Weir Minerals’ CMS MX5: Fast-tracking a Foundry Pattern Shop Into The Future

Darren Preece is one of the rare Australians who have been working at the same company for over 20 years. The son of a Sydney pattern-maker, he followed in his father’s footsteps, learning the almost-lost craft of timber pattern-making. Little did he know, the trade would lead him down a winding path, into a position as Weir Minerals’ Technical Manager – and immersion in the world of cutting-edge technology.

“I began my apprenticeship in pattern-making at Warman International (now Weir Minerals) in 1989. I studied at TAFE in Ultimo Sydney for 3 years of the 4 year apprenticeship. Once completing my apprenticeship, I spent the next 6 years as a tradesperson. In 1998 I was sent to assist in an IT project for a year to implement an ERP system, and then came back to the pattern-shop in early 2000 for another year. In 2001,Weir was looking for someone to do methoding and casting simulation, so I took up the role in Methoding Engineer from 2001 to 2015. During 2016 there was a business restructure and I was then asked to come to the pattern shop to introduce new technology and bring pattern-making back as a trade. I did that until early 2023, at which point I was promoted to Foundry Technical Manager.”

While on the mission to introduce new technology, Darren crossed paths with Pierre, our Managing Director. He had been talking to his UK counterpart, the British Pattern Shop Manager, in search of machinery that would streamline Weir’s  processes. With large timber molds being prepared for sand casting, Darren and his colleague knew they needed a machining centre that balanced size and precision. They found it in the CMS MX5.

“He said he looked at 5 or 6 machines, and the CMS MX5 was best suited for our purposes. We needed height, and narrowed it down to 2 choices – and that was only because we needed to supply 3 quotes to headquarters. In my head, I was always going to buy the MX5. I wouldn’t say there was any resistance from the company – they left it in my hands.”

CMS MX5

Part of the reason why CMS appealed to Darren was because of their ability to customise solutions. With FANUC controllers in use in Weir’s shop, fitting one onto their new MX5 was a requirement, and CMS was more than happy to oblige.

The difference was immediate. Weir went from outsourcing the majority of pattern production to manufacturing in-house. This was a big step, allowing for greater experimentation in the workshop; and greater innovation.

“We’re constantly improving the product that we make to suit our customers. Generally, we used to send most of our patterns to contract shops to be produced, but now we do most of them ourselves. And even though we’ve had the machine installed for a couple of years now, we’re still learning.”

Installing the CMS MX5

As a trained pattern-maker, Darren understands the production process and how the machine fits into it. The challenge lies in handing that knowledge over to the team working under him. Currently, he has two tradesmen in the shop and three apprentices training under him. Standing at the nexus between hands-on knowledge and new technology, Weir’s Foundry Technical Manager has a big task ahead of him.

“I’ve been working for Weir since 1989. While our machine shop had been using CNCs for some time, the pattern shop had been slow to adopt CNC machines for pattern making. Back in the late 80s, there wasn’t much in terms of technology for us. Some of the old-school guys just weren’t interested in moving forward. We had a restructure in 2016, and I came into the picture and I wanted to invest in technology. I hate to say it but pattern-making is a dying trade. Getting tradespeople for us is almost impossible, so my crew now is: I have 2 tradies, and the first is close to retirement, and the second guy is 52, so he’s been trained to run the machine. I have also onboarded a dedicated CAD and CNC programmer to help accelerate the learning.”

Training crew to run the MX5 may be an ongoing challenge, but running the machine itself is not. In the two years Weir has had its CMS MX5, there has never been a moment of downtime. Thanks to our signature after-sales service, the machine is well cared for and gets all the attention it needs.

“The machine itself – all it needs from Innovync is regular servicing. It tells you how many run hours have been on the machine and when it needs to be serviced. The techs come out every 1000 hours and do the servicing. All the spare parts we’ve needed have always been on shore, and they’ve come in a day or two. It’s amazing. I’ve worked with Pierre for now 5 years in total, from the start of buying the machine when he was in Unimac. Pierre’s always been easy to contact, very knowledgeable on his product, getting the machine serviced has been easy for us. We haven’t had many issues. We’ve never had downtime on the machine, we’ve just had to tweak settings on it.”

With such manufacturing stability, Darren and his tradies easily create complex patterns on the MX5. The process is far faster and more sophisticated than the hands-on craft of the past, which required tradies to use bandsaws, routers and other machines manually. That, Darren hopes, will change in the near future; thanks to a revolutionary machine from CMS.

“CMS has a fairly new machine called the Kreator. It’s essentially a 3D router and large-format 3D printer in one. From a pattern making perspective, building up the timber plug – slightly bigger than what we want to machine – is very time consuming and it’s very labour intensive. That’s our biggest constraint, the labour. With the Kreator, once they’ve built the model in CAD, the machine does the work and 3D prints the rough shape then changes the machine head and cuts the model. In my mind, I’d like to see a Kreator in this department in the next 2-3 years. The beauty of it is the CMS machine has the 2 capabilities in the one machine. Everyone else needs to provide the 3D printer and then provide the other machine. You almost don’t touch it. It takes our operators out of the line of fire and is much safer than working with a bandsaw or other timber machines to cut the building block to create the rough shape. By 3D printing that shape, there’s little risk to the operator. There’s wins all around with this machine. There’s no negative to it, only positives.”

Darren knows who to come to when it’s time for Weir to welcome their very own CMS Kreator. For now, he, like many others in the Advanced Materials space, is watching this machine closely, and dreaming of the day when it makes life in the workshop a little easier. That day is on the horizon, and we’re excited to make it a reality. Stay tuned for updates!