Manufacturing Today Europe issue 117 June 2015

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BEST PRACTICES FOR INDUSTRY LEADERS

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EUROPE

117/JUNE

MANUFACTURING

The benefits of

integration Accurate information across the supply chain is essential to enable managers to make timely, balanced, fact-based and traceable decisions

Also in this issue:

A leading role

Emerging trends in the UK manufacturing sector will have an impact on investments, including mergers and acquisitions

A shared view

Big data promises greater levels of speed and efficiency for almost every type of business and in every industry

Editor’s Comment

Chairman Andrew Schofield Group Managing Director Mike Tulloch Business Development Director David Garner Editor Libbie Hammond

Information, Information,

information

Design/Art Editor David Howard Staff Writers Jo Cooper Andrew Dann Ben Clark Production Manager Fleur Daniels Production studio@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Advertising Administrator Tracy Chynoweth studio@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Head of Research Philip Monument Editorial Researchers Laura Thompson Jeff Goldenberg Mark Cowles Tarj D’Silva Emily Claxton Advertising Sales Joe Woolsgrove - Sales Manager Tim Eakins Dave King Darren Jolliffe Gareth Stevens Mark Cawston

T

he need for manufacturers to have access to accurate, timely and reliable information continues to rise. This is in tandem with the ability to gather information from more and more sources across the enterprise. But while they may have all this data gathered and stored, are they able to access what they need, when they need it, interpret it correctly, and gain benefits from it? After all that effort, there needs to be a visible return on investment.

Gaining the most benefit from information is covered in two articles this issue. The feature from Hitachi Consulting on page 6, discusses insight into research they have done, which revealed that ‘information vital to fulfilling … customer needs is not sufficiently linked within the value chain.’ The authors suggest steps on how to achieve more integration in functional planning and the advantages that can be earned.

The article from Wood Group Intetech on page 12 also discusses data – this time the benefits which could arise if manufacturers shared their data – as Dr Liane Smith states: ‘The benefits of an industry-wide database of component reliability extend far beyond energy and manufacturing’.

Manufacturers are definitely in the information age – but now they have to decide how to use it.

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EUROPE

117/JUNE

MANUFACTURING

The benefits Schofield Publishing

Cringleford Business Centre, 10 Intwood Road, Cringleford, Norwich, NR4 6AU, U.K. Tel: 044 (0)1603 274130 Fax: 044 (0)1603 274131 www.manufacturingtoday-europe.com

of

integration Accurate information across the supply chain is essential to enable managers to make timely, balanced, fact-based and traceable decisions

Also in this issue:

A leading role

Emerging trends in the UK manufacturing sector will have an impact on investments, including mergers and acquisitions

A shared view

Big data promises greater levels of speed and efficiency for almost every type of business and in every industry

©2015 Schofield Publishing Ltd Please note: The opinions expressed by contributors and adver tisers within this publication do not necessarily coincide with those of the editor and publisher. Every reasonable effor t is made to ensure that the information published is accurate, but no legal responsibility for loss occasioned by the use of such information can be accepted by the publisher. All rights reserved. The contents of the magazine are strictly copyright, the proper ty of Schofield Publishing, and may not be copied, stored in a retrieval system, or reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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Features 6 The benefits of integration

4 News

12 A shared view

16 Considering compliance

Updates and announcements from the manufacturing arena

The benefits of an industry-wide database of component reliability extend far beyond just manufacturing – they apply equally to any process-intensive industry

Despite the implementation of the DDA regulations, there is a still a lack of awareness from business owners as to if their business falls within its scope

6 The benefits of integration Information vital to fulfilling customer needs is often not sufficiently linked to the value chain, and sometimes not available at all. Integrated planning deployment offers a range of key success factors

10 A leading role

14 Fine tolerance KMP, a French sub-contracting company, has invested in machine tools from Haas, and found them to be extremely reliable and robust

Paul Jones discusses the rise of technology within manufacturing, and the impact that this may have on mergers and acquisitions in the sector

16 Considering compliance 10 A leading role

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CONTENTS

Profiles

19 Brafe Engineering 22 Drallim

19 Brafe Engineering

25 norelem UK

42 WaldrichSiegen Werkzeugmaschinen 45 JDR Cable Systems 51 MรถllerTech UK Ltd 55 Dams International 57 Diamond Box 60 R. Stahl Ltd 63 Baxi 66 Farrel Limited 68 Polar Manufacturing Ltd

31 Special Metals Wiggin 36 Rotpunkt Kuechen

27 SPTS Technologies Ltd. 31 Special Metals Wiggin 36 Rotpunkt Kuechen 39 ESBE

68 Polar Manufacturing 42 WaldrichSiegen Werkzeugmaschinen

70 Ferrum 72 Plextek Consulting 74 Tronrud Engineering

74 Tronrud Engineering www.manufacturingtoday-europe.com 3

If I could turn back time

Enhanced options in CRM

Victor Christou, CIC and Greg Law, Undo

Undo Software, producers of debugging tools that could save the industry $81.1bn a year by ‘turning back time’ to find the origins of software problems, has announced it has raised $2m in funding from Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), Cambridge Angels, Jaan Tallinn (co-founder of Skype) and Sir Peter Michael (founder of Classic FM), to accelerate its growth.

This is the first time CIC has invested alongside Cambridge Angels and Victor Christou, senior investment director of CIC, says that this model will help to address the ‘funding gap’ experienced by many early stage, potentially high growth companies.

Undo Software was founded by programmers Greg Law and Julian Smith out of frustration with the lack of a good debugging tool for Linux, the most widely used computer operating system for enterprise.

Almost 50 per cent of a developer’s time is spent fixing bugs and this is particularly problematic if the issues occur after the software is released and operational on a customer site.

Undo’s core technology is a ‘black box’ that allows an application to record itself as it runs, and then save a copy of that recording. If the programme crashes the recording can be sent back to the software developer and then replayed to see how and when the problem occurred without the need to recreate it.

The full set Autodesk has unveiled its 2016 Design Suites and applications for manufacturing industry professionals. These solutions – including breakthrough multi-CAD, 3D printing, computer aided manufacturing (CAM) and simulation capabilities - deliver affordable access to the complete Autodesk portfolio, which includes Autodesk Product Design Suite, Autodesk Factory Design Suite, Autodesk Inventor HSM and a comprehensive Simulation software portfolio.

“Products aren’t simply products anymore.

Customers expect them to be smart, to have connected services and even to improve over time,” said Robert ‘Buzz’ Kross, senior vice president, Design, Lifecycle and Simulation at Autodesk. “That’s why we have upped the ante with the 2016 Suites by providing a full set of software solutions that will allow our customers to compete and thrive in the disruptive manufacturing industry landscape.”

Manufacturers seeking to design better products, reduce development costs, and get to market faster can access Autodesk’s 2016 Design Suites in cost-effective editions including Standard (Factory Design Suite only), Premium and Ultimate (Factory Design Suite and Product Design Suite).

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Aptean has launched Pivotal 6.5, the latest version of its enterpriseclass CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solution designed to address a wide range of business challenges across all areas of CRM, including sales automation, marketing management and customer service delivery. Pivotal 6.5 features a completely redesigned sales automation user experience that enables secure, mobile access from any laptop, desktop or tablet.

“Aptean believes that CRM solutions struggle when they try to be ‘all things to all people.’ With that in mind, we’ve rethought the traditional look and feel of CRM to meet the needs of today’s hyper-connected, mobile sales users,” said Matt Keenan, vice president, CRM Product Group, Aptean. “Pivotal 6.5 delivers real solutions - specialised sales capabilities, including customer, contact and opportunity management - and real results that will provide the productivity and efficiency that salespeople require both in the field and in the office.”

The newest version of Pivotal features new UX capabilities based on specific input from the customer base, including: Enhanced options for the mobile sales user such as creating emails, appointments and tasks as well as having access to their calendar while in the field, and an Action Centre that allows users to create their own dashboard by adding graphs or searches.

Robotics alliance A partnership between Capgemini and NICE Systems has been formed, to deliver a Robotics Automation Hub, designed to help organisations identify, evaluate and automate processes that involve time-consuming and repetitive manual tasks. The hub services are available on the Digital Marketplace G-Cloud 6 as a Specialist Cloud Service. The service will be most beneficial to private sector organisations and government departments with high volume administrative tasks that require agent handling, such as manually entering data into back office applications. It will also offer businesses better scalability to manage fluctuating demand while maintaining consistency and high data quality.

Adele Every, SME and Innovation Lead, Capgemini said: “Developing the Robotics Automation Hub using NICE’s innovative technology means we can help organisations not just do the same with less, but do more with the same. Robotic software … offers a huge opportunity for humans to spend less time completing mundane tasks and more time doing things, which use our creativity, imagination, and human intelligence. This will ultimately improve the quality of people’s roles and add real value to the business.”

Benny Einhorn, President of NICE EMEA, added: “By implementing this solution, organisations can move closer to creating the perfect customer experience across channels and touch points, reducing customer effort, and boosting satisfaction. With this alliance, companies will benefit from our innovative robotics technology as well as the expertise from Capgemini to manage and continually improve these processes effectively.”

MANUFACTURING NEWS

New ERP investment Midtherm Flue Systems, which is the only British-owned major producer of flue systems, has invested in SYSPRO 7, complete with K3 Syspro’s own Equator HR application, shopfloor data collection, barcode scanning, and the SYSPRO Espresso mobile solution.

SYSPRO 7 will replace an ageing accounting system and will eventually be rolled out across the entire familyowned Midtherm group.

Richard Andrews, director at Midtherm Flue Systems, noted: “A key criteria during the selection process was reporting functionality, and SYSPRO provides this in abundance. By gaining greater visibility of information throughout the business, we can analyse spending trends, exercise greater stock and inventory control, and ensure that we are always in a position to respond quickly and efficiently to our customers, across the Midtherm group.”

He added: “It is not uncommon to purchase software and then find that the business you have bought from has been acquired by a major investor and all of a sudden, you are dealing with completely different people. K3 Syspro has a 30-year track record, so we are confident that we can build a long-term relationship with their people, which isn’t likely to change or be disrupted. The communication we have with them has been excellent and we are confident that we have selected the right long term partner to aid our future business growth.”

All-round expertise At the beginning of May 2015, GKD (Gebr. Kufferath AG) demonstrated its leading position with innovative mesh constructions at TECHTEXTIL, the leading international trade fair for technical textiles and nonwovens.

The focus on its stand was the company’s latest range of new material combinations, weaves and mesh finishes. These include innovative coatings, hybrid weaves and multidimensional mesh constructions.

In comparison to conventional meshes these latter products offer a range of benefits, such as extremely high volume porosity and distinctive depth effects. With permeability increased by up to 50 per cent, pressure drop is reduced by up to 60 per cent and particle retention is substantially increased. This is primarily due to the non-symmetrical pore size distribution of the mesh, which filters out different particle sizes and therefore dramatically improves overall filtration efficiency.

The extremely good three-dimensional formability of this mesh construction expands its capacity for draping around underlying structures far beyond the normally very limited drapability of flat meshes, thus offering significantly more possibilities where the filter media need to be fitted over existing substructures.

At TECHTEXTIL, in addition to prototypes of new meshes and coatings, GKD-SolidWEAVE also presented ODW mesh samples as well as filter discs and cartridges for the polymer melt sector.

Defying perceptions Regional cities across the UK are bucking the trend when it comes to international trade as revealed in research released by FedEx Express. According to the new UK Export Epicentres Report, the majority of small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) across the country are doing business overseas, with Bradford leading the way with an 86 per cent export rate. In cities including Leicester, Oxford and Leeds, over three quarters of SMEs are exceeding expectations by trading at higher levels than Britain’s larger cities of Manchester and London.

Bradford

Exporting confidence within the capital has spread throughout the UK’s cities, with lesser known export epicentres now emerging to lead the race for international clients and custom. Bolstered by the powerful influence of ‘Brand Britain’, a large majority (79 per cent) of SMEs view their regional locality as a positive factor in stimulating overseas growth and profitability. However, more than a third of those surveyed highlighted they require more support on a local level to achieve international expansion.

The report showed there is no shortage in positive thinking about the UK’s exporting future. Ninety-four per cent of SMEs feel optimistic about the year ahead; with eight in ten believing their export sales will increase again over the same time period. With average annual export sales topping £1.9m in Portsmouth alone, strong growth is set to continue throughout the rest of 2015 and beyond.

“Now is the time to encourage UK SMEs to embrace their regional identities when building global relationships,” says Trevor Hoyle, vice president, Northern Europe Operations, FedEx Express. “This research has unveiled some fascinating insights into how regional self-perception and business optimism can be linked. Our Great British history is rich and full of industrial heritage, the promotion of which can go a long way in driving UK exports forward. Although challenges still remain for some companies in doing business abroad, they can be overcome by having access to the right support, expertise and network.”

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www.manufacturingtoday-europe.com 5

The benefits of

integration Roswitha Tertea, Martin Laub, Sven Klostereit and Martin Bunk offer advice on the need to attack the ‘just-in-case buffer’ phenomenon

As organisations have become global, an increasing number of leaders are frustrated with the long response time of their supply chain when market conditions change. Costsavings originally achieved by introducing long-distance sourcing strategies, offshoring, outsourcing, multi-national distribution networks or cheaper delivery channels, have now partly translated into additional costs, due to express delivery of raw materials, stock-outs or overnight services for customers. Companies have to respond faster to rapidly changing and more sophisticated customer demands and demonstrate flexibility and agility within volatile markets.

Yet what we usually find, is that information vital to fulfilling these customer needs is not sufficiently linked within the value chain, and in many cases not available at all. Instead of having truly integrated planning activities across the organisation, we often observe a phenomenon we call ‘just-in-case buffers.’

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D

ecision makers at any level of the organisation usually lack the full information required to make timely, balanced, fact-based and traceable decisions in their respective roles.

To avoid jeopardising sales numbers or customer orders, planning parameters get inflated, leading to the rise of ‘just-in-case buffers’ across various operational functions of an organisation. They are called ‘just-in-case’ because poor data quality, complexity, and uncertainty make people build safety measures into their daily work in order to cover all scenarios.

These buffers become visible in various dimensions, most notably in four areas: 1 Inventories: Non-prioritised buffers of raw material, work in progress (WIP) or finished goods.

2 Lead time: Unreliable lead times from suppliers due to frequent changes of requests; manufacturing throughput times impacted by changing priorities; distribution lead times impacted by global networks.

3 People: Resource buffers in all functions, since staffing decisions are based on peak demands, and the desire to cover all ‘what-if ’ scenarios.

4 Equipment: Equipment capacity is over-dimensioned for maximum volumes or supposedly ‘moving bottlenecks’, which in reality are not solved but circumvented.

