Fri, 03 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMT

Photo taken prior to social distancing guidelines being implemented

As a Gloucester engineering business the Stratos Precision Engineering team are among the fleet-of-foot UK firms which have adapted overnight to meet the urgent demand for ventilators to help Coronavirus COVID-19 patients.

Based on Waterwells Business Park, Quedgeley, we're one of the many firms in overdrive racing to make good the emergency NHS order for parts for the life-saving machines.

Hospitals nationwide are already dealing with rising numbers of patients struggling to breathe and are bracing themselves for a spike in numbers which has caused the dramatic rise in the need for more ventilators.

It is a deadline all too apparent to Stratos managing director Jonathan Caple who said

"We have become part of the ventilator challenge and have five different components to manufacture totalling 30,000. We've never built these parts before. It is quite an ask,"

"We only had the order on Wednesday 1st April and have been driving up and down the country getting tooling and materials. We've also been on the phone to other customers asking if we can prioritise this order and everyone has been really helpful.

"Staff have adapted brilliantly to a new shift pattern, with engineers coming in at 6am and working till 12 midnight. I was in until 3am today (3rd April).

"The supply chain must be huge - but I am sending emails at 11pm, 12am and 1am and getting replies straight away - so we are not the only ones working around the clock."

The team of experienced engineers at Stratos Precision Engineering operate a full workshop of CNC milling, routing, turning and sliding head machines and specialise in adapting fast for clients and meeting tight deadlines - but this effort has required everyone to go over and above.

Equipment like its Citizen L32 sliding head CNC lathe is capable of working independently through the night and has been utilised for this particular project.

"We have 8,000 parts made already of the 30,000. There is a deadline of half for Monday (6th April) - 15,000 parts, and we will hit that.

"Staff agreed to work through the weekend and te balance of the order will be delivered later in the week," said Jon, who set up the ISO9001:2015 accredited business with engineer Mark Vine in 2012.

"This is one of those orders we would like to shout about, and would like to win more business from, but really it is about the bigger picture and that is what we are focused on. The real heroes are the people out there on the front line who will put everything we make to good use."

If you are looking for an established plastic and metal component manufacturer to help with vital parts during the Coronavirus outbreak to help the NHS, get in touch by emailing sales@stratosengineering.co.uk or telephone 01452 840422.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Support Guide by Stratos Precision Engineering

Fri, 27 Mar 2020 14:21:11 GMT

During this time of uncertainty, many people are feeling quite anxious and worried. Whilst this is a completely normal response to a difficult situation, it doesn’t always stop the worry.

So we put together a guide for Stratos employees to offer advice and comfort from various sources detailing some of the things we can all do to support each other and our children at this confusing and challenging time.

However, after sharing this with our employees, we thought it might help some others outside our organisation so have decided to share this with those who are looking for a little guidance.

At the end is a list of resources used to compile this support guide and some other places people can go for more information on coping with anxiety and supporting others who may be struggling with the stress of the media and other sources as we fight to beat the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

So why not download it and give it a read over the weekend?

We hope you find helpful.

Precision Engineering Specialists Stratos Accelerate Production with Major Sliding Head Investment

Thu, 19 Mar 2020 12:16:01 GMT

Gloucester subcontractor Stratos Precision Engineering , a majority of whose business comes from machining plastics, has strengthened and diversified its turning department with the addition of its first sliding-headstock lathe, a Citizen Cincom L32-VIIILFV. Installed in September 2019, the twin-spindle, 35mm capacity, bar-fed turn-milling centre joined an already impressive plant list of five fixed-head, single-spindle chucking lathes for turning parts up to 650mm in diameter.

Purchase of the 7-axis CNC Swiss-type lathe was part of an investment of more than £1 million since the fourth quarter of 2018, which has also seen the arrival in Gloucester of a new big bore lathe and a 3m x 2m automatic tool change CNC router as well as refurbishment of the 8,000 sq ft premises. During the same period, the number of staff has doubled to 16 and in the last financial year, turnover increased by nearly 50 per cent over the previous 12 months.

