Workholding and productivity enhancing ancillary specialist, Leader Chuck Systems, recently announced its partnership with Turin-based tailor-made workholding and component manipulation specialist, Rotomors. The new partnership allows Leader to exclusively offer Rotomors bespoke solutions to manufacturing and precision engineering companies in the UK and Eire.

Rotomors was established in Turin in 1966, as a company that focused initially on the design and manufacture of special self-centring chucks for lathes for the automotive industry. Today, it is one of the world leaders in the design and manufacture of state-of-the-art workholding systems, the development of automatic pallet changing systems for vertical lathes and machining centres and die change shuttles for presses.

Employing around 65 highly skilled staff, the company has expanded to meet the technical challenges of the most demanding industry sectors and it has provided tailor-made solutions for OEMs and key players in supply chains across the globe. As Leader Chuck’s Managing Director, Mark Jones, states: “Founded on the requirements of the automotive industry, Rotomors has developed solutions for over 1,000 customers in industries as diverse as aerospace, energy and power generation, rail and mass transit, oil & gas, large diameter bearings and guide systems, as well as general precision engineering.”

The headquarters in Turin comprises office space of 10,000 ft2 for design and engineering, and 50,000 ft2 of production floorspace. Here, Rotomors’ staff work to guarantee customers a comprehensive support service for both installation, set-up and ongoing maintenance of its technologically advanced solutions.

“Each project is developed according to the specific requirements of the individual customer,” explains Mark Jones. “Because the offerings are specially designed they extend the range offered by Leader with pneumatic and hydraulically operated systems. Chucks start at 200 mm diameter and go all the way up to 7,000 mm diameter with many different styles to clamp just about any shape with variable clamping forces for thin walled components, as well as heavy duty clamping when required for aggressive machining applications. For example, the 6-jaw chuck offered we would define as two-plus-two-plus-two, where each of the three pairs of jaws work together to compensate for any out of roundness without distorting the workpiece.”

Turning and milling centres, both horizontal and vertical, represent the natural opportunities for Rotomors equipment to make a positive impact on productivity. Each of the workholding and manipulation systems can synchronise with the Rotomors pallet changing systems to support automation and the drive towards Industry 4.0.

Mark Jones concludes: “From indexing chucks, to chucks for alloy wheel and powertrain components, these are non-standard, bespoke ‘turnkey’ solutions. The fact that Rotomors has completed over 10,000 projects around the world means there are very few applications that would surprise the design team, and we are confident the significant gains can be made in terms of efficiency, productivity and accuracy for almost every machining application.”