Case Study: ercol Furniture achieves faster, more accurate 5-axis machining with Hexagon ALPHACAM

Alphacam programs UK’s only pro evolution 5-axis twin head machine for ercol

ercol Furniture, a high-end UK furniture manufacturer, sought to react more quickly to customer demands and shorten lead times by advancing beyond their existing 3-axis CNC machining capabilities. They turned to Hexagon and its ALPHACAM software to help them program and optimize new, more complex 5-axis machinery, which was critical for meeting their production goals.

By implementing Hexagon's ALPHACAM solution, ercol successfully programmed the UK's first twin-head 5-axis machine, achieving a fully automated process. The software provided significant benefits, including a 30% reduction in machining time, a decrease in waste, and perfect part accuracy that ensured ease of assembly. This allowed ercol to machine approximately 2,500 components weekly with improved efficiency and to move towards smaller batch production for even faster customer turnaround times.