The world famous race car constructor and supplier of advanced composites, Lola Group Ltd have announced a significant new partnership with CMS Industries SpA for an all-new CNC 5-axis machine to be installed at Lola’s state-of-the-art facility in Huntingdon, UK next month.

The official signing of the deal was undertaken at the JEC Composites show in Paris last Wednesday 4th April with Lola’s Composites team and senior figures from CMS Industries SpA. The confirmation of the deal took place on the CMS stand, where a Lola Champ Car windtunnel model was on display (above).

On the stand, Italy based CMS will be exhibiting a machining centre model ANTARES 26-15 PX5 with Fanuc NC, similar to the one that will be used by the Lola Group. Speaking about the new deal and the positive impact that the new equipment will have on future Lola projects, Lola Composites Engineering Manager, Rob Hewison said: “It is important that as a company we equip ourselves with the very best technology available. That is exactly what we have done with this new capability provided by CMS. They ticked all the boxes and we know that they will provide us with an extended pattern making ability and a second to none component trimming capacity, critical in todays market place.”

“Technicallly the machine is fast and accurate,” continued Hewison. “It has proven reliability in our industry sector and the whole company is looking forward to the installation and first running of the machine.”

Lola Group, recently awarded the AS9100 (revision B) Aerospace standard and the ISO9001:2000 International Quality Management standard quality systems, enabling Lola to expand its growing reputation as a provider of the most advanced composite products. Lola Group have been running 5-axis machining at its Cambridgeshire site for over 13 years.


New Lola 5-axis tech spec, designed and built by CMS Industries

The larger ARES 36-26 PX5 provides strokes of 3,600 x 2600 x 1200mm and the machine will be delivered to Lola equipped with tandem tables to aid loading and unloading whilst not compromising the machines downtime

The Machine at High speed
Drawing on CMS’s 35 years of experience, a particularly strong spindle shaft, made in-house, is mounted on two pairs of pre-loaded bearings.

This high-speed spindle (24,000rpm max 12kW) is liquid cooled. Fast positioning with speeds up to 80 m/min are achieved along with acceleration rates of up to 3.0m/s².

Automatic tool changing is linked to a tool-holder magazine located on the front face of the traverse and has an 8-tool magazine as standard and a 4 extended tool option.

According to CMS, the combination of a very high performance, powerful electro spindle and the machine rigidity assured by the mobile bridge-type construction, offer users ‘unmatched quality on a wide range of materials’.


Additional Quotes

Toni Nagiel – General Manager, CMS Group (UK) Ltd

“We are delighted that Lola have selected CMS as their partner in this demanding and competitive industry and look forward to a long and prosperous relationship. Once again CMS have shown that their machines meet the criteria for quality, accuracy, flexibility and applications support that is expected from users in this industry sector.”

Paul Jackson – Commercial Manager, Lola Composites

“This new machine will give the whole company a competitive edge in our present and future targeted markets. This extended capability will enable us to grow in these markets and offer an enhanced service. From a commercial perspective this is an exciting time for Lola Composites.”

Ian Beevor – Purchasing & Logistics Manager, Lola Composites

“In a highly competitive market, CMS Industries have delivered an extremely good package both technically and commercially. We are looking at this as the first stage of a longterm technical and business partnership between Lola and CMS.”


About CMS Group Ltd

CMS was established in 1969 for the construction of CNC machining centres designed for countless applications across the spectrum of manufacturing industry working on a wide range of non-ferrous materials such as aluminium, composite, carbon-fibre, wood, marble, stone, plastics and glass. This Italian group has an annual turnover exceeding Euros 95 million with more than 540 employees.

For more information, please visit www.cms.it/A>