Production time halved on Jordanian project

Dulail, Jordan – Jordanian manufacturer Jordan Advanced Machining Company (JordanAMCO) has cut production time on a project by half after receiving expert assistance from Dormer Tools International, based at the Advanced Manufacturing Park in South Yorkshire, UK.

Machining hundreds of 20.25mm diameter holes in heat exchanger plates used in the petroleum industry, JordanAMCO needed to drill at various depths, while increasing productivity and maintaining tight tolerances and strict quality requirements.

Sandvik group company Dormer supplied its Hydra drill - comprising a replaceable solid carbide head (R950) and interchangeable HSS body. With JordanAMCO stack-drilling four 10mm carbon steel plates and also needing to drill 75mm through-holes, Dormer supplied 3xD (H853) and 5xD (H858) Hydra bodies.

“The boiler plates provided difficult cutting conditions because of the material type. It wasn’t easy to get the swarf to chip correctly,” said Lloyd Allen, technical consultant for JordanAMCO and an advisor to the company’s management and engineers on future developments.

“With high speed steel tooling it would have taken around 18 hours to complete the job, but with Dormer’s Hydra drill it took just eight hours. In this industry time is money, so we were able to make substantial gains. It also removed the need for additional operations, such as reaming, resulting in further time and cost savings,” added Allen, who is originally from Rotherham, south Yorkshire.

JordanAMCO was initially set up in 2007 to advance Jordan’s manufacturing capabilities after being formed and funded by the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB). The Government organisation provided $12m to create the factory and supply state of the art machines to help the company establish itself at the forefront of advanced manufacturing in Jordan.

“Manufacturing in Jordan is still in the early stages and the role of JordanAMCO is to help develop the industry further,” said Allen. “As well as providing machining services on a direct supply basis, JordanAMCO also provides technical assistance to other local manufactures with tooling selection, heat treatment, training requirements and assistance with the understanding of material properties and their machining characteristics.”

James Butler, Dormer technical engineer, added: “We first made contact with the owners soon after the company was established and our partnership has progressed over the last couple of years. During this time, Dormer has provided JordanAMCO with advice and guidance throughout every stage of the process.”