Game changer at Derby
23 February 2026
TEX Plastics has reinforced its commitment to advanced manufacturing with a significant investment at its Derby facility: the installation of a new XYZ 500 series CNC Machining Centre.
This sophisticated piece of equipment is set to dramatically enhance the facility's capabilities, translating directly into faster turnaround times, greater precision and increased flexibility for our customers.
The XYZ 500 TMC combines the speed of an automated machining centre with the simplicity of manual control, making it a perfect fit for the high-mix, precision requirements often found in plastic injection moulding secondary operations.
Increased Capacity and Efficiency in Secondary Operations
For many injection moulding projects, the finished part requires secondary operations like drilling, tapping, profiling or pocketing to meet the final specification. The new CNC machine provides a massive boost in this critical area:
- Improved Efficiency: The XYZ 500 TMC features an automatic tool changer (12-station carousel) and powerful spindle, allowing it to perform multiple, complex machining tasks on a part without manual intervention. This automation reduces handling time, minimises the risk of errors, and shortens the overall production cycle.
- Increased Capacity: By dedicating a modern, high-speed machine to these secondary operations, TEX Plastics can process a higher volume of parts needing post-moulding work. This directly addresses client needs for faster lead times and higher throughput, particularly for large or recurring orders.
Streamlined Programming: DXF Interface & Conversational Control
The true power of this investment, and the biggest benefit for our customers, lies in how quickly and accurately we can get from the design stage to a finished, machined part.
- DXF Interface (Data Exchange Format)
The inclusion of a DXF converter significantly streamlines the workflow between our design department and the shop floor.- Shorter Setup Time: DXF is a universal CAD file format. The machine's control can directly import geometry from the customer’s 2D design files (DXF). This eliminates the time-consuming and error-prone process of manually entering coordinate data, allowing us to start machining faster.
- Enhanced Accuracy: By working directly from the approved design data, the machine ensures that the finished features are geometrically perfect and consistent with the client's specifications, reducing the chance of costly rework.
- Conversational Programming
The XYZ 500 TMC uses an intuitive control system that features conversational programming.- Shop-Floor Agility: Conversational programming uses simple, menu-driven questions (rather than complex G-code) to define machining operations like drilling a hole or milling a slot. This allows our skilled operators to quickly create or modify programs right at the machine.
- Rapid Prototyping and Rework: For one-off jobs, quick prototypes, or minor rework on existing components, this feature is invaluable. It drastically cuts down the time needed to program simple operations, ensuring that TEX Plastics remains highly agile and responsive to urgent or small-batch customer requirements.
What It Means for Customers
For TEX Plastics’ clients, particularly those in highly regulated or precision-demanding sectors, this investment delivers several clear advantages:
- Reduced lead times: More secondary machining can now be done in-house, cutting reliance on external subcontractors and reducing turnaround.
- Improved quality control: Tight integration between machining and moulding operations enables stricter oversight of critical parts.
- Flexibility on design iterations: The DXF interface and conversational programming make it quicker and simpler to adapt component designs, especially for prototyping or custom orders.
- Cost efficiencies: Bringing more work in-house helps control costs, especially for complex or low-volume parts.
- Consistency: By handling machining internally, TEX Plastics can ensure tighter, repeatable tolerances and better traceability.
This investment in the XYZ 500 TMC underscores TEX Plastics’ commitment to continuously improving its manufacturing footprint, delivering greater precision and flexibility, and ultimately giving customers more reliable, responsive service.