Rapid Precision Engineering installed a DN Solutions' DEM 4000 vertical machining centre with a Nikken CNC202 4th-axis rotary table at its Huyton, Liverpool facility in July 2026, supplied by Mills CNC. The investment answered a jump in landing gear screw volumes from 3000-off to 15,000-off, work previously handled on a manual mill. Aerospace now accounts for over 95% of the firm's turnover.
A Huyton, Liverpool subcontractor has put a compact 4th-axis machining centre to work on aerospace fasteners within weeks of delivery.
Demand spike forced the decision
The trigger was customer volume: landing gear screw quantities jumped from 3000-off to 15,000-off.
"We previously machined the screws on one of our older manual milling machines. This was achievable when the volumes required were relatively low but when the quantities required went from 3000-off to 15,000-off, we knew we had to think outside the box and develop a new approach."
Why the smaller machine
"We needed the 4th-axis capability but didn't need a machine with such a big table."
Programs developed on the DNM 4500 transferred directly to the new machine, freeing capacity on the larger centre in the process.
M4S Take:: The throughput logic is sound, but note what's missing: no cycle-time data, no per-part cost figures, and no scrap or inspection numbers for the fastener work. "Thousands" of parts machined in weeks is a volume claim, not an efficiency one. Shop owners weighing a similar move should ask Mills CNC for benchmark data before treating this as a template.
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