Stratos' managing director Jonathan Caple said, "For some years we had been looking at buying a bar-fed lathe to increase our competitiveness, win new business and enter new industries by machining larger quantities of parts with tighter tolerances. We favoured the sliding-head type over fixed-head lathes, as the short axis movements lead to higher productivity.

"The twin-spindle configuration and extensive driven tooling on the machine means one-hit production often supersedes two or three operations on different machines.

"However, to reap the full benefits of the investment, we need to be able to leave the machine to run 24/7 either unattended or with reduced labour overnight to maximise production output.

"That was previously impossible for us due to the stringy swarf that is produced when machining plastic, which regularly needs to be manually cleared by an operator."

The situation continued until 2016, when Citizen invented and patented its LFV (low frequency vibration) software. Part of the operating system in the Mitsubishi control of Cincom machines, and switchable on and off if required during the program, it vibrates the servo axis in the cutting direction so that the tool tip leaves the surface of the material being machined for regular, ultra-brief periods.

The effect is to break the long strands of swarf normally generated when turning plastics into short lengths of just a few millimetres, preventing it from birds-nesting in the machining area and melting back onto the workpiece, which normally means scrapping the part.

A recent trend in the subcontractor's business has been a shift to machining more metals, notably aluminium for a large packaging machinery contract but also ferrous metals including stainless steel. This material also results in stringy swarf forming around the tool and workpiece and therefore benefits greatly from using Citizen's chipbreaking software.

Mr Caple and Stratos' co-owner, operations director Mark Vine, recognised how beneficial LFV technology would be for the business when turning plastics. Unlike metals, whose finish can be adjusted by fettling after machining, this is not practical with plastic as it needs to come off any machine tool in a finished condition.

The importance of improving turn-milling efficiency to increase competitiveness was reinforced when Stratos was required to produce 2,000 parts over a short period and the existing machinery would only achieve 400 per day. However with the new sliding-head machine and LFV technology, Stratos is now able to produce the 2,000 parts in 48 hours.

With a new sense of urgency, the directors' research took them to MACH 2018 and to online testimonials from other users. A series of demonstrations at Citizen's technical centre and showroom in Brierley Hill decided the directors in favour of LFV over other chipbreaking methodologies that involve macros in the program. Additionally, as Mr Caple pointed out, Cincom machines are built from the ground up to withstand the high-frequency, low-amplitude vibration caused by the intermittent, chip-generating cutting action.

The transition on the shop floor at Stratos to the new turning technology, as well as to the first Mitsubishi control on site, has been seamless. One of the sliding-head lathe operators, who normally runs five machining centres at the Gloucester facility, quickly picked up programming of the L32 using Citizen's Alkart Wizard off-line software. He and others received two days' instruction at Brierley Hill, followed by a week of on-site operator training. In the period from machine installation to the end of January 2020, more than 30 jobs had been produced on the new lathe, which included some around-the-clock running.

A major benefit of a twin-spindle lathe is the ability to produce components machined at both ends in a single cycle that would otherwise require two separate operations. This is assisted by the availability of a multitude of tools including driven cutters that enable the inclusion of extra operations such as deburring, eliminating further subsequent processes.

Speed of production is consequently much higher on the bar-fed Citizen compared with the fixed-head chuckers. For example, a 400-off contract that used to take a full day is now finished in a couple of hours on the slider. It also means that Stratos often manufactures in bulk, as the bar does not need to be changed as frequently as for multiple jobs. Stratos can now run, say, 1000-off, deliver 400 to the customer and stock the remainder on consignment. The customer benefits through more flexible supply and the certainty of prompt deliveries, while Stratos gains through more economical cost-per-part manufacture, which is passed on to the customer through improved rates and prices.

Another recent example of accelerated production was the machining of 5,000-off steel pins for a chain conveyor, which was completed in five days working a single shift. The job would previously have needed two operations on a pair of chuckers requiring two operators. Either the contract would not have been economical or the margin would have been unacceptably small.

Mr Vine concluded, "The accuracy and surface finish we are achieving on the slider are fantastic.

"We recently ran the machine unattended around-the-clock with LFV, with coolant running to keep the temperature stable, and produced 3,000 Ultem® Polyetherimide thermoplastic parts for a customer in the flow control sector.