These symptoms of ‘just-in-case buffers’ can often be traced back to the various planning levels of an organisation that are poorly integrated. We differentiate four levels of integrated planning, which normally show causally related deficiencies: ■ Corporate planning: We often see a disconnect between financial budgeting and planning and the SI&OP (Sales, Inventory & Operations Planning) process.

Integrated planning from company to company, but we have identified three major reasons and the specific approaches to overcome them.

Reason for failure 1 Conflicting targets: Targets are often contradicting, or roles and responsibilities for target achievement are not clear. Classic examples of conflicting supply chain targets are: 1.

2.

3.

Inventory vs cost Asset utilisation vs demand driven flows Low cost country sourcing/ manufacturing vs flexible supply

When a production manager is measured by production output, a supply chain manager by inventory levels and customer service and factory managers by cost savings, there is an obvious mismatch in targets. The same holds true when efficiency of non-bottleneck equipment is measured (and improved) which is counterintuitive to a lean production flow.

Targets can also be conflicting when, for instance, the purchasing department is measured by the rate of long-distance (supposedly ‘low-cost country’) sourcing, and manufacturing is measured by production volume flexibility.

■ SI&OP: Commonly, the outcome of the SI&OP process is not one consensus plan but one forecast that competes with other forecasts or plans in the organisation.

■ Operations planning: Usually operations planning is out of line with an agreed consensus plan and/or not done with a standard processor within a common system.

■ Production planning / shop floor execution: System-generated plans are often not trusted.

Individual plans (usually created in silos) are then made even when pull systems would not require a plan at all.

These deficiencies can be addressed individually, often only leading to marginal results. However, the highest impact will be achieved with a holistic approach, addressing all dimensions and their interdependencies by building and deploying an integrated planning system.

Root causes for integrated planning failure vary

Solution: Cross functional shared targets: Integrated planning needs to aim at balanced decision making. If long-distance sourcing is required for cost reasons it should be aligned with manufacturing flexibility targets and by establishing supplier consignment stocks.

To evaluate the trade-offs between short lead times and additional cost for this, a total cost of ownership (TCO) model covering all aspects of the transaction (e.g. purchase price, internal cost of capital and inventory holding cost rate) needs to be used to balance targets.

We also strongly encourage establishing crossfunctional, shared targets for those teams that need to collaborate to achieve the desired results.

If they can jointly influence a KPI they should have the same targets and their bonuses should also be tied to them.

You typically get what you measure and reward.

So you have to make sure those KPIs and targets are unambiguous, aligned, and broken down to the people who can actually influence them.

Reason for failure 2 Opacity & lack of correct data: Complex supply chain networks cannnot be controlled any longer by applying historically grown control mechanisms. Decision makers in organisational entities often use the resulting opacity to cover problems originally caused by several reasons, such as uncontrolled IT systems,

wrong data and reports and unclear roles and responsibilities.

As information gets extended or consolidated within hierarchy levels, decision makers lose even more sight of what the actual facts are. The consequences and implications of decisions across a global supply chain are no longer obvious.

Typical situations are data overflow or information disconnect. In many cases, either information arrives ‘filtered’ to decision makers, or automated planning systems manipulate relevant information upfront. Sales projections change quarterly and are not covered within supply planning.

Type-mix-changes left unconsidered harm efficient capacity planning, and phase-in/ phase-out approaches are not considered in the volume mix.

Solutions: ■ Strengthen the position of decision makers: Integrated planning needs to be an instrument to deliver a basis for decisions at every involved organisational level, at any time and at any stage. Ideally, integrated planning triggers reaction and pulls for transparency to support the right decision taken from a flood of information that includes sales and financial planning as well as operational execution regarding performance decisions.

■ Empowering decision makers requires some major clarifications. What is the right level of required detail to build the base for a decision?

Can a fact-based KPI be clearly allocated to the decision made? Was the decision-making process owned by a cross-functional team across planning units? Has the decision process (base) covered presence, diversity and cause and effect? And finally, does a feedback loop inform the decision maker about the outcome?

Integrated planning as such is much more than just providing plans; it is the great art of providing transparency to build a trustful base for decision makers.

Reason for failure 3 Complexity of processes and organisational structure: Overcomplicated and disconnected processes and organisational structures have often grown historically, as a response to new external requirements. Thus, additional layers were built into the organisation, multiple interfaces were created, and processes ended up meandering through various departments with little clarity on end-to-end accountability.

A heterogeneous IT-landscape that evolved through the years often leads to data fragmentation, inconsistent information, delays in KPI generation and difficulties in making fact-based decisions, causing mistrust among departments.

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Integrated planning

Client Success Story Effective integrated planning has had substantial business impact at a recent project Hitachi Consulting team conducted for a global automotive supplier, achieving: ■ More than €15 million operative cost savings ■ Inventory vs. shipments reduced by 10% - 20% ■ Service level (availability and OTIF) optimized by 10% - 60% ■ End-to-end lead times reduced by up to 30% ■ Optimised procurement and production planning (resulting in OTIF improvements above) ■ Improved production plan stability and plan attainment (resulting in OTIF improvements above)

Planning processes are often designed by people who are working in other departments - like corporate - and don’t take best practices and pitfalls known to the people ‘in the trenches’ of daily planning into consideration. Quite often, new functions or even whole departments are introduced as a response to new requirements or to act as an interface between departments that do not seem able to cope with the complexity.

As a result, we see the emergence of supply chain planners from the global to the factory level, including maintenance planners and schedulers.

These functions usually emerge from a need to co-ordinate activities but fail in doing so since they add complexity to the information flow and process.

Solutions: ■ Common fit of systems, rules and structure for purpose: At a basic level, companies should re-focus on core processes, simplify and harmonise the IT landscape and streamline the organisational structure. Ensuring end to-end accountability for processes, clear responsibility for KPIs and well-defined targets enables people at all levels to make real-time, fact-based decisions.

■ Seamless information flow: Since integrated planning can be seen as the nervous system of the company, it is important to have an IT landscape that ensures seamless information flow based on reliable data and unequivocal definition of KPIs, thus building transparency, enhancing decision-making, and reflecting operational reality.

“For the past five years we had been improving functional planning (in Production, Purchasing, etc.) with some positive impact, yet only aligning these planning activities under the umbrella of integrated planning brought the significant impact we were looking for, as well as the transparency required for quick decisions.”

- VP Supply Chain Management, Major Automotive Supplier

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Simplicity and accessibility are key to gaining acceptance among various end-users. Strive for one master plan, which can be broken down into relevant plans for the individual functions.

■ Simple rules: Develop and establish simple rules and guiding principles that have to be followed by all.

This will empower people at all levels to make decisions fast. For instance, in a lean environment, rules that have proven to provide guidance are ‘Input = Output’; ‘When a production batch starts, it never stops in the process’; or ‘No overtaking of products allowed’.

Ensure that the rules are accepted and connect them to performance indicators and incentives.

■ Clear structure / responsibilities: Remove functions, departments, or layers that have only an interface function or where the value add cannot be clearly determined. Assign clear responsibilities and owners to the different plans, forecasts, and for execution. Establish cross-functional meetings to ensure clarity of tasks and constraints across the value chain.

Conclusion If senior executives are wondering why numerous improvement projects aimed at better service, lower inventories or better capacity and resource flexibility have only marginal or even no results, we highly recommend close investigation of integrated planning.

Investigate the symptoms deriving from ‘justin-case’ buffers and understand the relationship and dependencies of them. Put effort into improvement initiatives steered around building transparency and data reliability while breaking down the walls of conflicting targets to reduce complexity in structure, systems and procedures.

Key Success Factors for Integrated Planning Deployment ■ Shared x-functional targets (e.g. lead time, cost, service, inventory) ■ Balanced decision making to enable strategy deployment ■ Foundation in place and dependencies considered ■ Effective performance management (closed loop mgt. system) ■ Full network view and optimisation ■ Act early on resistance and fears (e.g. loss of power, lower bonus)

Roswitha Tertea is vice president, Martin Laub is senior manager, Sven Klostereit is manager and Martin Bunk is senior manager at Hitachi Consulting.

Hitachi Consulting is the global management consulting and IT services business of Hitachi Ltd., a global technology leader and a catalyst of sustainable societal change.

Hitachi Consulting is a catalyst of positive business change, propelling companies ahead by enabling superior operational performance. www.hitachiconsulting.com

www.modernutilitymanagement.com 9

A leading

role Paul Jones discusses the rise of technology within manufacturing, and the impact that this may have on M&A in the sector

U

K manufacturing is back in vogue.

The politicians are talking about the jobs it is generating and the wealth being created through export. The tax man is handing out tax breaks for investing and credits for apprentices. Above all there is the very real and rapid advancement in UK manufacturing technology, know-how and connectivity that will finally put an end to the perennial arguments around the UK’s lack of productivity and competiveness.

There will be some that argue there is nothing new here, the UK automotive industry is, after all, a world leader in production automation and efficiency. Increasingly, however, more sectors are re-engineering their production processes and adopting complex communication and automation techniques to meet the demands of global trends of mass customisation and localisation, both leading to increased speed at which products go from design to manufacture. This amalgamation of the ‘cyber’ and the ‘physical’ within manufacturing,

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dubbed ‘Industry 4.0’ or the Industrial Internet of Things, is driven by intelligent factories looking at integrating the needs of customers and businesses to create the ideal climate for growth and efficiency.

After many years of relative neglect this new industrial revolution represents a real opportunity for the UK. With the expertise that the country has in technology and process engineering we are ideally placed to take advantage of this trend. The UK has some of the best factories in the world, manufacturing the highest quality of products, and heavy investment in automation could give them the productivity levels that are missing to compete on a global scale.

However, it is not just Britain that is looking at this possibility. The political consensus that has emerged on the subject in this country is being repeated across the world. More and more countries have realised that they want to start manufacturing more at home, and are reviewing how to make investment more attractive.

Germany has been particularly effective so far, and we are increasingly seeing other countries look to replicate the model, particularly in terms of industrial policy.

This opinion is echoed by Jurgen Maier, UK chief executive of Siemens. In an interview for Clearwater International’s latest ‘Rainmaker’ report, he made the point that having copied the German model, the UK now has an opportunity to grasp global leadership in the high-tech future of manufacturing. In his words, this is thanks largely to the fact that British firms now have access to brand new technology centres and the latest know how.

In the interview, Maier made a further trend prediction for the industry. He believes that the move towards localisation, combined with the drive towards mass customisation, will lead to further on-shoring. The crux of his argument is that whereas 20 years ago, factories were the method of choice to ensure scale and standardisation, this is no longer possible for every industry. As a result, factories need to be

M&A As products evolve throughout their lifetime, different software and data will be required to manage them effectively, especially as manufacturing becomes increasingly linked to the advancing technology

more flexible to respond to customer needs, meaning that having ten smaller factories closer to the consumer is preferable to one large factory in China.

These emerging trends will also have an impact on M&A and in this respect the sector is already performing strongly. 2014 was an excellent year for M&A in the global manufacturing industry, with deal values surpassing €119bn – an increase of over 163 per cent on the previous year. Both deal value and volume spiked dramatically in the final quarter of the year, indicating that the upward trajectory is by no means over.

With the current economic outlook strong, and businesses no longer focusing on cost-cutting programmes, we expect to see an increase in the number of manufacturers looking to invest in technology, or even making acquisitions to extend their offering.

Recent reports show that over nine in ten UK manufacturing and industrial companies describe themselves as acquisitive; M&A in

the manufacturing sector is looking extremely positive for the remainder of 2015.

One area that looks particularly attractive at present is the industrial software and automation industry, sectors that are driving efficiency across manufacturing generally. These products and software developments that are capturing and controlling vast amounts of production data and creating efficient processes and real time communication from the factory floor to the Boardroom are in high demand. Sales of robots that are increasingly building more of the world’s output are on the rise. Engineering capacity is stretched, large players are already struggling to find, train or retain sufficiently experienced engineers and we expect a land grab in due course to avoid business plans being de-railed.

As products evolve throughout their lifetime, different software and data will be required to manage them effectively, especially as manufacturing becomes increasingly linked to the advancing technology, we expect an

increasing amount of the production supply chain to provide managed or rented services as opposed to the simple sale of technology.

Companies that can re-engineer their production and after sales to accommodate these changes and offer flexibility to ensure that a product is appropriately managed throughout its life cycle will become increasingly attractive to investors, particularly as manufacturers continue to look for technology partners.

Technology will continue to have a significant impact on the manufacturing sector, both in terms of the way that firms create and maintain their products, and when looking at investment in the industry. The UK is seemingly ideally placed, with its expertise in both of these sectors being recognised around the world, and we expect the country to take a leading role in the revolution of manufacturing in the coming years.

Paul Jones Paul Jones is Industrials & Chemicals partner at Clearwater International. Clearwater International focuses on providing corporate finance advice for mid-market transactions including M&A, private equity, debt advisory and restructuring services. The business has completed over 700 transactions worth an aggregate value of €14bn. www.clearwaterinternational.com

www.manufacturingtoday-europe.com 11

A shared

view

A growing number of manufacturing firms are gathering valuable business intelligence from mining the vast volumes of data generated by their production processes. If such data was shared securely industrywide, the benefits could be much greater, says Dr Liane Smith

M

cKinsey & Co (2011) defines big data as ‘datasets whose size is beyond the ability of typical database software tools to capture, store, manage, and analyse.’ Big data promises greater levels of speed and efficiency for almost every type of business and in every industry.

There would be great benefit to the transport industry for example, if the different ‘data stacks’ across rail, aviation and roads were pooled to create a shared view. Transport for London (TfL) has committed to syndicating open data to third parties and to engaging developers to innovate using its open data. More than 200 travel apps are helping millions of customers make optimal use of the transport network. The economic value of time saved has been estimated at up to

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£58m per year, according to the International Association of Public Transport.

Meanwhile, the Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM) initiative developed by Eurocontrol, enables airlines, ground handlers, air traffic control and airport staff to share the latest and most accurate information about the status of flights for better-informed decision-making.

A-CDM has been fully implemented at 15 European airports handling the equivalent of 480 million passengers a year. According to Airports Council International, this is delivering tangible benefits – including lowering their airline partners’ operating cost base by over £44m annually.

Hearts and minds TfL’s open data and A-CDM are just two

examples of the types of initiatives discussed recently at the ‘Connected Data’ workshops held by the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE).

Further workshops in 2015 have focused on other sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, energy and the built environment. Although data models and systems could be managed and maintained as assets, the RAE believes that a change in ‘hearts and minds’ is necessary to capitalise on the opportunities that improved connectivity provides.

One of the barriers to realising the benefits of shared data is that individual organisations perceive value in the proprietary data they hold.

