OEM tooling
A Rosslyn fixture shop needed to speed up fixture turnaround for a high-volume automotive line. We helped them modernise their machining and job tracking for rapid in-house production.
In Rosslyn, on the north side of Pretoria, a major automotive plant runs high-output lines with frequent model changes. Their in-house fixture shop supports every shift, from small tweaks mid-run to full fixture sets for new models. These are custom jigs and soft jaws, often built and trial-fitted under pressure to keep production moving.
With parts arriving just-in-time and tight shift schedules, the team needed to machine plates, blocks and clamp parts quickly, document every change, and trace fixture revisions back to the operator. Power cuts and occasional electrical faults on the site had also caused lost work and rework more than once.
We recommended a Feature Mill 3-Axis vertical machining centre for their main fixture and prototype work. The BT30 tooling and flood coolant option made it practical for steel, aluminium and composites in short runs. Paired with our Feature Lathe Compact, they could turn shafts and bushings for fixture arms in-house, reducing downtime when waiting for outside suppliers.
For smaller marking tasks, a Feature Engraver Pro let them serialise each fixture and add revision tags. We included a Feature Tool Crib for quick access to cutters, inserts and custom soft jaws, and a staged Feature Dust Cell to keep airborne dust under control, especially when working with composite boards.
Within the first month, fixture turnaround times improved: teams could machine plates overnight and fit up soft jaws in the morning, with less reliance on outside machine shops. Lost work due to outages dropped, as the controller and PC were placed on a UPS with a clear shutdown routine, so jobs could be safely paused and restarted after a power cut.
Documentation for each fixture run became easier. Revision codes and operator IDs were marked straight onto the hardware, making audits and quality checks much smoother. The team reported less scrap, more consistent results, and could answer line-side queries quickly with full traceability.
For Gauteng fixture teams, being able to cut, mark, and assemble in-house with flexible, easy-to-program CNCs is a major edge. UPS backup for controllers is essential in areas where power cuts still happen, even if not as often as before.
Keeping tooling visible and dust under control meets both OHS and quality requirements. For any automotive or OEM workshop that faces frequent changeovers, the right mix of CNC machines and basic process upgrades can transform fixture support from a bottleneck to a production asset.
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