South Australian family business RCWilliams staying with OKUMA to stay competitive
Third-generation South Australian family-owned precision engineering business, R.C. Williams Pty Ltd, is keeping abreast of the latest technology to remain internationally competitive and expand into new markets.
Founded in 1967 the company is run by brothers Sam and Nick Williams with a staff of ten highly skilled engineering personnel. As a family business, R.C. Williams prides itself on a long tradition of quality and service to customers, started by its founder Ron Williams more than 55 years ago. The company is a long-standing customer of Okuma having installed its first machine 34 years ago.
Now with a shop floor full of these impressive machines it’s not surprising the most recent investment was the latest Okuma Multus U3000 multitasking machine with a fully flexible and productive ASA robot system. “The new addition was carefully planned to complement our existing inventory, increase our capacity, flexibility and performance overall,” said Managing Director Sam Williams.
“Twin spindles, stacked magazines full of tools and in-process gauging means that we can do medium to large runs in quick time whilst never compromising on quality. ASA’s robots and expert programmers keep our operations efficient and we are not limited to bar feeding for high-volume operations when the machine is unmanned.
“Okuma apps now give us full control and makes overnight machining of a wide range of components possible,” said Sam Williams. “The automation has dramatically extended our machining capability from 12 hours to 24 hours per day and increased component output by three times,” he said.
Today the company services a broad range of industries across Australia with an emphasis on servicing the mining industry, load lifting equipment and defence industries with specialised services such as diamond cutting tools, sprocket, spline and gear cutting, general jobbing, turning and milling, reverse engineering and CNC 2D and 3D design capabilities to meet specifications. The company also produces components for agriculture, the fitness industry, R&D projects and special parts for University projects.
“The continual introduction of new advanced machines such as the new Okuma Multus U3000 multitasking machine creates an air of excitement within our plant, allowing our engineers to learn new skills on the latest technology and robotics. It is in this area that we take full advantage of the generous training offered by Okuma Australia which is ongoing and at the end of a phone or face-to-face when we require it,” said Sam. “This is important to all our engineers and particularly important to our apprentices under training. We currently have two apprentices and maintain two to three at any time to ensure that as an industry we have well-trained skilled engineers in the future,” he said.
The new machine is now working 24/5 and has greatly reduced customer lead times and is opening up new market opportunities.
“It has been a great experience for me personally working with all three generations of the R.C. Williams family over the last 26 years. I strongly believe our long-term loyal customers are the cornerstone of our market here in South Australia and a very strong focus for Okuma Australia. Having long-term customers such as R.C. Williams with so many generations of Okuma machine tools is a powerful statement to make within the engineering sector,” commented Rob Hall, Branch Manager-SA Okuma Australia.
With confidence in the Australian and South Australian economies, this third-generation family business is well-placed to benefit from the potential of new markets opening up for precision engineering.