Any firm that has invested time and money in recording a large dataset is more likely to make it available if they have confidence in the quality, security and anonymity of the shared dataset

Big data

Sharing data on the use and incidence of failures on specific parts could be a key way to achieve improvements across the industry and prevent sub-standard components finding their way into products across the globe from many diverse sources presents technical challenges, while queries can take too long to return an answer unless the right technology is in place.

Component reliability data applications

Nevertheless, connecting data presents a significant opportunity. Cisco Consulting Services values this opportunity, what it calls the ‘Internet of Everything’ (IoE), at $19tn over the next decade. This is based on two studies conducted during 2013-14 that identified $4.6tn in potential bottom-line value for the public sector, and $14.4tn for the private sector.

The high-tech, telecom, and financial services industries ranked highest in potential IoE value in Cisco’s private sector study, while the retail, energy, and manufacturing sectors ranked lowest, but were found to have the highest potential upside for growth.

Certainly, firms must be prepared to find smarter ways of managing and extracting value from the data they collect. The sheer volume of data, and the speed at which it is collected

Manufacturing companies capture vast volumes of data on a daily basis in order to monitor the quality and reliability of manufactured components. Accurate and precise information is essential to demonstrate a certain level of reliability of a vendor’s products, as performance in the market can vary significantly from controlled, pre-despatch testing. This informs business-critical decisions such as the warranties offered for certain products, the sampling frequency for quality control checks and the scale of manufacturers’ in-house repair capabilities.

Accurate reliability data could also allow manufacturers to identify the social and environmental factors that affect higher returns of products. However, these are hard to detect in isolation and therefore a large and appropriately structured dataset is required to identify trends.

Getting accurate reliability figures for components and sub-components requires access to a statistically significant database. Although most manufacturers collate component reliability information from their own operations, having access to industry-wide data would mean they could identify the best performing components, and benchmark the performance of components within their own organisation against industry averages. They could also extract reliability and availability metrics to support a range of costsaving decisions based on facts.

While the industry recognises this need, a key challenge has been the reticence of manufacturers to share their data externally.

Manufacturers may simply constrain the data to their own dataset in order to track the reliability of products with specific sub-components sourced from different suppliers. For example, a bolt manufacturer may detect issues with bar stock sourced from different suppliers based on feedback of failures from customers.

This information would be highly valuable in pinpointing the root cause of failure, and the speed and validation of the root cause analysis may be greatly enhanced by sharing the data across other industry sources.

Sharing data on the use and incidence of failures on specific parts could be a key way to

achieve improvements across the industry and prevent sub-standard components finding their way into products across the globe.

Realising industry value In response to industry demand, Wood Group Intetech has launched a global database of component performance data. This online experience database utilises a reliability analysis tool, iQRA, and is already in use in the oil and gas industry where it is providing operators with access to global well and oilfield component performance information.

However, the benefits are equally applicable to manufacturing, where insight into component performance could result in a more reliable component selection. Suppliers too, could improve component performance by highlighting areas for existing product modification, or developing new ones.

Wood Group Intetech has developed iQRA to ensure that data sources are kept strictly confidential. Sensitive data is anonymised and access to system functions is protected, using password strength gates and a robust set of user roles and privileges.

The benefits of an industry-wide database of component reliability extend far beyond energy and manufacturing – they apply equally to any process-intensive industry, and where cost pressures and increasing regulatory requirements demand informed decision-making based upon a risk evaluation approach.

Dr Liane Smith Dr Liane Smith works at Wood Group Intetech.

Wood Group is an international energy services company with over $7bn sales and operating in more than 50 countries. The Group is built on Core Values and has three businesses – Wood Group PSN, Wood Group Kenny and Wood Group Mustang – providing a range of engineering, production support and maintenance management services to the oil & gas, and power generation industries worldwide. For further information visit: www.intetech.com.

www.manufacturingtoday-europe.com 13

Fine

tolerance One French company has found that Haas machine tools put in an outstanding performance

M

achine shops that need a cost-effective solution for cutting tough, difficult-tomachine materials around the clock should look no further than the recently launched Haas UMC-750 universal machining centre. Testifying to the machine’s ruggedness and dependability is French company KMP, where an automated UMC-750 runs night and day machining complex aerospace components in titanium for Airbus.

In southwest France, one very-well-known company dominates the industrial landscape: The Airbus Group. Along with an extensive supply chain in the Toulouse area, this European giant is single-handedly responsible for a good deal of the region’s economy. In fact, in 2011, when word got out that Airbus was planning a major manufacturing programme, husband and wife entrepreneurs Sébastien and Sonia Korczak decided to establish their own subcontract machining facility, KMP, with the intention of servicing the large number of tier-2 and tier-3 aerospace companies in the area.

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“Before we opted for Haas, we were told by other machine tool suppliers that they weren’t up to the job of cutting hard materials,” says Sébastien Korczak. “In fact, it turns out they didn’t want us to know that Haas machines can be pushed day and night cutting tough materials, and will not let you down. What’s more, they’re so easy to use that one of my operators learnt the control in just a day; even my 11-year-old son can run the machines!”

With no established contacts in the aerospace supply sector, KMP’s first six months were far from plain sailing. But, knocking on the doors of large aerospace supply chain companies eventually led to a hand full of orders, which the company machined using a pre-owned Haas VF-2 vertical machining centre with a Haas TR160 two-axis (rotating/tilting) trunnion table.

“Haas has a big brand presence in the market in Europe, and because we’d had a very good experience with our used VF-2, we felt compelled to find out more about their machines,” says Mr. Korczak. “Other machine tool suppliers said Haas machines were only good for

aluminium and plastics, but to me, their derisory comments hinted that there was a hidden truth they didn’t want us to know about. At the start, we wanted a five-axis machine to differentiate ourselves from three main competitors we had identified in the market. But, we needed to find a good machine at a good price, and we couldn’t afford to buy a new one. The pre-owned Haas VF-2 proved to be the ideal solution. It has a very big programme storage capacity, which allows us to use sophisticated machining strategies.”

Such was KMP’s initial success that within six months, the company had swapped the VF-2 for a Haas VM-2 vertical machining centre complete with a more powerful spindle, followed shortly after by a Haas DT-1 drill/tap centre. However, the most recent purchases at KMP are two Haas UMC-750 five-axis machining centres, one of which is robot-loaded and typically runs all night.

KMP was, in fact, the first company in France to install a UMC-750.

“We shopped around, but with a weight of eight tons the UMC-750 appeared to us to

Case study have the mass we were going to need to cut tough materials,” states Mr. Korczak. “We had the opportunity to see the UMC-750 without the cover and were reassured by the sturdy, rigid machine frame. Also, we have great confidence in the Haas control. In fact, the UMC-750 is supplied as standard with some essential macros for five-axis machining, specifically for the dynamic repositioning of parts.”

According to Mr. Korczak, the machine’s precision is another differentiating feature that has helped overcome many component issues at KMP. For instance, one particular part required holes drilled to a tolerance of ±3µm. The holes were generated using helical interpolation on the UMC-750, and the customer approved the part when they were delivered as ‘right first time.’

Around 80 per cent of components at KMP are produced from titanium – a notoriously tough and difficult-to-machine alloy – mostly for the aerospace industry, but also for motorsport.

Many of the components are highly complex, featuring freeform surfaces, inclined faces, angled through-holes and irregularly shaped bosses.

Sometimes 80 to 90 per cent of the original billet is machined away. Titanium has proved to be no problem for the Haas machines. Indeed, thanks to automation, one of the UMC-750 machines runs around the clock cutting titanium workpieces.

The Eco-Tower 60 from Lang Technik offers a simple and advantageous introduction to automation, typically for batch sizes up to 60 off.

An operator at KMP loads the tower with billets, presses the button, and walks away, returning to find a completed batch of precision parts.

“Communication with the UMC-750 is very straightforward and was facilitated by a Haas technician in no time,” says Mr. Korczak.

KMP aims to continue growing by finding customers who need precise parts made in tough materials and larger volumes. But the company is in competition with local companies, as well as rivals operating in lower-cost economies, such as Romania and Tunisia.

“We have to be well organised and structured, with an attractive hourly rate, in order to compete,” concludes Mr. Korczak.

“Which means the price and running costs of Haas machines are a huge advantage, and we can build on that.

“We now feel confident enough to hire more employees and buy more Haas machine tools, especially universal machines. I’m very glad we didn’t listen to the stories we were told by other machine tool companies. We wouldn’t be where we are today. It’s always worth finding out for yourself.” www.haascnc.com

Around 80 per cent of components at KMP are produced from titanium, many are highly complex, featuring freeform surfaces, inclined faces, angled through-holes and irregularly shaped bosses

French company KMP runs its automated UMC750 night and day machining complex aerospace components in titanium for Airbus

Sébastien and Sonia Korczak established KMP, a subcontract machining facility in Toulouse, with the intention of servicing the large number of tier-2 and tier-3 aerospace companies in the area

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Considering compliance Mick van der Stock explores the issue of the DDA and the need for workplaces to be accessible to those with disabilities

W

Ensuring your building is equipped with adequate mobility solutions is not only vital in ensuring staff enjoy safe passage throughout your premises, but will also ensure you abide to DDA regulations, meaning you’re keeping what could be a potentially hefty fine at bay

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hile accounting for the access needs of people with disabilities is not a new requirement for businesses and organisations, more recently, it is an issue that has gained significant momentum since the full implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

Despite the implementation of the DDA regulations, it seems that there is still a lack of awareness from business owners as to which types of organisation fall within its scope. Equally, it’s important to know exactly what measures are needed to ensure full legal compliance. At the same time, for facilities managers and other premises operators, the DDA regulations have thrown into sharper focus the broader social responsibility to provide both easy and equal access to a product or service, including both access into and within the building.

Bearing this in mind, it’s worth questioning what obligations the regulations place on your business and how you can ensure that you’re

doing everything in your power to remain compliant. Penalties for failing to meet the guidelines can range from heavy compensation claims to complete closure of a business, meaning companies can ill-afford to ignore them.

1. Initial access It’s the first hurdle you’ll need to clear, as it’s the entrance to your workplace. Take a look at your building – stairs and other obstacles may require a platform lift to aid wheelchair or other disabled access. For the most part, it’s worth imparting an element of common sense – what obvious obstacles are there preventing someone with limited mobility from accessing your premises? If there are entry routes that could prove tricky to navigate, then provide alternate access. Also, for staff arriving on the premises, you’ll be required to provide accessible parking to those with limited physical mobility.

2. Internal access Once exterior challenges are addressed, interior

Industrial mobility

changes in level, i.e. a workplace on an elevated floor, may restrict access to services. This means you’ll be required to install a mechanical device to solve the issue and remain compliant, this could include anything, dependent on the circumstances from a fully installed lift, to a stair lift, or through floor lift.

3. Signposting Whilst the main issue with internal access is installing the correct mechanical systems, it’s also crucial to ensure adequate information is provided to staff. Details regarding lift location must be both written and tactile, not only for the awareness of physically disabled staff, but also for the needs of the visually impaired.

4. Stopping accuracy Accuracy is vital when it comes to mobility access, as just a few inches can make an entire area of a building inaccessible. With mechanical devices, and in particular, lifts, the car must stop within very tight limits of the floor level to be considered DDA compliant and enable staff to enjoy practical access.

5. Call buttons In order to meet the new regulatory requirements, lift buttons must be within certain specified heights on both the ground floor and landing areas in order to make them accessible for wheelchair users. Likewise, the buttons should be tactile, illuminated and emit an audible noise to confirm call acceptance.

The call panel, call buttons and car walls should all have contrasting colours, to aid those with visual impairment.

With around ten million disabled people in England, accounting for roughly 20 per cent of the population, it’s vital businesses cater to the needs of staff with disabilities. Ensuring your building is equipped with adequate mobility solutions is not only vital in ensuring staff enjoy safe passage throughout your premises, but will also ensure you abide to DDA regulations, meaning you’re keeping what could be a potentially hefty fine at bay.

Mick van der Stock Mick van der Stock is mobility manager at UK mobility and maintenance specialist, Pickerings. For more information on Pickerings Lifts Mobility, Maintenance and Repair, please visit www.pickeringslifts.co.uk, contact 0113 252 2678 or alternatively email mobility@pickeringslifts.co.uk.

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Focus on: Brafe Engineering Drallim norelem UK SPTS Technologies Ltd. Special Metals Wiggin Rotpunkt Kuechen ESBE WaldrichSiegen Werkzeugmaschinen JDR Cable Systems MรถllerTech UK Ltd Dams International Diamond Box R. Stahl Ltd Baxi Farrel Limited Polar Manufacturing Ltd Ferrum Plextek Consulting Tronrud Engineering

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Brafe Engineering

Casting

call

O Established in 1966 Brafe Engineering is a leading UK manufacturer of high-specification, specialist alloy castings for valves and pumps

Brafe Engineering Products: Alloy castings for pumps and valves Sites: UK Employees: 117 www.brafe-engineering.co.uk

ffering full traceability and quality assurance the business has seen growth across all of its markets adding more than £500,000 to its turnover in the last 12 months.

Based in East Anglia, UK, the business provides components for end use in power generation, chemical refining, nuclear and petrochemical markets and many more industrial processes.That level of adaptability has allowed Brafe Engineering to meet the rapid changes that its customers face and further assist with future challenges as the markets fluctuate.

Recognising the growth within the nuclear sector and supported by the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), the company has been able to make a number of improvements to its processes in order to better position itself to take advantage of nearly £60bn of investment in civil nuclear new build.

Commenting on the development, Andrew Dalby, managing director, was reported to say: “We’ve been manufacturing and exporting goods to ASME nuclear standards for many years, but this was almost exclusively to overseas markets, with some 95 per cent of our output exported.

“We are only ten miles from Sizewell and combined with the growing UK market opportunity in nuclear new build and decommissioning, it made sense to turn our attention a bit closer to home.”

The changes have not only resulted in an increase in sales, but also an expansion of the workforce with the creation of 16 new jobs, including seven apprenticeship roles. “Our approach is to keep all of manufacturing in England. Whilst others decided to move offshore, we preferred to focus on adding

value and securing the highest quality standards. Our base in Suffolk gives us the best chance of achieving this,” he added. Offering a complete service from consultation and design through to manufacturing, quality control and certification, its modern well-equipped facilities and highly trained staff are capable of achieving a fast turn round of critical and challenging to produce components.

Whilst the business started as a predominantly Aluminium based foundry producing fittings for oil fired central heating, it was through continued investment and technical expertise that it grew to become a leading manufacturer of precision engineered castings worldwide, with expertise in advanced grade alloys including Inconel, Duplex, Monel and Titanium. Using a vast array of alloys with exceptional resistance to cracking, pitting and stress corrosion, its products are suitable for service in conditions of intense abrasion or attrition and at the extremes of high and low temperature. Combined with manufacturing facilities that include a foundry, as well as heat treatment, welding, machining and full testing capabilities, the business is a complete service solution for a range of international customers.

