Multi-Machine Workshop Integration — Rivers State

An engineering workshop servicing the construction and oil-field support sector in Rivers State needed to internalise precision machining operations that were costing them time and margin every time they went to an outside shop. Shaft turning, surface milling, and key-slot cutting were the three recurring jobs — they needed a three-machine line that could handle all three in-house, with engineers capable of running them independently.

The additional constraint: the workshop had limited three-phase power infrastructure and needed a solution that accounted for their generator as primary supply.

TME specified a matched three-machine line: a 1.5-metre bed heavy-duty lathe for shaft turning up to 500mm swing, a universal milling machine for surface work and profile milling, and a mechanical shaping machine for key-slots and flat surfaces on complex profiles. All three were configured to the workshop's 380V generator supply, with individual isolators and surge protection.

Installation was sequenced over three weeks, with each machine commissioned individually before the next arrived — reducing the footprint on the workshop floor at any one time and allowing the client's team to begin learning on machine one while machines two and three were being installed.

All three machines were live and in production by week six. The workshop immediately eliminated its dependence on external machine shops for turning, milling, and shaping operations — bringing 100% of routine precision machining in-house. Turnaround on shaft reconditioning jobs dropped from 5–7 days (waiting for external shops) to same- day or next-day. Three engineers were certified operators by the end of the commissioning week.