Viking Precision Engineers Ltd has invested £1.6 million in a dedicated turning facility equipped with four Yamazaki Mazak Quick Turn 250 lathes, expanding its machining footprint at its Middlesex headquarters and sharpening its pitch for higher-volume, smaller-component work.
The new turning shop builds on Viking’s existing customer base, including long-standing contracts with London Underground, alongside a track record in the aerospace sector. It also extends a relationship with Mazak that Viking describes as approaching 36 years, with the new machines joining an established Mazak-installed base in the company’s CNC milling shop.
That original facility includes ten machines, including a VARIAXIS i-500 5-axis machine, two VCN vertical milling machines, and three FJV machining centres, acquired to support the manufacture of large aerospace workpieces. The turning investment is intended to widen capability in the opposite direction — smaller, high-precision components produced at scale, where cycle time, repeatability, and unattended running matter as much as outright metal removal.
Richard Bec, Production Manager at Viking Precision Engineers, said: “The Quick Turn machines were purchased to grow the business into high volume, smaller component work that requires a turning solution. We’re now running 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
Rather than framing the move as a generic capacity add, Viking is tying the new shop to specific component classes. Bec said many of the parts are tribology-based components used in advanced testing equipment for lubrication and friction systems, where tolerances and surface integrity are unforgiving and batch volumes can be substantial. He added: “Many of these smaller, high-precision components are tribology-based parts used in advanced testing equipment for lubrication and friction systems. These intricate components play a key role in solutions that support innovation in the sustainable and reusable energy sector, an area of growing importance and strategic focus for Viking Precision Engineers.”
The machines themselves are Mazak QUICK TURN 250 MSY models, built at Mazak’s European Manufacturing Plant in Worcester. Viking cited the platform’s high-rigidity construction and built-in motor spindle, while the MSY configuration adds integrated milling, a second spindle, and Y-axis functionality, enabling more complex multi-tasking work in a single setup.
Viking also leaned on a less glamorous, but often decisive, purchasing rationale: standardisation. Bec said: “We have one machine supplier and one control software, which means operators can go from one machine to the next. Operators on our 4-axis and 5-axis Mazak machines can quickly go into the new facility if we need help there. Everybody can support a consistent workflow because they are familiar with the Mazak operating system.”
Alex Turner, Works Manager at Viking, linked the investment to customer confidence, particularly in aerospace. “Aerospace customers have been to the facility and seen the Mazak machines, which gives them peace of mind that we can do the job. We can do the larger sections in our original facility and then over in our turning shop we can machine much more intricate parts with really tight tolerances. We’ve got real flexibility with the bigger Mazak machines and the smaller turning centres.”
Alan Mucklow, Managing Director UK & National Distributors at Yamazaki Mazak, added: “Viking are one of many valued customers who have built a long-standing relationship with Mazak, reflecting years of collaboration, trust and shared commitment to engineering excellence. It is fantastic to see four of our UK-made turning centres helping another British business succeed at the very highest level and we look forward to working with Alex, Richard and the wider Viking team for many more years to come.”