Increases in Brafe’s forward order book have instilled a confidence to invest in the longer-term future, purchasing not only new machines but also an additional furnace to ensure the capacity and flexibility to meet the rise in demand. Maintaining a full range of manual machine tools alongside heavy-duty CNC machining centres, its machine shop is integrated with advanced computer-aided facilities.The core processes within its production are controlled by a computerised system that

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Brafe Engineering

gives complete control at all stages, tested against a series of general, process, melting and quality procedures and work instructions. Its ‘Magma’ computer simulation and flow analysis, combined with the depth of knowledge and experience of its engineering personnel, has enabled the company to optimise casting methods and work towards a dedicated ‘right first time’ approach.

Highly skilled engineers are able to decipher the optimal way of casting, dependant upon shape, size and material grade, and using CNC operated pattern-making equipment combined with the latest CAD/CAM software, designs are methodised to determine the most suitable method of manufacture.

The 3D CAD model, customer’s requirements and CAM systems are used to produce patterns and core boxes, wax tooling and prototype patterns, allowing castings to be produced without the need to manufacture tooling.This provides the opportunity to check a design before committing to the full cost of pattern equipment.These services have been successfully applied many times to the reverse engineering of obsolete parts and the manufacture of special one-off components.

From its specialised silicate sand foundry with induction melting furnaces, the business has the capacity to cast up to 2500kgs gross weight in over 250 advanced alloy grades. Along with the main casting process, it offers the patented ‘Repliwax’ casting option, incorporating a balance of both traditional sand and the latest ceramic casting technologies, which provides the option to cast near net shape production castings, reducing machining time and cost. Having a choice of processes and

techniques is a distinguishing factor that provides the flexibility to adapt to ever changing customer requirements. Offering a number of non-destructive and quality testing processes, its high standards are constantly maintained.

With a purpose-built NORSOK heat treatment

facility, approved and qualified to 1250°C, Brafe Engineering provides the ultimate environment to produce high quality castings. In continual production, Brafe Engineering looks to the future with confidence, taking all opportunities to further improve its production process.

Aerotech Inspection

Aerotech Inspection & NDT has provided for Brafe Engineering’s radiography inspection needs for many years. With two high energy Betatron systems (6MeV & 7.5MeV), along with comprehensive Gamma, X-ray and full NDT capabilities Aerotech is able to perform NDT on Brafe’s high density alloy castings to the highest standards.

Aerotech’s dedicated team work closely with Brafe and their clients to remain flexible and dynamic, always willing to overcome the continually changing demands of today’s manufacturing industry whilst providing confidence in NDT.

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Drallim

Stretching

out

Drallim prides itself on being an innovative and responsive manufacturer

Drallim Products: Specialist equipment Sites: UK Employees: 60 www.drallim.com

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S

ince its founding in 1958 by engineer Angus Millard, Drallim has worked tirelessly on the development of an ever-growing portfolio of products.

As a specialist equipment manufacturer, the organisation retains its reputation as a leading innovator in design and manufacturing solutions, providing engineering skills, manufactured equipment and custom built designs for the aerospace, industrial and utility markets.

“Encompassed within our business is a wealth of engineering knowledge ranging from mechanical and electrical to electronics and software. We are very much a niche manufacturing company,” says Dave Mooney, managing director.

The legendary rotary selector valve (RSV) on which the company was founded remains a product that continues to be demanded today, spearheading the contracts won through the Industrial Division including the recent manufacture of a complete suite of electro-

pneumatic control panels for a nuclear power station application. Despite being a small business, Drallim has received numerous awards, including Young Manufacturer of the Year, highlighting the drive behind its success.

“We change direction quite frequently so it is important that our employees are highly motivated, and winning awards for numerous aspects of the business opens an opportunity to celebrate our successes. We have got a wide ability in the company that stems from our founder, who left the company entrusted to the employees and it has been our ethos for many years that we wouldn’t survive as a British manufacturing company if we only made one product. It is long-term contracts and developing new products that has seen us through the recessionary periods of the past,” Dave explains.

The RSV – primarily used as a pneumatic valve - is manufactured alongside a range of

other specialist products allowing the Industrial Division to grow to a size where it comfortably responds to any manufacturing demand.

Currently undertaking a complex refurbishment project with National Grid, Drallim calls upon key suppliers such as Eldon, DRN and Chemographic to ensure quality within its production of custom manufactured items.

Maintaining strong relationships has always been at the heart of the division, and a skill that has seen it work with large clients including London Underground and Saudi Aramco. Leading advances in technology, Drallim has also been responsible for the development of the Drallim Anti-Condensation System (DACS), which eliminates wasted energy, thereby lowering operational cost, and has been sold to National Grid and other big users, to which Dave adds: “We have between 20 and 30 products and projects in consideration or at various stages at any one time. Constantly evolving our products and having good relationships with our customers is what has allowed us to develop an agile culture.”

Built on the brand name Cargo Aids, the Aerospace Division produces cargo handling equipment with a modern innovative approach to providing a quality solution, including the under slung cargo hooks for helicopters, which has been the bedrock for the business.

The division has expanded over the years to

incorporate many specialist restraints, from chain lashings to very high strength webbing restraints and specialist ground support equipment for a range of high integrity applications. Its customer base has grown to include British Airways, Rolls Royce, GE, the MoD and a number of nuclear power plants, and the business recently won an important contract to design and develop a cargo hook for a major US company. “It is a new generation of cargo hooks that we have developed inhouse, and we have also sold some variants of this around Europe, and as far away as Japan,” points out Dave, highlighting the company’s global interests.

“It is important to adapt to differing rules depending on where you’re supplying to around the world. Located in the UK, our global markets stretch as far as the US, India, and Japan, providing installation and commissioning services, for any of our products wherever required. We have over many years supplied products to industrial facilities all over the world,” he adds. Dedicated to providing leadingedge test, diagnostic and remote condition monitoring solutions to the power generation, transmission and distribution industry, Drallim also monitors oil field high voltage cables, recently designing a solution for a specific high voltage application for a client in Hong Kong.

Through its Utilities Division, the business also

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Drallim manufactures the compressor desiccator unit, a device for supplying dry air to pressurise telecommunication cables, working in the background, helping to provide a clear signal on copper cables and in waveguides.

“Over the past 12 months we have seen our economy take a sharp improvement from our point of view in terms of customers being more ready to commit to larger, longer term projects, with a significant increase in our orders, resulting in a full order book through to 2016,” points out Dave. With the aerospace sector continuing to grow Dave expresses his confidence and concerns about future opportunities: “We have seen the depression of investment in the energy industry, largely because of the political uncertainties about the future, but in contrast, we see nuclear as an area in which we would like to expand into but it is still uncertain about what the opportunities will be and when they are going to happen. On the more basic industrial side of the business there seems to be a growing trend of bringing things back to the UK, doing less abroad, and therefore optimistically, we are hoping for steady growth and hopefully some unexpected opportunities.”

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norelem

Taking hold As norelem looks to expand its global footprint, Paul Mulvey, heading up the new UK operation, expresses his positivity for the company’s future

norelem Products: Manufacture and supply workholding and clamping solutions Sites: Seven + Employees: 600 www.norelem.co.uk

F

ounded in 1958, German based company norelem has established itself as a leading player in Europe supplying workholding and clamping solutions to the industrial, automotive and aerospace industries.

The company is currently undergoing a major initiative to increase its global footprint. As part of this programme, the company has established a new facility in Mexico, as well as setting up a new commercial office in Brazil and as recently as January 2015, a new commercial and technical office in the UK. norelem currently has a portfolio offering of around 28,000 products, supplying everything from toggle latches through to fully designed workholding and clamping systems. With state-ofthe-art manufacturing facilities in Germany and France the company has the ability to manufacture many of its own products with cold-forming, milling, CNC technology and injection moulding systems, amongst others, in place. “This gives us an advantage over our competitors as we are able to drive costs and quality standards within the industries,” explains UK Head, Paul Mulvey.

One of the main strengths of norelem is the service it provides. “What makes us unique is the

fact that we are able to offer, not just a product, but also the service to sit down with a customer and look at a process or application within a production facility and work out how we can reduce cost, waste, scrap and increase efficiency.

This sets us apart from being just a parts supplier, we’re setting ourselves up to be something very high quality and very solutions led,” highlights Paul.

Testifying to this are a couple of ongoing projects the UK office is working on within the automotive industry. “On one of them the company has a seven per cent scrap rate at the moment because of the way they physically hold the products in the manufacturing process. We’re looking at implementing a system that will remove the scrap rate and save them around £15,000 a week,” outlines Paul. “Another company want to automate the way they operate and we’re looking at improving efficiencies so they can redeploy six of their personnel to other areas of the plant.”

Other strengths include the widely recognised Big Green Book catalogue, which Paul says: “Is critical to our selling strategy as it is available online and via an app, which allows technicians and engineers to view a component in 2D or 3D CAD and place it into their designs to make sure

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norelem it works.” The company is also in the process of improving its online presence by optimising its SEO campaign and increasing its presence on Facebook and Twitter. “We have seen some extensive growth throughout mainland Europe by utilising that strategy, and we wish to extend this into the UK,” adds Paul.

Having established the UK office in January 2015, the brand is very new to the UK market and Paul is keen to lay out the company’s strategy for growth in the country. “Specifically what we are looking for in the UK is to generate awareness of the norelem name because it’s very well known in Europe as the number one, but has a very minimal footprint here,” says Paul. One particular industry that represents a significant opportunity is the automotive industry. “The UK industry is having a massive renaissance from where it was 15 years ago, ultimately off the back of people like Jaguar Land Rover,” he continues. “Strategically we want to work with key distributors and also blue chip organisations at OEM, Tier 1 and Tier 2 levels. ” Another area the UK office is keen to continue from norelem’s European operation is the engagement with education and universities to stimulate innovation within the industry. Over the last ten years the portfolio for norelem has expanded from 10,000 to the 28,000 it holds

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at present, and continued product development is ongoing. “We are constantly looking to work with engineering schools and universities,” Paul emphasises. “We are working with a number of colleges in Germany and looking to roll that out to the UK where we effectively sponsor a project and offer technical and product support. We are keen to link in with the engineers of tomorrow and we’re happy to invest in that to help people grow. Whilst at the moment in the UK we want to support some relative projects, in the future we would like to be able sponsor a number of students through university.”

The UK arm of norelem is in its infancy, but as

Paul is keen to express it has a lot of resources behind it as it looks to gain a firm foothold in the market, visiting a number of trade exhibitions and investing in advertising. “The opportunities are availing themselves already and they are quite substantial,” he says. “It’s a really exciting time for all of us. It’s a company that is prepared to invest time, money and effort to do things properly as it looks for global footprint against a backdrop of very high quality and competitively priced products.”

Ultimately, whilst the current strategy is to raise brand awareness in the UK, the company will look to expand and create a range of employment opportunities.

SPTS Technologies

Sophisticated

technology

SPTS Technologies is a leading supplier of etch, deposition and thermal equipment and process solutions

SPTS Technologies Ltd. Products: Etch, PVD, CVD and thermal wafer processing capital equipment Sites: Newport, South Wales Employees: 500 www.spts.com

E

ncompassing over 40 years of experience in developing and manufacturing wafer processing equipment, SPTS Technologies Limited (SPTS) brings together expertise from several companies including Watkins-Johnson, Trikon Technologies, STS, and Aviza Technology.

Although the roots of the company can be traced back as far as the 1960s the name SPTS first appeared during 2009 and continues to endure following its acquisition by Orbotech Ltd. last August. Orbotech is a NASDAQ listed company and has been at the cutting edge of the electronics industry supply chain, innovating technologies present in the manufacture of the world’s most sophisticated consumer products for over 30 years.

Today SPTS continues to design, manufacture, sell, and support etch, PVD, CVD and thermal

capital equipment, providing advanced wafer processing technologies and solutions for the microelectronics industry. End-market applications include micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), advanced packaging, LED, high-speed radio frequency device integrated circuits (IC’s) and power semiconductors. As part of Orbotech, SPTS is able to build on its existing manufacturing strength and industry expertise to expand its reach to better serve its clients globally. Although the acquisition of SPTS by Orbotech was completed less than 12 months ago SPTS has made a significant impact on the group, delivering approximately a third of its total revenue during the first quarter of 2015. Furthermore SPTS is dedicated to exploring the synergies between itself and Orbotech, while remaining focused on its own technology development and manufacturing processes to ensure that

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SPTS Technologies

it continues to remain at the forefront of an increasingly dynamic market.

“Like any business we are looking for synergies to develop global opportunities and consolidation - not in terms of headcount but certainly for operational efficiencies and supply chain, which continue to be a big focus for us,” explains Mike Hewlett, vice president of operations at SPTS Technologies. “SPTS is a technology company, and we are continuously investing in new wafer processing solutions and manufacturing techniques to make sure all of the current and future requirements of our customers are met.

To remain competitive in the rapidly evolving microelectronics manufacturing industry we have to be at the leading edge of development as new technologies emerge while being as responsive as possible with production-ready solutions for our customers as they ramp to volume manufacture.”

Mike continued: “In fulfilling our customer requirements, one of our biggest strengths is in our lead-times. Our process modules and systems range from $1million to $4 million, so it is a

significant investment for our customers. At the same time, our customers also face high levels of demand from their end customers who are global brands like Samsung and Apple who are highly driven by consumer behaviour and ‘want it now’. This is a very fast moving industry and our lead-time genuinely gives us that competitive advantage to win the business.”

Supply chain management and relations are critical in ensuring short lead-times. To achieve its competitive lead-times SPTS has introduced increasingly efficient manufacturing processes that have allowed the company to greatly improve production ramp without compromising customer specifications or quality. Presently SPTS enjoys material lead-times of around six weeks, which is achieved through co-operation with local suppliers. “Ideally our manufactured parts are delivered from within 100 miles of our facility, including machined parts, looms and electrical parts,” Mike reveals. “This allows us to not only support the local economy, but also to manage quality and engineering revision change, which in

such a dynamic industry is rife.”

As the use and demand for electronics continue to increase so too has the need for delivering higher volumes of ICs at lower cost. SPTS has remained at the forefront of wafer processing solutions and this enables its customers to meet their challenging requirements by offering a range of wafer size handling systems.

The integrated circuits and micro-electronic devices produced using SPTS equipment are found in every smartphone in the world and in other things that touch our lives every day, such as automobile airbags and domestic appliances.

