Westland Corp. has expanded its screw-size production capability with a new milling machine from Automation Engineering & Integration Inc. of Hutchinson, Kan.
Westland President Dave Larson said his firm invested about $750,000 in the machine. It allows the Witchita, Kan., firm to make screws up to 8 inches in diameter and 245 inches long, Larson said in a July 13 telephone interview. Screws that big are used in a range of extruders and in very large injection molding presses.
Larson said the largest screw Westland could make before was 180 inches long; anything bigger was outsourced. The new milling machine also enchances Westland's ability to make complex screws, which it can subject to virtual testing with three-dimensional modeling technology.
Westland announced at NPE that it took delivery of the milling machine at the end of April.