"All of them were within the required -0 / +0.05 mm tolerance band, which is impressive and can be difficult to achieve in this material, without having to make any adjustments whatsoever to the machine.

"Overall, our new machinery has enabled us to be a more competitive subcontractor for plastic and metal machining and is contributing towards the impressive growth of our business."

So if you're looking for highly accurate engineered plastic or metal components from Ø3mm - Ø35mm, with exceptionally close geometric tolerances for quality-critical parts, get in touch with Stratos Precision Engineering. Here's the detail...

Find out about more of our services and get in touch if you have a project you'd like a quote for by calling 01452 840422 or emailing sales@stratosenineering.co.uk

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Statement from Stratos

Wed, 18 Mar 2020 14:35:51 GMT

To all customers, colleagues, suppliers and friends,

Stratos Precision Engineering is still open and currently operating as normal. Please rest assured that during this unprecedented time, we’re following the latest UK Government advice to help safeguard our employees, customers, suppliers, family and friends and minimise risk.

We are closely following the regular Government updates and are continually monitoring the risk as a business. As such, we have implemented the following,

Until instructed otherwise, both the Stratos office and manufacturing sides will continue to run as normal with a contingency plan in place. Regardless of any changes implemented by the Government, or if any staff are instructed to work from home, our emails and telephones will continue to be manned during normal working hours. In addition, we are extending our telephone and email support from 7am-10pm Monday to Friday and 8am-6pm on Saturdays to accommodate changes to working patterns for our customers and suppliers.

We have postponed all external meetings and non-essential business travel and no group meetings with customers or suppliers will be held at the Stratos head office until further notice.

Hand sanitiser has been readily available throughout the building for a number of weeks, and we have instructed visitors and employees to use this frequently. Good hygiene and hand washing is standard practice for all Stratos staff, however, extra notices regarding this have been placed around the building as recommended in Government guidelines to reduce the risk of spreading the virus.

In line with current Government policy, we have advised our employees to self-isolate immediately if they feel unwell or show symptoms of COVID-19 and to practice social distancing at all times. We're continuing to keep employees informed of the situation and will continue to respond to individual concerns accordingly.

We will keep employees, customers and suppliers informed of any changes as they occur and the latest information will be displayed on our social media channels as well as on our website homepage, so please check regularly.

If you have any concerns about how this will impact your business or staff, please get in touch. Take care of yourselves and your loved ones and thank you for your understanding and support during this difficult time

Jonathan Caple

Managing Director

Useful Resources:

UK Government response and advice: www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response

NHS information: www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19

World Health Organisation (WHO) Public Advice: www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public

The First Stratos Literature

Thu, 27 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT

It's happened...

We now have our very first piece of Stratos Precision Engineering literature to share with you all!

We've been working hard behind the scenes to bring this to you and are continuing to develop more key information and support material which we hope to bring to you over the coming months. This new leaflet gives a great introduction to Stratos and the services we offer as a business and how we can help you.

In this new leaflet, you can find out more about who we are, what we do and how we can help you with your plastic and metal CNC precision engineering sub-contracting work including CNC milling, CNC turning, CNC routing and CNC sliding head machining.

If you don't yet have a copy, simply complete this form and we'll send you some in the post.

And if you would like a free, no obligation quotation for your upcoming projects, or if you would like to take advantage of our free services such as stock holding, get in touch with the Stratos team today .

FREE 2020 Wall Planners

Thu, 02 Jan 2020 08:50:15 GMT

Happy New Year from the whole Stratos team!

We hope you had a lovely festive break and are raring to go for the year ahead as much as we are.

Let's take a look at some of the changes we made in 2019,

New Staff

CNC Machinists
Production Planner
Sales Support
Accounts Team
Marketing Department
Delivery Driver

New Machinery

Citizen L32 LFV 7 Axis Sliding Head (Ø3mm – Ø35mm)
HAAS ST35 Big Bore Lathe (up to Ø533mm turning – Ø102mm through spindle)
Piranha 3020 ATC Router (up to 3000 x 2000mm)

As well as

Two new delivery vans
Staff training program
New website
and much more

2020 is also shaping up to be another exciting year for us with new machinery, new staff, new literature and so much more.