“When I joined the company over 30 years ago, the wafers being managed at that time were 75mm in diameter,” Mike elaborates. “Today the typical wafers we manage are 300mm in diameter, so that means that you can get more devices onto one wafer. If you imagine a 300mm wafer, it is 12 inches of silicon moving through a machine at a very quick pace before being diced into the small ICs that you see inside mobile phones, tablets, etc, which are between 3mm to 4mm

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SPTS Technologies

Mike Hewlett vice president of operations

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in size or smaller. This means that it is possible to fit hundreds or thousands of devices onto one wafer. The semiconductor industry is highly cost sensitive so any improvement in throughput and yield gives both us and our customer an additional advantage. Therefore process efficiency and wafer throughput are benefits we always work to improve and deliver to our customers.”

Commitment to customer satisfaction and

customer success has also been instrumental in SPTS’s success. Mike concludes: “We treat our customers extremely well and serve them as best as we can. Customer loyalty is our top corporate objective and it has been key for repeat business.

Presently about 70 per cent of our business is repeat business because we have very strong relationships with our customers. We also do not simply just ship a unit and let it go into the field; we offer full support from installation through to qualification, and this is of great importance to any customer.”

The company’s combined efforts has enabled SPTS to win numerous awards, including the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade 2013, and was also named Welsh Government Anchor Company in January 2014.

More recent accolades include two awards at the Welsh Business Awards 2014 and EEF Future Manufacturing Awards Insider’s Made in Wales 2013 ‘Manufacturer of the Year’ Award and the ‘Green Manufacturer’ Award in 2014.

Special Metals Wiggin Limited

Integrated for

success

With roots dating back to the mid 1800s with the formation of Henry Wiggin and Company Limited by Sir Henry Wiggin, Special Metals Wiggin Limited has earned a commanding reputation as a leading innovator and manufacturer of nickel-based superalloys

Special Metals Wiggin Limted Products: Special metals and alloys Sites: Hereford, UK Employees: 530 www.specialmetalswiggin.co.uk

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ith over 100 years of experience in the nickel industry, Special Metals Wiggin has survived the challenges created by volatile market conditions and clients operating within a host of industry sectors encompassing aerospace, automotive, petrochemical power generation, thermal processing and heat treatment, chemical, marine engineering; and oil and gas extraction.

The company is presently part of the American manufacturer, Precision Castparts Corp. (PCC), which acquired Special Metals Wiggin in 2006. Following this milestone, the business has continued to provide solutions to difficult material problems through such time-tested products as its world-recognised INCONEL速, INCOLOY速, NIMONIC速,

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Special Metals Wiggin Limited

FUCHS Lubricant Group The FUCHS Lubricants Group has been a key supplier to the Special Metals Wiggin site in Hereford for over 20 years. Developing close working relationships with all of the teams, FUCHS has introduced new fluid technologies contributing to many successful cost down initiatives.

With two experienced technicians employed full time on site, FUCHS has also introduced its ‘Fluids Live’ service on site, an Intranet Web based, recording, tracking and reporting tool with integrated Key Performance Indicator Measurements to manage, monitor, and control the application and use of all lubricants and cutting fluids and services used on site. (www.fuchslubricants.com/fluids-live) New advances continue to be made in the machining and application of Nimonic alloys, the FUCHS Group will continue to work closely with Special Metals to ensure that their facility at Hereford is best in class, maintaining the relationship with FUCHS Lubricants UK and its technology at the forefront in the production of components utilising these alloys.

UDIMET®, MONEL® and NILO® alloys. From its Hereford base, Special Metals Wiggin represents a major European production facility in the Special Metals Corporation group of companies, which also includes facilities in Huntington, West Virginia and New Hartford, New York, as well as Perth, Australia. Using air and vacuum melting, vacuum arc and electroslag re-melting, powder metallurgy, forging, extrusion, hot and cold rolling, and cold drawing, the business makes a comprehensive range of nickel alloys in many standard wrought forms. These include ingot, billet and bar, extruded sections, pipe and tube,

and flat products (plate, sheet and foil).

The business was last profiled by Manufacturing Today Europe in 2008, during which time Special Metal Wiggin’s parent company had approved a scheme to build a new rod mill, which was manufactured in Sweden and commissioned in December 2008.

Complimenting its state-of-the-art rod mill, Special Metal Wiggin offers a unique low-cost melting, forging and extrusion process placing it in a strong position to compete on the global market.

Although demand has been impacted by

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the current low oil price, business, particularly long-term potential for the manufacturing of specialty alloys, remains strong. As such, Special Metals Wiggin has continued to invest in its manufacturing capabilities in line with what is perceives as current market trends, as director of sales Mike Simon elaborates: “Since 2008 we have built on the development made from a new rod mill and have continued to grow our core business utilising that investment while also currently investing in new capacity to make seamless tubing. This includes an investment in another Cold Pilgering machine to increase our capacity as well as ancillary equipment. As part of this investment we are also moving and improving the layout of all our finishing and final inspection operations for operational flow improvement. A further important decision that we have taken was to close down our strip mill where we used to make cold rolled strip. We exited that business in order to use the space

Newfield Automation Ltd. Established in 1989 with a proven track record of providing integrated control and mechanical handling systems we offer a single source for the client’s requirements, from consultancy to total turnkey projects.

Our long standing partnership approach with Special Metals Wiggin Ltd has allowed the continued delivery of a variety of mechanical handling and control system solutions that meets their requirements to provide improved machine operability, process and operator safety and overall plant reliability.

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Special Metals Wiggin Limited

finish the tubes themselves. This means that we are able to control quality and generally means that we have lower lead times than any of our competitors. We can also have more flexibility,” Mike reveals.

Considering the future of Special Metals Wiggin as well as the market in general, Mike concludes: “Over the next 12 months the business will focus on the market for seamless tube manufacturing, however, we are growing other products such as our capacity in the automotive sector. With the current downturn in oil and gas there has been an impact on all of the tube market, because it affects everything from steel through to nickel alloys. There is of course still capacity within the market, and it is very competitive at the moment. However, we believe that oil and gas will recover next year and as it does that demand will come back.”

to expand our tube production.”

Commenting on industry demand for special metals across the market he adds: “Although there is a current downturn in terms of the oil and gas industry, the long-term trend in this and other industries is for increasing use of highernickel alloys for corrosion and temperature resistance. Across the energy sector for example, we perceive mid to long-term potential in solar energy, new technologies for conventional fossil fuel power stations as well as some opportunity in nuclear power.”

Further to its continuing programme of development and investment, Special Metals Wiggin maintains its leading position by ensuring that it delivers the highest levels of quality. As such, all of its facilities are accredited to quality management system ISO 9001:2000 and in addition the testing laboratories are accredited by UKAS. Furthermore, approvals from individual customers include those from Airbus, ABB, Westinghouse, Fiat Avio, MTU GmbH, Rolls Royce, SNECMA, Statoil, and VdTÜV. The company also has EN/AS/ JISQ 9100 and PRI/Nadcap Approval for heat treatment, non-destructive testing and materials testing.

Its combined facilities and industry recognised accreditation, allows Special Metals Wiggin to operate as a fully integrated nickel alloy manufacturer, whereas many of its competitors operate across several sites. “One of the things that gives us a competitive edge is that we are unusual as a tube manufacturer in that we go right from melting through to finished seamless tubes. We melt the ingots, forge and extrude them on site and go on to

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Rotpunkt Küchen

Dedicated to

service

The provision of high quality kitchens from the family owned company Rotpunkt, Rabe & Meyer Küchen GmbH & Co KG, helps to turn peoples’ dreams into reality

Rotpunkt Küchen Products: Kitchen Design Sites: Germany Employees: 220 www.rotpunktkuechen.de

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stablished in 1930 by Heinrich Rabe and Wilhelm Meyer in Bünde-Ahle, the company began manufacturing cigar boxes, building upon the history that Bünde holds as the cigarmaking centre of Germany. Later branching into wooden toys and sewing boxes, the business eventually, following the Second World War, digressed and cemented its position within kitchen manufacturing, and since that time has not looked back. “With the latest manufacturing technology at our main factory/headquarters and at our subsidiary plants in Löhne and Preußisch Oldendorf, we continue the tradition of specialised manufacturing processes, producing an extensive product range with reliability of quality and logistics,” says Andreas Wagner, one of two, joint managing directors.

The colourful history of the business is of no surprise to others in the region, with 80

per cent of kitchen production in the area extending from a history of similar cigar and sewing box production lines. “We are a family business, which is very important, especially for the size of the company, and the short lines of communication ensure that any decision-making can be quickly implemented, deciding together with our sales department and business team.

One big advantage is that no long discussions regarding investments in fleet of vehicles, machines, new markets or other investments need take place,” points out Andreas.

“We don’t manufacture just set ranges of kitchens, instead build on commission/order, designing the kitchen to whatever the customer wants. Typical delivery can be achieved within four weeks after the order date, and 80 per cent of our kitchens are delivered in this time, whilst special surface patterns and finishes can take longer,” he adds. Producing design-

orientated kitchens, often comes at a premium to the end user, but by using Rotpunkt’s services, professional designs are achieved without paying the extra for the company brand. “We actually have a designer in the UK that worked with us for many years, designing kitchens for Rotpunkt Küchen,” says Andreas, highlighting the quality design.

Following a very successful period of trading, the company is in the process of making substantial investment into a 6000sqm hall, divided into two parts: pre-production section with a 4800sqm extension, and a main hall extension of between 1200 to 1500sqm. The 4800sqm extension of the warehouse and sawing technique area incorporates a classic surface layer with board cutter and a direct connection to edge bending machines for LOS 1 size production. With construction due to commence in the summer of 2015, Andreas

highlights how ongoing investment helps to shape the future: “For the production of our own kitchen fronts, we have invested in an edge bending machine using a new laser technique.

This new technique produces a seamless edge, with the laser melting the edge and welding the plate. This was one of the major investments we made last year at our plant in Preußisch Oldendorf.”

Automatic improvements are also scheduled to be made allowing for standard boards to be taken out of storage much faster than with conventional on-floor storage methods, greatly increasing the inventory turnover rate. “All sawing, edge cutting and drilling is order specific, and the extension in the assembly station will promote opportunities for lean manufacturing, instead of having a reserve warehouse further off the main production area. This will ensure work can be undertaken faster, more securely,

‘‘

We don’t manufacture just set ranges of kitchens, instead build on commission/order, designing the kitchen to whatever the customer wants

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Rotpunkt Küchen

REHAU

The process of laser welding edgeband materials has made its way into almost all areas of the furniture industry in recent years.

REHAU has been using suitable edgebands for laser welding edge band materials from the very start. The market leader for flexibly implementable polymer edgebands is now reorganising its range to provide the fabricator with an even quicker overview: RAUKANTEX laser edge has become RAUKANTEX pro, which can be used with all the latest zero-joint technologies. Also ROTPUNKT Küchen relies on the quality of the RAUKANTEX edgeband with the polymer functional layer that offers a precise colour match with the visible side of the edgeband and, when processed correctly, can be optimally melted on at all application stages, producing a narrow surface closure without visible joints.

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and with a higher rate of productivity. In comparison, the main warehouse extension does not have many technical extensions, acting mainly as a replenishment of storage,” explains Andreas.

By ensuring that customer service remains a priority, the business has successfully achieved the delivery of numerous complex kitchens, utilising a fleet of mobile designers throughout Europe. Focusing on its operations across the

Channel, Andreas adds: “We have been very successful in the UK, particularly with the exclusive agreements that we share with these designers. In our strategy to complete the service, we want to further build up studios that are exclusive stockists of our kitchens. It is very rare that we deliver directly to the customer.

The further development of our business in UK will see us becoming more prominent in the north of England, the Midlands and Ireland.”

Whilst the company continues to enjoy strong market growth in the UK, it is through the focus on service, and the motivated and experienced field workers that it continues to build upon valuable relationships. Concluding, Andreas explains: “Our partnership agreements are very important to our success, and providing the best value for them is equally as important, ensuring our stockists can achieve the highest level of profit, and this plays a huge role in encouraging and stabilising the friendship-like relationships. Over the next 12 months we are expecting a major sales growth, with our large construction project representing a major milestone for the company, and further investment of ten million to 12 million euros over the next three years will be a pioneering phase for the company.”

ESBE

Get invalved ESBE is committed to expanding its product range to further meet the needs of the customer

ESBE AB Products: Valves and actuators for waterbased heating and cooling systems Sites: One in Sweden Employees: 220 www.esbe.eu/gb/en

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ith more than 100 years of history in the benchmarking of new standards for valve and actuator capabilities in different systems, ESBE AB’s product range today is based on three core features: energy efficiency, enhanced comfort and improved safety. Used in systems for heating, cooling and tap water, ESBE’s products are present throughout Europe, where the company has developed a strong foothold thanks to its commitment to continuous development of its portfolio and ongoing modernisation and improvement of its facilities.

“ESBE was founded 1906 in the small Swedish village of Reftele, where headquarters and production remain today. Since the 1930s our focus has been on heating, an area that ESBE has achieved a leading position in valves and

actuators used in water-based heating and cooling systems in most of the large European markets,” begins Karsten Pillukeit, CEO of ESBE AB. “Today we employ more than 200 members of staff across Europe, with two thirds of our employees working in production, management and support functions in our headquarters; the remaining one third is employed in the European sales companies in Germany, Poland, France and Italy.

Although we have a global customer base, more than 90 per cent of our sales are concentrated in Europe.”

Majority owned by the Skogsfors family, with an 80 per cent stake, with the remaining 20 per cent owned by employee shareholders, the highly successful organisation currently boasts a 40 million euro turnover and a ten per cent increase in organic growth over the last ten years.

One reason behind ESBE’s strong foothold in

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ESBE Europe is its superior facilities, which have seen investments of approximately 35 million euros over the last five years. Using its own financial strength to make these improvements, the company has ensured it will continue to lead the way in valves and actuators.

“In order to stay competitive as a European based manufacturer of highly energy efficient solutions, continuous improvement must be a driving force. Due to our ability to develop and produce products from scratch, we have a considerable breadth and depth of production capability. Our investments included ongoing modernisation of the machine park, extension of process capabilities, capacity increase, product line extensions, improvement of work methods and assembly lines and the optimised utilisation of space.”

Karsten Pillukeit, CEO, ESBE AB

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So far these enhancements have proven fruitful for ESBE, with the innovative company winning the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2015 for its ESBE Superflow valve SLB130 and ESBE Circulation unit GRA111. Offering reliability, security and high quality standards, the SLB130 allows for easy adjustments to customer requirements in a wide range of applications.

Compact in size, the superflow valve has a flow value that is twice as high as conventional valves without compromising on controllability.

In addition, the integrated actuator features intelligent functions and can work as both a diverting valve as well as a mixing valve.

