Leading manufacturer of CNC routing machines, AXYZ International has supplied a Pacer 3020K Series router to Kettering, Northamptonshire-based Case Installations. The company specialises in the installation of refrigerated cabinets at leading supermarkets throughout the UK and Ireland. However, following the purchase of the Pacer 3020K router, supported by associated heat bending and flame polishing solutions, it has been able to diversify and to now offer an expanded service that includes the manufacture of Perspex acrylic sheet-based flat dividers, shelf risers and specially formed food partition units used in the cabinets to be installed.

Founded in 2004 by Russell Woolley and Mark Clipstone, Case Installations commenced business as a single-van service operation. The company now employs a team of 16 specialist installers who will travel to any UK and Ireland location. As Russell Woolley explained:

‘Initially, our sole activity was to provide an installation support facility for the main suppliers of refrigerated cabinets used in supermarkets. Whilst this remains the primary focus of our business, the Pacer routing solution has enabled us to expand into other areas and to take the company in different directions and these were underlying objectives. Our work intake has dramatically increased as a result and we have been able to offer a complementary manufacturing facility that is capable of further development.’

The router installed at Case Installations is one of the popular K Series of CNC solutions designed for applications where quality and reliability remain high on the list of criteria but where the absolute high-end performance of Pacer’s more expensive heavy-duty HDS machines is not necessarily required. The K Series therefore represents a major price/performance breakthrough and has proved the ideal investment for companies like Case Installations.

Key features of the router, which is particularly ideal for 2D and 3D work, include a solid steel frame construction for maximum rigidity and consequently an even more precise cutting capability, fully-enclosed twin ball screw drives for enhanced accuracy and repeatability and a cleaner working environment, an integrated zoned vacuum bed and automatic tool length calibration. The 3020K Series router installed at Case Installations has a material processing area of 3,050 x 2,050 x 135 mm, a maximum speed of 18,000rpm and an optimum feed rate of 10m/min.

The router can be supplied with Pacer’s multi-purpose XMC machine control software running on PC with Windows XP-Pro adjacent to the machine. However, the software used by Case Installations is the industrial-grade Rhino Version 4 program. The router can also include Pacer’s ATC (Automatic Tool Change) facility to speed up and simplify production and this, according to Russell Woolley, is an option that would be considered as the manufacturing side of the business develops.

On the service and technical support provided by Pacer, Russell Woolley concluded: ‘Both have been very good and we would not hesitate in using the technology available to assist our growth and production capabilities.’