If you're looking for a new partner that can machine precision engineered plastic and aluminium milled and turned components that can also offer free stockholding, reverse engineering, one-off bespoke items, large batch orders, plastic welding and more, get in touch with the Stratos team today .

Contact Stratos Precision Engineering for your CNC milling, CNC turning, CNC routing and CNC sliding head needs and start the year right.

To help you along the way, we're giving away FREE A1 2020 wall planners, so if you would like to get your hands on one to plan your staff holidays, social media, projects and more, click the button below and request your wall planner today.

Stratos Precision Engineering are proud to be associated with Gloucester Rugby

Tue, 17 Dec 2019 11:19:10 GMT

We're very pleased to announce that we've signed a three-year advertising deal with Gloucester Rugby! As a Gloucestershire business, with nationwide coverage, we're proud of our roots and our rugby-loving county.

This means that if you visit Kingholm stadium to see the Cherry and Whites play at home, you'll also see our video advert on the big pitch screen throughout the game and in the bar area giving a snapshot of the wide range of CNC services , products and materials we provide here in the county and further afield.

Can't make it to a game? Don't worry, because we've added the 2019/2020 video on a loop for you to see below.

And the great news is, that from time to time, we will be running competitions to win FREE tickets to see Gloucester play, so make sure you like the Stratos Engineering Facebook page to be notified when we have tickets to win!

So whatever your industry, from playground design to medical supplies to sub sea and beyond, we have an impressive product portfolio and can cope with your CNC milling, turning, routing and sliding head needs.

Stratos Precision Engineering are proud to be associated with Gloucester Rugby , so get in touch with our team today to see how we can help a as your plastic and metal component supplier.

Brand New Website for Stratos Precision Engineering

Wed, 23 Oct 2019 08:42:43 GMT

Over the last few weeks, our team have been working hard to bring you a brand new website for Stratos Precision Engineering Ltd which will really help you to understand our business better and see what we can do for you as an existing, or a new customer.

As a business, Stratos Precision Engineering has seen significant growth since incorporation and particularly over the last 12 months, so it was important for us to reflect this in our new professional website.

The great news is that you'll now find it easier than ever to navigate to the things that are important to you. That includes seeing the vast industries we serve , understanding the different plastics and metals that we use to create components for a huge range of clients and the types of services and manufacturing techniques we offer such as CNC milling, CNC turning, CNC routing and sliding head production. You can also take a look at our plant list and CNC machinery and see the manufacturing capabilities of each.

You can also find out more about Stratos Precision Engineering as the CNC milling and turning plastic specialists in Gloucestershire and how we can help with your upcoming projects and save you money if you choose Stratos Precision Engineering as your plastic and metal component supplier.

So take a look around our website, and if you want to see how Stratos Precision Engineering can benefit your business, get in touch with our team today .

How Stratos Doubled Productivity & Virtually Eliminated Scrap

Mon, 30 Sep 2019 12:29:24 GMT

Stratos Precision Engineering has doubled its productivity and virtually eliminated scrap in plastic component production thanks to a Chick Indexing System.

Subcontract machining of plastic parts constitutes the vast majority of output for Stratos Precision Engineering where the production of a particular component was causing problems that were exacerbated by the need to produce around 5,000 per year.

It is an acrylic manifold block for a flow control device that previously had to be clamped three times in conventional vices mounted side by side on the table of a Haas VF4 vertical machining centre . This process has been replaced by a more modern clamping system based on a four-sided tombstone and indexing trunnion supplied in October 2018 by 1st Machine Tool Accessories .

Specifically, the solution is a US-manufactured Chick Indexing Subsystem . It comprises a Multi-Lok having four faces each carrying a twin-position Qwik-Lok clamp that secures two parts at once against a central jaw each time the handle is wound to closure. The whole arrangement is mounted horizontally on a fourth CNC axis comprising in this case a Haas HRT210 rotary table and a Chick tailstock. The benefits of what appears to be a relatively simple change in workholding practice has been significant.