Meanwhile, ESBE’s circulation unit – GRA 111

was praised for its well-conceived functionality, easy handling and elegant look. The one size fits all product offers pre-assembled, tightness tested and heat-insulated assembly and boasts a unique technology that can reduce the risk of over dimensioning and lost authority. Moreover, the GRA 111 is controlled by an actuator, making it a perfect match for mixing operations with an external controller. Equipped with a high efficiency circulation pump and tailor-made insulation, customers can rest assures that ESBE provides the best possible circulation for both economy and environment.

Aware that new products offer a higher possibility of delivering better value sales throughout the supply chain, ESBE is committed to expanding its product range to further meet the needs of its customer base and thus maintain

its competitive edge in the market, as Karsten highlights: “In times when market growth is limited and competition becomes tougher, innovation is one important way to distinguish yourself from the rest of the crowd. Our depth and flexibility of production, combined with a geographically tight network of quality secured suppliers enables us to maintain the required high quality standards in delivery times and delivery precision.

Our customers appreciate the durability and functionality of our products, features that have been core elements of our brand. We are seen as an innovator in our field; customers consult us on market trends and ask for our support in using our products as integral components in new developments of their own.”

With some European markets such as the UK remaining strong, ESBE will focus on selective

markets over the next 12 months while remaining optimistic that the general economic situation across Europe will improve, as Karsten concludes: “It would seem 2014 was a difficult year for most sectors. Despite record low interest rates, there was a low investment mentality, which affected the HEVAC sector in the wake of falling energy prices. Being more than 90 per cent dependant on Europe, a more global view on market opportunities will be a natural path to follow for us over the coming years. On top of market opportunities, we are well on our way to being recognised as much more than a component producer, and the possibilities of valves, actuators and controls as systems integrators is becoming more widely acknowledged. These are our two key elements, which we need to mould in a broader strategic view.”

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WaldrichSiegen Werkzeugmaschinen

Complete precision WaldrichSiegen is a world leading supplier of heavy-duty machine tools

WaldrichSiegen Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH Products: Leading manufacturer of heavy-duty machine tools Employees: 1600 - Group www.waldrichsiegen.com

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ounded by Heinrich Adolf Waldrich in 1840, WaldrichSiegen Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH witnessed steady growth as it began producing pumps, exhausters for blast furnaces and belt pulleys. In 1897, Heinrich’s son designed and produced the first roll turning machines; an innovative milestone for the company that resulted in a commitment to continuous expansion of products and services that is still maintained today, as Dr. Stephan Witt, managing director at WaldrichSiegen, begins: “WaldrichSiegen is the leading manufacturer of heavy-duty machine tools in the fields of grinding, texturing, milling, vertical and horizontal turning. Customers all over the world focus on WaldrichSiegen in all areas that require precision and performance as decisive criteria in machining of sophisticated products. The

products are for example used for machining rolls and work pieces, heavy marine diesel engines, crankshafts and turbine rotors.

“WaldrichSiegen designs and produces machine tools tailor-made for the individual application. The machines do not only provide utmost precision and performance, but are carefully developed to ensure the perfect machine tool for the customers’ work piece is created. That comprises the development of the machining strategy including tool concept and the simulation of machining processes. The extensive consultation of the customer is the main characteristic of WaldrichSiegen.” With a strong customer base in place, WaldrichSiegen uses its long-term experience to manufacture machine tools that ensure optimum precision and efficiency.

In 2004 WaldrichSiegen was acquired by the

HerkulesGroup, a development that resulted in new innovations such as ProfiMill, the company’s portal milling machine series. On top of product development, becoming part of HerkulesGroup has enabled the company to profit from existing synergies within the group, as Stephan discusses: “The HerkulesGroup has sales and service units all over the world, for example in India, China and the USA. WaldrichSiegen customers profit from immediate service and local contact persons. In addition to that, the product portfolio of the companies in the group is complementary. Thus, the group offers a wide range of products to the customer. Together with our sister company, UnionChemnitz, we can supply our customers with boring mills and portal mills from one source – the customers profits from the vast know-how within the group.”

Celebrating its 175th anniversary in 2015,

the global leader in large machine tools manufacture began its anniversary year with a milling technology seminar for customers in March. During this seminar, Stephan notes that WaldrichSiegen took the opportunity to discuss the development of ProfiMill: “Eighty customers from all over Europe came to Burbach/North Rhine Westphalia, to learn about the latest innovations in milling technology. One part of the seminar consisted of lectures introducing the product portfolio and the milling machine series ProfiMill. The second half of the seminar was practically oriented. During live demonstrations on a ProfiMill, the guests could witness the wide scope of precise and efficient machining options.

Discussing with the WaldrichSiegen experts, they learned to optimally apply the ProfiMill technology in their own companies.”

By working consistently towards a maximum standardisation of all major machine

components throughout the development of the ProfiMill concept, WaldrichSiegen has created the optimal solution for the economic machining of complex large work pieces. Available in either table or gantry design, all ProfiMill major machine components are made of high quality cast iron and manufactured in-house to ensure optimum precision and quality. Keen to meet the evolving demands of its customers, Stephan notes that WaldrichSiegen has introduced two smaller machine types to the market: “This means WaldrichSiegen now also offers customers with smaller work pieces the opportunity to machine their work pieces with WaldrichSiegen technology. The new machines have all the well proven characteristics of the larger ProfiMill machines. They provide utmost precision, performance and efficiency.”

Moreover, through easy maintenance and service, in addition to energy efficiency, the life

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WaldrichSiegen Werkzeugmaschinen

Fuchs Umwelttechnik Produktions-und Vertriebs-GmbH Fuchs Umwelttechnik Produktions-und Vertriebs-GmbH, with its headquarters in Staig-Steinberg near Ulm, is the technological leader in the development and production of filter and extraction systems for trade and industry. Since its founding in 1984 by Dipl.-Ing. Harald Fuchs, the innovative company has offered its customers excellent solutions for the extraction and filtering of harmful emissions from the air in the production process. Since 1991 its exhaust and filtering devices have been used by WaldrichSiegen. Thanks for the many years of good and harmonious co-operation. .

cycle costs have been minimised and economic viability of the ProfiMill machines have seen a significant increase; these beneficial features are a core part of the dynamic firm’s commitment to delivering the best possible solutions. “The design of our machines is characterised as being maintenance and service friendly as well as highly energy efficient,” says Stephan. To maintain a competitive edge in technological innovation, sustainability and responsibility, WaldrichSiegen is part of the initiative ‘Blue competence’ by the VDMA, a German Engineering Federation that focuses on developing sustainable solutions for the economy, ecology and society.

Another notable product for the company is ProfiTurn V, which set new standards in the machine tool industry when it was introduced to the market in 2013. “The ProfiTurn V provides significantly more performance and precision than all other known machine concepts. It integrates different operations for the machining of complex, large work pieces with the highest precision and excels in obtaining high availability and energy efficiency. Workpieces with weights of up to 500t and diameters of 12,000 mm can be machined with the ProfiTurn V,” highlights Stephan.

Benefiting from 175 years of experience in manufacturing machine tools, the future looks positive for WaldrichSiegen and it continues to transfer well-proven solutions and technological expertise into the development of new machine concepts.

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JDR Cable Systems

Providing the vital

connection Established during 1994 through the merging of the UK business Jacques Cable Systems and De Regt Special Cables of the Netherlands, JDR Cable Systems (JDR) incorporates over 75 years of combined industry experience in the design and manufacture of bespoke subsea cable and umbilical products

JDR Cable Systems Products: Subsea power cables, umbilical systems and marine cables Sites: Global locations www.jdrglobal.com

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JDR Cable Systems

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oday JDR operates as a privately held UK company. Through its history JDR has enjoyed continued targeted investment, with new facilities opening in Littleport, UK and in Houston, Texas during 2000. Following the purchase of the business by Vision Capital and its partners, JDR received further investment to allow the company to expand within the market and reach new clients: “In 2009 JDR opened its main factory in Hartlepool, UK for the manufacture of power cables for the offshore renewable wind energy market and control umbilicals and cables for oil and gas sector,” elaborates chief operating officer, Richard Turner. “Upon opening the facility, the company received two large contracts for the design and

manufacture of inter-array subsea power cables for two of the world’s largest wind farm projects at that time.”

JDR has grown into an industryleader in subsea power cables; umbilical systems and intervention workover control systems and presently offers services in both the offshore oil and gas and in renewable energy applications. Within each of these market sectors, JDR provides flexible and innovative technologies that enable vital control and power delivery to offshore and subsea assets. Inside the offshore oil and gas market, JDR has a proven track record in the delivery of subsea production umbilicals, subsea power cables and intervention workover control systems as well as installation, maintenance and repair services. These products and services are an essential element in subsea infrastructure that enables energy to reach end-users in a cost-effective, safe and environmentally responsible way. To facilitate the effective operation of offshore assets, JDR has developed robust technologies that maximise the efficient delivery of power, control and communications.

Utilising its world-class design, engineering

and manufacturing capabilities, JDR is able to develop and deliver bespoke, quality systems for subsea installations and interventions at ever increasing water depths and distances.

JDR approaches projects in partnership with its clients, which enables it to deliver reliable products that meet even the most complex and demanding project requirements.

Furthermore through its comprehensive knowledge relating to inherent lifecycle and reliability design challenges, JDR has developed an extensive portfolio of products and services to support a broad spectrum of operational oilfield, offshore wind, wave and tidal energy requirements. JDR’s highly regarded engineering expertise allows it to partner with clients throughout the design phase, offering complete dynamic analysis, fatigue analysis and seabed stability analysis capabilities to fully support and prove the suitability of their product designs.

JDR is focused on innovations that improve long-term product performance and address future industry requirements, including the company’s introduction of medium to high voltage field joint products, which are qualified to the most stringent international standards and even exceed the current qualification of

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JDR Cable Systems

levels of other commercially available products.

Through the combination of manufacturing excellence and strategic regional bases located in the UK, US, West Africa, Germany, Singapore, Brazil and Thailand, JDR is able to act as a truly global partner. As such JDR is well known throughout the market and has delivered projects to customers all over the world. Within the offshore oil and gas sector its clients include respected operators such as Saipem, Subsea 7, ConocoPhillips, Shell, Chevron, Technip, Maersk, Exxon Mobil, Total, Statoil, Halliburton, GE and BP to name a few.

During November 2014 for example, JDR won a prestigious order for the manufacture of a 1.55km hybrid steel tube and thermoplastic umbilical to be delivered to a West African deep-water field (Abo 12).

The contract was awarded by Royal Niger Emerging Technologies, a leading Nigerian oil and gas service company, and as part of it JDR designed an umbilical that included a combination of hydraulic control and chemical hoses, low voltage signal cables and a central bundle of steel tube chemical supply lines.

Manufactured and loaded-out onto a 9.2m installation reel from the JDR deep-water quayside facility in Hartlepool, UK, the umbilical connects an existing subsea distribution unit to a new well through the use of two umbilical termination units. The Hartlepool facility was also a base for the training of Nigerian nationals in the integration, testing, installation and commissioning of the umbilical. Candidates gained valuable knowledge in key activities related to the project prior to load-out and beyond.

Commenting on the successful contract, Pat Herbert, executive chairman and CEO of JDR said: “We are very happy to be a part of this deep-water project. This is a testament to our umbilical engineering and manufacture strength and we hope this project is one of many in West Africa.”

Charlie Backhouse, global services director at JDR, added: “We intend to be the supplier of choice in West Africa through JDR’s breadth of product and service. Our relationship with Royal Niger has enabled us to accelerate this strategic vision and we are very proud to be working alongside them.”

Within the renewables sector, JDR employs a similarly dynamic approach, taking a pioneering role in the development of inter-array cables for offshore wind, wave and tidal energy projects. Indeed the company has led the development of inter-array cable design and manufacture, creating comprehensive product systems that have been delivered to some of the world’s largest renewable energy projects.

These range from the Greater Gabbard and London Array wind farms and Wave Hub marine renewables infrastructure project in the UK to the Meerwind wind farm in Germany.

Mirroring its competent service offering within the offshore oil and gas market, JDR is able to provide proven experience and expert solutions in the renewables sector that focus on innovations to improve long-term product performance and support the future growth of the industry. These range from its zero-in-service cablefailure rate to research and development into high-voltage inter-array cabling that will make offshore wind a more competitive source of power and improved installation support. Operationally, JDR offers renewables operators a full turnkey package from the design of inter-array cable systems to manufacture and field service support.

The organisation’s experienced subsea power cable engineering team provides in-depth industry knowledge of inter-array cable design and accessories, including pulling grips; hang-offs; connectors and fibre optic splice boxes. Through partnership with its clients during the design phase, JDR is able create some of the most reliable products in

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JDR Cable Systems

the renewables industry. To date, JDR has proven to be a trusted partner to renewables clients globally including, Reef Subsea, Boskalis, Van Oord, Centrica, DONG energy, EON, Vattenfall, RWE and others.

During February 2015 it was announced that JDR had extended its service and support operations for the EnBW Baltic Two offshore wind farm, under a contract awarded by Siem Offshore Contractors GmbH. During the project JDR’s offshore wind test and termination team was commissioned to deliver a scope of work that included onshore planning and procedures, project management, mechanical installation, cable containment, test modification and reporting. Commenting on the project, Charlie says: “JDR provides specialist offshore teams with full onshore and logistics support.

A JDR offshore wind services team is typically made up of three operatives, rather than the industry standard five, without any compromises in quality or safety standards. This is another important contribution to the delivery costeffective renewable energy.”

With its on-going projects globally in both the offshore oil and gas and offshore renewables market, JDR will continue to distinguish itself as a market-leader in these sectors. A key strategy going forward is to remain close to clients.

Although the oil and gas market has suffered recently due to the global decrease in oil price, JDR has remained highly active and shows no sign of slowing down COO, Richard Turner, concludes: “Some areas of the O&G market have certainly slowed down and we have seen some projects being re-assessed or delayed as you would expect, however we are relatively well insulated from this as our renewables side of the business is seeing a great deal of growth and we have been very successful in securing large projects in the UK & German markets.

“It is because of this growth and also because of our firm belief in the near term opportunities we have to grow market share in the subsea umbilical and flying lead markets that we have just announced an ambitious expansion plan for our Hartlepool factory. This multi-million pound investment, supported by the RGF, will bring a considerable increase in the footprint of our facility in Hartlepool with a new building housing a high capacity, high capability horizontal helix machine and sheathing processes with 6000Te of additional indoor carousel storage.

“Hartlepool will become our centre for excellence in Cable and Umbilical manufacturing…probably the best of its kind anywhere in the world. We are ready to serve the current and future needs our customers.”

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MöllerTech UK

As one door

closes...

