A&M EDM’s first wire erosion machine has reached the end of its working life after 17 years and is being decommissioned for spare parts.
A&M started in October 2002 in Smethwick, West Midlands with two employees and the company’s first purchase was a Sodick A325 CNC Wire Eroder.
Arthur Watts, co-founder of A&M said, "Decommissioning the A325 is a milestone for A&M, it’s been an incredible workhorse and it feels like a close colleague is leaving. This machine produced a consistently high standard up until its ‘retirement.’ The A325 has been a consistent performer throughout A&M’s growth to our current 29 EDM spark and wire machines, sales over £6m and 70 employees.”
A&M EDM’s first wire erosion machine has reached the end of its working life after 17 years and is being decommissioned for spare parts.
A&M started in October 2002 in Smethwick, West Midlands with two employees and the company’s first purchase was a Sodick A325 CNC Wire Eroder.
Arthur Watts, co-founder of A&M remembers the first time he used the machine to wire jigs and fixtures for a manual hole burner, which is still in use today. Arthur said, "Decommissioning the A325 is a milestone for A&M, it’s been an incredible workhorse and it feels like a close colleague is leaving. This machine produced a consistently high standard up until its ‘retirement.’ The A325 has been a consistent performer throughout A&M’s growth to our current 29 EDM spark and wire machines, sales over £6m and 70 employees.”
The A325 eroder has repaid its purchase price many times over; A&M estimate it has used over 30,000 miles of wire in its working life, the equivalent of flying from Smethwick to Sydney three times. The machine has spent an average cutting time of over 4,000 hours in each of its 17 years operation on thousands of jobs, ranging from simple heading dies to precision aerospace and motorsport components.
Chris Hellyer, Sales Director at Sodi-‘Tech EDM, UK distributors of Sodick machines said,
"Over a 17 year partnership, Sodick have supplied 40 high quality electrical discharge machines to A&M, who consistently invest in the latest technology. A&M is the largest Sodick machine user in the UK and this eroder being productive for so long is a testament to its build quality.”
Arthur Watts said, "When we bought the A325 it was a top of the range wire eroder that could hold its own against competition, we’ve replaced it with a new Sodick ALC600G.”