Most notable is that the operator is now able to fixture eight plastic billets at a time, close the machine doors, walk away for an hour to do other jobs, and return to unload eight parts machined on three faces, ready for a second operation to mill away material from the back face.

Previously, the three cycles were carried out sequentially in individual vices mounted on the machine table. It meant that the operator had to be in almost permanent attendance to open the doors, reset the components and close the doors to be able to extract one finished part every 15 minutes, i.e. four per hour.

Production output is thus doubled, despite the cutters being in contact with the material for a similar length of time. The saving comes purely through less handling of the components coupled with the opportunity to program fewer tool changes. One cutter can move around at least two parts rather than one, and potentially eight if the cycle time can be lowered by rotating the trunnion rather than exchanging the tool when machining any given feature.

The other major advantage of the new workholding solution provided by 1st MTA is a reduction in scrap from around one part in 20 to virtually zero, as the risk of tolerance build-up through repeated re-fixturing is eliminated.

Previously, if the operator did not blow swarf comprehensively from all of the vice jaws, the resulting misalignment of the component in any one of them meant that features could fall outside drawing tolerance, which is down to ±0.05mm.

With parts set up nearer to eye level due to the additional height provided by the trunnion, and the fact that it indexes through 360° during the hour-long cycle so a lot of swarf falls away, management of chips in the jaws is much easier and in practice workpieces always seat correctly in the Qwik-Loks. The only time a component now has to be scrapped is if a tool breaks in-cycle, which is rare when cutting plastic materials.

Jonathan Caple, managing director and joint owner of Stratos Engineering with business partner and operations director Mark Vine comments: “We are delighted with the efficiency of the new Chick workholding system and so is our customer.

“They visited to see the new production process and have been so impressed that the occasional bottlenecks and supply interruptions have been eliminated that it prompted them to award us additional work.”

He adds that two other jobs including a round component have already been put on the Chick Multi-Lok using other sets of suitably machined aluminium jaws to hold the parts securely. A similar doubling of production output has resulted in both cases.

If you're interested in switching suppliers for your acrylic manifolds, get in touch with the Stratos team here and we'll be happy to provide you with a quotation.

Stratos Growing From Strength to Strength

Wed, 31 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMT

It's been a busy time for Stratos as we've moved to a new location to continue the expansion of the business.

We're pleased to announce that we've successfully completed an entire factory and office move to our new modern premises located in the heart of Gloucester commercial trading area and close to the Gloucestershire Constabulary Headquarters.

Our new 8,000 sq ft unit at Waterwells Business Park in Gloucester boasts a machine shop giving us a much more efficient layout for our CNC machinery, as well as more space for both expansion and a kitting/assembly service and office growth.

This move will help to serve our customers more efficiently as future-proof the growth of the business as well as position us among other significant Gloucestershire businesses.

In no time at all, we transformed this...

Into this...

So, if you want to get in touch with us, our new details are,

Stratos Precision Engineering Ltd
Unit 9 Whitworth Court
Baird Road
Waterwells Business Park
Gloucester
GL2 2DG

01452 840422
sales@stratosengineering.co.uk

You can also contact us via our website here .

Further CNC Expansion with Haas

Mon, 21 May 2018 00:00:00 GMT

We're pleased to announce our continual growth which will benefit our existing customers as well as help Stratos to explore new opportunities.

The latest addition to the Stratos plant list is the HAAS SL40 Big Bore CNC machine which will increase turning capacity to 650mm diameter with 165mm through the bore.

Opening new opportunities and demonstrating our commitment to managing the efficiency of the business, this new machine will help Stratos to secure more business and serve our existing customers quicker and more efficiently.

Got a plastic or aluminium component that you need manufacturing? Get in touch today here.

Stratos Gain New ISO 9001:2015 Certification

Mon, 12 Jun 2017 00:00:00 GMT

At Stratos Precision Engineering, it's important to us that our customers have confidence that they're in good hands.

Our internal procedures have been rigorously checked and our products confirmed to be of a great quality which is why we're delighted to announce that we've achieved ISO 9001:2015 accreditation which supersedes our previous ISO 9001:2008 accreditation.

Achieving ISO 9001:2015 certification will help Stratos to achieve our strategic goals and become the CNC precision engineering company of choice.