MöllerTech UK Ltd is part of the MöllerGroup, a family owned company, which has existed since 1730

MöllerTech UK Ltd Products: Interior parts for the automotive industry Sites: Wales Employees: 450 www.moellergroup.com

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ith the group headquarters located in Germany, MöllerTech UK has been based in Cwmfelinfach in South Wales since 1998. “We are a tier one supplier providing interior trim, centre console and rear trunk components and assemblies to the automotive sector,” says managing director Clayton Harding. Working with customers that include BMW, Honda and Toyota, the business records a comfortable turnover of approx. £35 million.

“In total we have approx. 2300 employees worldwide with a €300m turnover generated from six automotive plants (two based in Germany, two in the US, one in the UK and one in China), as well as two non-automotive plants alongside our HQ and technical centre also located in Germany.

Additionally we utilise a CAD centre in Romania,” highlights Clayton. Within the UK, the business has a diverse product range supplying all interior and exterior injection moulded parts with and without complex assembly, delivering by manifest or in JIT/JIS concepts.

“In the last two years we have been on a ‘Kaizen’ journey finding a way to provide the best possible condition for our members, working on creating a five star environment where our people are seen as our most valuable asset besides our customer. With a vision to implement a simple ‘one piece flow’ concept in the plant, we have had to challenge every process we have, and break it down to the simplest process condition with simple self-made solutions,” explains Clayton.

As a leading provider of parts to major manufacturers, the company’s understanding of innovation within the plant is no longer in the conventional sense, as Clayton continues: “Our aim for the future is to eliminate the highly complicated, over engineered solutions and replace them with simple machines and equipment that offer the best return on investment. In the past we were heavily influenced by high investment needs of complex ‘Poka-Yoke’ equipment that only took the responsibility of quality away from the member. We need to do this to be able to handle the market volatility; as we need to be profitable when the

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MöllerTech UK

Right: The Kaizen team Far right: Clayton Harding with the EEF award

market is up and profitable when it is down.”

“As we know from the figures, the market has been on a positive trend in the last 12 months, and we have successfully launched the new Mini platform, which has had extremely high volume.

Out of this situation we took advantage to prepare our future, setting very challenging targets through our Kaizen activities to work on every area of the business,” explains Clayton. Following the 2010 implementation of the strategy in two of the German plants, it was in February 2013 that the UK business launched its own Kaizen motion. “We have successfully created a culture of ‘action driven people”, he adds.

“We identified in 2012 that we needed to drastically improve our flexibility, material flow, quality performance and reduce the need for additional investment of a new assembly hall,” continues Clayton. “We have a stable customer base for the next few years and new potential coming forward. As a result, we are not looking at the future in a block strategy but breaking it down year by year to ensure we can adapt to the ever changing needs of the customer. We need to follow the market and we believe the strongest suppliers will be the ones that can react quickly to the market change and be flexible enough to handle the change in the shortest time frame,” he points out.

Recognising that a robust supply chain not only supports the goal of achieving good quality and delivery but also supports the company’s vision, Clayton highlights: “Suppliers no longer have a PPM

buffer and ultimately it is the supplier that pays the price for bad quality. It is for this reason that we have to ensure that not only are our internal processes capable of delivering the required expectation but we must also ensure our suppliers can achieve this. It’s all about ‘quality mind set’ in every aspect of the process including the cultural factors of people, process and part.”

In January 2015 MöllerTech UK was awarded the EEF regional award for business efficiency for South Wales and the West Country, and later awarded the National EEF Future manufacturing award for business efficiency for the whole of the

UK. “As the representative voice of manufacturing in the UK, the EEF award is recognition of what we have achieved through our MöllerTech approach and strategy and is due to the commitment, drive and tenacity of all our employees. We will continue to compress our processes to take the next step of innovation within the plant, focusing on doing things that we have already done better and making them simpler.

What we have achieved to date is only the start of our journey,” concludes Clayton.

KraussMaffei Group

KraussMaffei Group is a global leading supplier of machinery and systems for producing and processing plastics. Products and services cover the whole spectrum of injection and reaction moulding and extrusion technology, giving the company a unique position in the industry. The KraussMaffei Group is innovation powered, supplying its products, processes and services as standard or custom solutions, delivering sustained added value to its customer base. The company markets its offering under the KraussMaffei, KraussMaffei Berstorff and Netstal brands to customers in the automotive, packaging, medical, construction, electrical, electronics and home appliance industries.

KraussMaffei has been headquartered in Munich since 1838.

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Dams International

Part of thefurniture Dams International is proud of its long-established history in the UK office furniture sector

Dams International Products: Manufacturer and wholesaler of office furniture Sites: Three sites in Merseyside, UK Employees: 250 www.dams.com

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family owned company based in Merseyside in the UK, Dams Furniture Ltd was established in 2009. However the Dams brand itself dates back to 1967, giving the business nearly five decades of experience in the office furniture market, which clients can draw upon when looking for the perfect solution.

As a result of this background in the industry, Dams has evolved into a truly one-stop-shop resource for all office furniture needs, whether that is desking, seating, storage, receptions, tables, screens or accessories. The company has also developed its product range, in order to also be able to meet the needs of clients looking for furniture solutions for café & bistros, home offices or student accommodation.

The jewels in the crown of 250 employee strong Dam’s operation are its facilities. Its

75,000s² ft manufacturing factory, 125,000² ft warehouse and distribution facility and 35,000² ft seating and upholstery factory are the focus of major ongoing investments that are designed to keep them up-to-date, as well as to enable Dams to bring back some of its previously outsourced operations to the UK. In fact, the upholstery department was launched as recently as 2013, after a significant investment in the most modern upholstery technology. This enables Dams to offer unlimited fabric choices and a growing range of designs, using fabrics from recognised brands such as Camira and Bradbury.

“The upholstery factory operates two manufacturing lines; one for batch production and one cellular production for the bespoke customer fabric orders,” confirms Chris Scott, managing director at Dams International. “When we set up the new upholstery in early 2013, a key part of

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Dams International

the investment was to underpin excellent quality.

To ensure this on the range of operator chairs, we purchased a C-Gex drawstring machine, which is a patented product from France that removed the manual upholstery demand by automating the process. The end result is a fast production process and the same quality finish every time.” On the back of this investment, the company has launched a five day fast-track madeto-order solution.

Meanwhile, the manufacturing side of the

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business, which takes melaminefaced chipboard (MFC) and turns it into quality office furniture through a number of key production processes, also features the latest cutting edge machinery. This wooden panel production space covers over 75,000² ft and employs 130 staff producing over 50,000 panels per week making it one of the largest in the UK. Proud to deliver cost-effective optimum quality products to the market, Dams maintains its competitive edge through continuous investment in all areas of the business, as Chris notes: “Our key investments over the last 12 months include a biesse double-sided combination edge bander for the wood factory, bar code scanning in the factory, a new warehouse management system for the warehouse and additional vehicles to

enhance transportation services. Over the next 12 months our focus will be on investing in the reconfiguration of a large proportion of warehouse racking and adding a CNC router with edge banding technology to the wood factory.”

In addition to a commitment to quality, Dams maintains its leading market position is by offering immediate dispatch on many of its product lines.

This is achieved through its a modern warehouse and distribution centre, which features over 10,000 pallet locations and around 100,000 items in stock at any time. “The wholesale approach means we can supply direct from stock. On an average day we will process over 500 orders, with just over 50 per cent being delivered the following day,” says Chris.

In March 2015, Dams increased its stock holding by over 25 per cent to a massive £3.5 million in preparation for summer, and as part of this process it has been steadily integrating a new warehouse management system (WMS) into its 125,000sq ft warehouse in Merseyside.

“The roll out of a new WMS in the distribution centre follows the implementation of the technology in the upholstery wood factory,” says Chris. “This development will allow for full visibility from order creation to order allocation as well as providing us with a full audit history in support of our quality control procedures.”

With £30 million turnover for the year ending 2014, and sales of £37 million anticipated for 2015, the future looks positive for Dams International as it continues to invest across all areas of the business to ensure ongoing growth.

“We are planning to continue our organic growth of office furniture as well as looking at some vertical markets. This strategy was kicked off in February 2015 with the acquisition of Morris Contract Furniture, which is involved in the manufacture and supply of hospitality furniture,” says Chris.

This acquisition included stock, online presence and its extensive catalogue of unique and innovative designs. Morris Contract Furniture will become a sub-brand of Dams International and aligned to its existing business model, which means it will now only supply furniture through the reseller channel, including office dealers, interior designers, architects, fit out contractors and catering suppliers.

“Throughout 2015 we will be rolling the Morris Contract Furniture brand into accommodation, education, acoustics and corporate interiors as well as the existing hospitality market. Meanwhile, for the overall business, the next 24 months are planned out in relation to Cap Ex; we know where to invest and when to maintain the current growth plan,” concludes Chris.

Diamond Box

Box

clever

A specialist in manufacturing corrugated packaging; Diamond Box is one of the fast growing cardboard manufacturers in the UK

Diamond Box Ltd Products: Corrugated packaging manufacturer Sites: One, UK Employees: 140 www.diamond-box.co.uk

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iamond Box is a specialist manufacturer of corrugated packaging – in fact, as the company website states: ‘If it’s made out of cardboard we’ll be your one-stop-shop.’ Founded in 2007 by husband and wife team Kavi and Rani Jundu, Diamond Box has grown and developed into a leading independent supplier of corrugated packaging, thanks to Kavi’s vision, combined with considerable experience in a family based corrugated manufacturing business. He saw an opportunity in the market for a high quality, independent manufacturer of cardboard packaging, particularly for the FMCG sector.

One of the founding principles of Diamond Box was a commitment to establishing strong and enduring relationships with key strategic partners both in custom and supply across the UK. These solid relationships with suppliers enable the business to source the very best quality raw materials. By closely monitoring both international and local markets, combined with customer needs Diamond Box is able to carefully manage the

supply and demand cycle to ensure it is able to provide products of high quality with short lead times, at competitive rates, and with consistency and reliability. As Kavi adds: “Customers are the best consultants you can ever have. By listening to what they want from a supplier we have filled the gap and considerably out grown the market since our inception.”

This strategy is backed up by a commitment to continually invest into the latest manufacturing technology to ensure that the products offered

by Diamond Box are made in the most efficient way and to the highest possible quality standard.

This ethos gives the company both market leading output and productivity, which in turn brings benefits to clients in terms of high quality products delivered on a very competitive pricing policy at shorter lead times.

Kavi’s approach to the business has been extremely successful, and the company has gone from strength to strength, now turning over in excess of £21m and holding the position of the largest independently owned cardboard box

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Diamond Box

manufacturing business in the Midlands, and one of the largest single site sheet plants in the country.

The services on offer from Diamond Box include consultancy, design and manufacture. Its sales team has extensive experience assisting customers in developing solutions. From simple cartons to complex packaging, they can advise on the most economical solutions to meet exact specifications and quality requirements.

If clients also require design assistance, Diamond Box’s design service is there to produce high quality drawings. Its design process matches economy of materials, production, transport and storage with quality, strength and fitness for purpose. The team uses the latest in CAD software and sample-making technology designers are available to liaise directly with clients, to ensure their ultimate needs are understood and translated into the end product.

Once the client is happy to proceed to manufacture, the order is sent to the factory floor of Diamond Box’s high tech facility. This is stocked with an extensive range of machinery, which enables it to offer a broad product offering, ranging from conventional 0201 cases to five colour SRP’s, to small and large format diecutting to complex multipoint cases with self seal tape.

The core machines within the factory are the Emba 170QS and Emba 245 QS, both extremely capable case makers. These state-of-the-art systems enable Diamond Box to produce quality products at high speeds, from the simplest brown box to complex retail-ready packaging. With a wide range of product sizes with up to four-colour printing and speeds of up to 26,400 cases per hour, the conversion plant can satisfy the most challenging of tasks.

In 2013 the production area was the recipient of the substantial investment, with the arrival of a five-colour Bobst High Quality Printer. This enabled Diamond Box to break into new markets, such as the high quality post-print market as well as the value added market.

A Latitude case maker was also commissioned during 2013. This delivered a 50 per cent increase in case making capacity, and this was essential to comfortably accommodate peak demand during

the Christmas period. The new machines ensure that lead times are improved for customers as well as bringing a faster turnover for conventional work.

Commenting on the investment, Kavi noted: “We’ve always been highly invested, which has served us and our clients well over the last five years as we’ve grown from a £7 million start up, to today’s £21 million turnover business.”

Alongside the significant investments into its facilities, 2013 was a special year for Diamond Box, as the business’ achievements were acknowledged with several major business awards. These began with the Small to Medium Business of the Year Award at The Express and Star Business Awards 2013, which recognises innovative marketing techniques, first class customer service as well as having a committed workforce.

This was soon followed by two awards at the The Black Country Asian Business Association (BCABA) Awards on 21st June 2013. Diamond Box was crowned Business of the Year and CEO Kavi Jundu was awarded Business Person of the Year. He described it as: ‘An award for an individual that has contributed to the economic

development of the Black Country.’

The awards kept coming, with Diamond Box also winning Business of the Year at the English Asian Business Awards 2013 in September the same year. Business of the Year ‘recognises the enterprise that has come on leaps and bounds over the last year and thus unequivocally dominating its corner of the market.’ Diamond Box emerged victorious amongst four other businesses from across the English Asian community - Kavi commented at the time: “It is such a honour to add another award to Diamond Box’s growing collection, this award is extra special as the nomination process is anonymous and whoever nominated Diamond Box for the award could range from the general public to our own clients.”

It is clear that Diamond Box, under the experienced entrepreneurial eye of Kavi, has grown into a force to be reckoned with in the corrugated packaging market. By continuing to uphold his strategy and approach, the business will continue to be able to offer customers the highest quality products at the most competitive prices whilst ensuring a sustainable and profitable future.

Higgins Balers

When Diamond Box were recently experiencing reliability problems with their automatic baler – a vital part of their manufacturing process – Higgins Balers were called in. Using its group of experienced engineers Higgins Balers serviced and overhauled their press including the hydraulic and tying systems of the machine. By providing the personal and rapid response that they needed, Higgins Balers were able to ensure the recycling part of Diamond Box’s manufacturing continued smoothly.

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R. Stahl (P) Ltd

Futureproof By responding to the changing certification standards and testing norms, the Indian subsidiary of the German group R. STAHL is establishing itself as a leading , trendsetting manufacturer of the modern, explosion protection technology-based equipment.

R. Stahl (P) Ltd Products: Explosion-proof electrical equipment Sites: Main production locations: Germany, the Netherlands and Norway International sales companies include the US, Great Britain, China and India Employees in R. STAHL India: 400 www.rstahl.net

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t being currently 137 years old, with over 80 years of experience in the explosion protection technology industry and a global footprint, the Germany-based company R. STAHL has built a name that has become synonymous with explosion protection expertise.