Well done to the whole Stratos team for their efforts in making this a reality!

Expanding CNC Machining Capacity with Haas

Fri, 19 May 2017 00:00:00 GMT

By making significant investment into new machinery over the last few years' Stratos Precision Engineering has been able to expand its CNC milling and turning manufacturing capacity.

The most recent investment came in the form of two brand new CNC machines from industry-leaders Haas Automation.

The new Haas VF4 Vertical Machining Centre gives Stratos a milling capability of 1270 x 508 x 635mm, and the Haas SL20 Lathe adds another option for turned parts with bar capacity of 50mm and a maximum turning diameter of 280mm.

This new machinery has outstanding features and performance to give greater flexibility and really help Stratos to increase productivity and drive manufacturing efficiencies.

Contact the Stratos team to find out how this new machinery can help with your next project.

CNC Dream Becomes a Reality

Fri, 30 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Stratos Precision Engineering specialise in manufacturing high quality plastic and non-ferrous components from engineering plastics including Nylon, Acetal/Delrin, Peek, PTFE, Polyethylene, Polypropylene and PET-P amongst others.

The Gloucestershire-based company machines items for a multitude of applications within industries including subsea, energy, transport, oil and gas and agriculture.

Joint owners Mark Vine and Jon Caple formed Stratos just 21 months ago. In that time, the company has rapidly expanded, currently employing three full time and two part time staff and running 11 CNC mills and lathes.

Mr Caple explains:

“We met some years ago whilst working at the same precision engineering firm and often talked about forming our own business. After working together closely for two years, we felt we had the requisite interlocking skills to make Stratos a reality. Six months later we had raised funds to buy our first CNC machines – a couple of second hand mills.

“Within three months we’d attained ISO 9001:2008 accreditation and the business was really picking up at a tremendous rate. After some very late nights learning the ‘dark art’ of search engine optimisation our website was getting over 1,200 hits per month. The steady stream of work from repeat business became a torrent as more new clients joined our customer base. We knew we had to invest in more machinery and staff.”

“At present, we have two Haas CNC milling machines,” Mark Vine notes, “a VF-0E and a VF-2. The VF-0E we bought second hand; it’s now 20 years old and still runs perfectly, holding tolerance and maintaining positional repeatability. We recently invested in a new VF-2 with help from a Regional Growth Fund grant. The grant also enabled us to take on another member of staff.

“We decided on Haas because having worked with them for fifteen years, I knew they were more than capable of providing the quality and accuracy to keep us and more importantly our customers happy. The new VF2 has proven to be 15-20% more productive than our older machine, not only because it takes less time to generate a machine program using the VQC and user friendly interface, but also due to the faster cutting feed rates and rapid speeds."

To simplify setup, the VF-2 is fitted with the Haas Visual Quick Code Probing System for setting work offsets and tool offsets.

“We probe some of the critical parts 100%,” Mr Vine reveals, “but generally, we use a probe hole to locate the vice or fixture, and a stop for the material.

“One of the Haas mills is currently cutting Polypropylene clamping plates which will be used to secure compressed air bottles to subsea ROVs. This is a three operation part with a cycle time of just under two hours, because of its many threaded cross-holes, counterbores, undercuts and slots.

“The VF-0E is working hard producing a range of spares for the food industry. We can work from drawings or reverse engineer pretty much any part to produce small batches that will still work out way cheaper for our customers than the OEM’s own spares.

“Using our CAD package OneCNC XR6, we can accept customer’s drawings in various forms including DXF, DWG, PDF, IGES and STEP and transfer the program via USB to the VF-2 and other machines. Any adjustments can be easily made directly at the control.”

The company has just acquired a local fabrication company, along with a customer base including household names such as Waitrose and John Lewis, which went live in January. The pair can see huge potential in this latest venture.

“We aim to be even more successful and enjoy further growth in the future,” Mr Caple concludes. “With our decision to invest in Haas, there is no reason we cannot continue tackling new engineering challenges in a cost-effective and reliable manner.”

To find out how Stratos Precision Engineering can help you with your next CNC machining project, get in touch with the team today .