Operating under ISO 9001:2008 certification for the QMS, ATEX and IEC Ex approvals for all its manufacturing facilities, the company manufactures world-class components for gas and dust explosive environments ranging from light fittings and junction boxes to control panels and signalling products, and above all, system solutions. In 2000 the company set up its Indian arm, R. STAHL (P) Ltd, which, backed up by comprehensive support from the parent company, has become a centre for manufacturing excellence for the group’s worldwide operations.

Managing director of R. STAHL in India, Joerg Fitzek outlines the company’s main industries and markets: “From India, we mainly cater to the market needs of the EMEA countries, as well as Asia and a small part of the Americas, mainly through other subsidiaries and distributors of R. STAHL. However, we do serve industries in India

as well, including the pharmaceutical, oil and gas, fertilisers and chemicals, off shore and marine, and OEMs.” Sixty per cent of the company’s revenue share comes from exports, whilst the remaining 40 is attributed to sales within India. However, Joerg suggests that business within India has been thwarted by a couple of issues that appear to be changing: “One major drawback of the Indian industry is its price sensitive nature and lack of awareness around the advantages of the globally accepted IEC Ex certification,” he says. “They are still dwelling in the era of the IS/IEC standards and local Indian certification, and therefore still source the equipment from the Indian manufacturers whose products may not necessarily meet the requirements laid down by the new standards.

Despite this there is a lot happening in India at the moment in terms of industrial growth, especially within the pharmaceutical, power, railway, infrastructure, shipping, mining and steel industries.

So this could improve the situation.”

The strengths of the business centre predominantly around the level of quality afforded to its products and services. “We have a complete

service backup team in place,” explains Joerg. “This assures a quick response to RFQ’s, competitive pricing and reasonable delivery time. We ensure that all our products undergo very stringent quality tests within the Indian facility, and we invite all decision makers from our customers to make a factory visit, so they have the confidence that they are sourcing from a reliable and trustworthy, longstanding manufacturer.”

In 2013, the company in India moved to a new site situated in a developed industrial area near Chennai, which includes a spacious, welldesigned manufacturing facility equipped with

state-of-the-art CNC machines, and the first Silicone foaming machine in India. This combined with new leadership under Joerg and a refocusing of the business attitude has enabled R. STAHL to streamline the business and create a much more productive environment. The site has also enabled the company to develop its research and development team with a new laboratory and associated utilities.

“After this move, we could now follow our company’s policy of lean manufacturing much more effectively, because of an improved production layout,” says Joerg. The improvements made have

Managing director of R. STAHL in India, Joerg Fitzek

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R. Stahl (P) Ltd

led R. STAHL to being the first manufacturer in India to produce in accordance with the latest amended IEC regulations. The shift also brought with it a renewed attention to personnel within the Indian business. Attributing it to part of the business’s current success Joerg notes: “We have an HR policy which promises good growth opportunities for our talented personnel around the globe, because of this our employees are perpetually on a learning curve.”

With a strong R&D department behind it, and an improved production line the company is able to demonstrate its ability to innovate and meet the demands of an ever-changing market, and this can be seen in its latest development in lighting. “LED lights by virtue of their self-generated thermal energy pose a challenge to the manufacturer particularly when the installation is in a hazardous area,” highlights Joerg. “Proper heat dissipation and management of the emitted thermal energy and electronics are key to succeeding in the design.

After several years of dedication from our R&D department, the experts in Germany have come up with a design that is proven to deliver a service life of up to 80,000 hours. The lighting is available for use in both zone 1 and 2 applications.”

As the company looks forward, R. STAHL has a positive outlook. “Projects in the oil and gas offshore and pharmaceutical sectors are shaping up well and we hope to clinch some major project orders in the coming months,” emphasises Joerg.

“In the coming year we foresee and are confident in achieving 40 per cent growth as we also develop our product offering further. Over the next five years we have a vision to grow by five times as more and more industries around the globe are switching over to IEC Ex certified products for their plants. We are already working on enhancing our capacity to keep pace with the growing needs of the market, as we also work to become one of the busiest manufacturing facilities in the R. STAHL organisation.”

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Baxi

A quality

installation

As a market leader in the UK boiler industry, Baxi places quality of product and service as paramount to its continued success

Baxi Products: Boiler manufacturer Employees: UK - approx 1500 employees www.baxi.co.uk

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ith a strong heritage dating back to 1866 when Richard Baxendale founded the company, Baxi has grown to become a global company supplying boilers to consumer and industrial markets. Employing around 6500 people worldwide, the company has manufacturing sites across Europe and sales offices across Europe, the Americas, Russia and China. Based in the UK, Baxi sits under the umbrella of Dutch based BDR Thermea, and operates three brands: Baxi, Potterton and Main Heating in the UK, with1500 employees spread across two manufacturing sites, customer contact centre, sales offices and training centres. At the heart of Baxi is its commitment to quality of product and service, and the core value is to make it easy for its customers throughout the supply chain. Continued focus on this value has earned the company an award winning reputation.

“We make sure that everything is of the

highest quality,” confirms managing director, Paul Hardy. “We spend a lot of time making sure that quality is at the forefront of everything that we do. We don’t just test our boiler within the factory; we also monitor all of our equipment out in the field. This means we have the lowest failure rate record in the industry.” This strength of product quality is reinforced in the operations and manufacturing process employed by Baxi.

“We don’t just assemble our boilers like our competition, we’re actually the only boiler manufacturer to still have a foundry,” highlights Paul. “So we manufacture heat exchangers, which are basically the engines within the boilers.

We also export heat exchangers to our sister companies in the Netherlands, Germany and Turkey.

“Manufacturing this way brings us both cost savings and quality benefits, as we are able to manufacture in large quantities to satisfy our sister companys’ demands throughout Europe, and it can drive efficiencies through the factory.”

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Baxi Preston factory

Crucible in the foundry

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Aside from this, black belt six sigma operatives and the employment of lean manufacturing support the Baxi production facility. “In this programme we examine all of our processes within the factory to ensure that quality is maintained throughout,” he continues.

Supporting the quality of product is the company’s quality of service. “We have a very strong customer service department called Baxi Customer Support,” explains Paul. “We have 250 engineers out on the road ensuring that all our customers get the best aftercare with our products. The customer is at the heart of everything we do. We do a lot of customer insight, so our marketing team will have extended programmes where we are constantly asking for feedback from our installers, our supply chain and, most importantly, from our customers.” By offering such a service the company works to meet the vision of its strap line: ‘We make it easy.’

Testifying to the company’s commitment to product and service is the wealth of awards Baxi has won and been nominated for in recent years.

Most notable amongst awards for customer service, green manufacturing and supply chain partnerships is the Queen’s award for Enterprise in Innovation, which the company won in 2012.

“We developed and manufactured the first domestic combined heat and power boiler that was available to the UK market,” outlines Paul. The awards not only give recognition to the company on a public stage, but also serve to realise the efforts it puts into ensuring high expectations are being met.

One significant pressure ever present on boiler manufacturers is the constant focus on energy legislation and this will come into another stage of fruition in September 2015, when the new ErP (Energy-related Products) Directive is implemented. “We’ve known about this legislation that’s been driven from Europe for the last three years, so as an organisation our R&D departments have been working non-stop to ensure that we understand the legislation and that its requirements are met,” explains Paul. “We’ve had to make changes to the products to make sure newly regulated

Baxi EcoBlue Heat Advance, external and internal views

components can be incorporated. As a result we have just been through one of our biggest field test processes ever to make sure that all the changes were right. This process then culminates in us launching our new range of ErP compliant boilers from the first of June.” Abiding by its commitment to service, this change in regulation has also prompted the company to train not only its own internal engineers, but also external installers through a number of regional training centres. “We have undergone a massive training programme to make sure that everyone understands the new regulations,” he adds.

The future is defined by both its own development and by playing a leading role within the industry as it moves forward. Paul sees the need to continue building the brand reputation within the market place, as well as looking ahead at an industry that is becoming increasingly aware of data. “There is a lot of emphasis at the moment on looking at connectivity in our boilers so that it is easier for consumers to manage their heating systems and gas consumption,” he says. Aside from this, Paul also explains the importance to increase communication with the Government: “As a market leader we try to help

the Government shape its future energy policies.

We engage with our local MP and other industry and Government organisations on a regular basis so they can understand and represent us in parliament and help the Government with their challenges in the future.”

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Farrel

In the

mix

Banbury NST Tangential Rotors

Following major investments in 2014, Farrel Ltd has slashed production times and enhanced machine reliability to ensure it can meet increased demand from the rubber processing and tyre making industry

Farrel Limited Products: Designer, developer and producer of mixing and compounding machinery Principle sites: UK, US, Italy & Singapore Employees: 179 www.farrel-pomini.com

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t the forefront of innovations since its inception in 1900, Rochdale based Farrel Ltd began as David Bridge and Sons, a company that focused on the niche rubber production market.

With the groundbreaking Banbury® mixer invented in 1916 by Fernley H Banbury, an engineer at the Birmingham Iron Foundry in Connecticut, USA, David Bridge and Sons set up license agreements with the foundry and began production and sales of the machine in 1918.

Over the years the company was acquired

by Farrel Corporation and renamed Farrel Ltd. Discussing the company’s further developments, board director of Farrel Ltd Ian Wilson begins: “In 2008 we were sold to our German competitor and the formation of the HF Mixing Group was created in 2010 together with two of our former competitors, Harburg Freudenberger and Pomini. In line with these developments, respective business units were formed to market our batch mixer technology, which includes; tangential BU, Rochdale England; Intermeshing and Systems BU, Freudenberg Germany; and the Convex BU, Rescaldina Italy. Furthermore another separate business unit Farrel Pomini, Ansonia USA was established in 2011 to market the continuous mixing equipment of the former Farrel Corporation and Pomini companies, which is focused on thermoplastic compounding applications.”

Elaborating on the benefits of this acquisition,

Ian continues: “Farrel Ltd is now a global player that sells to all of the top 100 tyre manufacturers across the world, with the majority of business in the UK related to the automotive business. As part of the HF Mixing Group, we have a number of manufacturing facilities, one in the UK, two in the US and one in Germany. We also have a newer lower cost facility in Slovakia and are setting up service facilities in Asia, India and China. Being in close proximity to our customers means we can deliver a great service and remain competitive as we can focus on volume, production and key competencies at different manufacturing sites.”

As part of the HF Mixing Group, Farrel Ltd focuses on the production of the Banbury Mixer, which will celebrate its centennial anniversary in 2016. Highly innovative and beneficial to the tyre industry, the Banbury® mixer has become the accepted standard in tangential mixing technology Banbury 305N Internal Mixers

since its invention and remains the first choice for a diverse range of applications in the tyre industry.

Ideally suited to the specific requirements of multistep applications, the Banbury® mixer boasts good intake and discharge behaviour, optimal cooling behaviour and superior dispersion and distribution quality; all of which guarantees profitable and efficient masterbatch, remilling and final mixing processes. Other features of the product includes increased volumes for tangential mixers, greater batch size with different ram profiles , optimised hydraulic cylinder direct (HCD) dust seal system and new single point lubrication system.

“The Banbury® mixer is a very strong brand within the rubber and plastic market,” confirms Ian. “It is essentially the Hoover to the vacuum cleaner.”

Having increased the number of machines produced annually from 30 to 45, Farrel Ltd has set the foundations for further growth with major investments in its facilities following funding from the Regional Growth Fund in 2014. The money has enabled the 170 strong firm to spend £1.1 million on state-of-the-art machining centre technology, which has drastically reduced production times across a number of processes and thus reduced lead time from 16 to 18 weeks to less than nine.

“The key investment was the 2D CNC Toyoda Machining Centre, however, we also installed another smaller machining centre, Correa, and acquired new welding equipment. Moreover, we now have a new robot system for our dust seal ring component parts and invested heavily in the assembly area with new overhead cranes.”

These investments will complement Farrel Ltd’s high level of hard surfacing and rotor technology competence and further enable it to deliver new solutions to its global customer base. “We spend a high percentage of our time on research and development projects so we can introduce new mixer sizes into the market on a continuous basis,” says Ian. “For example, we are currently working on a knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) project that I initiated two or three years ago, which is 50 per cent government funded by the KTP. We have a KTP engineer in place throughout

the duration of the project, which is focused on producing a model to calculate the lubrication requirements of the dust seal assembly up of the mixer; this is one of the most maintenance intensive parts of the machine and is always a frequent topic of discussion with our customers.

We entered this project to develop the theoretical model to determine more precisely what the lubrication requirements are, subject to the application. That way we can look at being more innovative in future designs and extend the working life of the dust seals while also lowering oil consumption.”

In addition to developing new innovations, Farrel Ltd will also look to consolidate its product line and build high volume standard products that will reduce cost and boost competitiveness throughout 2015. “Our growth has been substantial since 2006 when our turnover was in the region of £20 million; it has since increased to £40 million in 2014. Moreover, our head count has increased from 130 to 179 in the past six years. Over the next three to five years our goal is to increase production to 60 machines annually; there is also huge potential for us to be involved in maintenance work on existing machines in operation, should customers choose not to invest in new mixers,” concludes Ian.

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Polar Manufacturing

A bespoke

service With a busy 2015 ahead of it, Polar Manufacturing has revamped its website and invested in new equipment to ensure ongoing success

Polar Manufacturing Products: Leading designer and manufacturer of specialist carbon fibre and composite material Sites: Norfolk, UK Employees: 25 www.polar-manufacturing.com

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ounded in 2011, Polar Manufacturing is the result of Mike Harris making the strategic decision to enter the market with a full consultancy, design and manufacture service for carbon fibre and composite products. A design engineer with nearly two decades of experience in composites, Mike was keen to ensure this turnkey service took place in-house as a one-stop-shop solution, as opposed to outsourcing. With this in mind, a purpose-built facility was established in Wymondham, Norfolk, where Mike developed a highly trained ensemble around him, which enabled the innovative firm to grow quickly.

Since its inception Polar Manufacturing has accumulated an impressive customer base, including a number of blue chip companies such as Bentley, Lotus, McLaren and Ariel Motor Co. in both the UK and abroad. In line with this progression, the company has expanded its headquarters, with additional space being

created and more staff being resourced to handle demand. To ensure quality, safety and efficiency levels, as well as the company’s key philosophies of precision, hard work and integrity, are consistently maintained, all new employees are trained by existing senior staff members.

Able to bring its customers ideas to life, Polar Manufacturing designs and manufactures high quality carbon fibre and composite products from start to finish. Using its many years of experience within the automotive and defence sector, the company has expanded into the production of parts for a comprehensive range of products such as lightweight casings through bespoke designs to precision engineered luxury items.

In 2014 the company was contracted by London based Cinimod Studio to be the main developer of Emergence for Caviar House & Prunier, a stunning new lighting sculpture to be placed in Heathrow’s new Terminal 2 International Departures lounge. With tooling design beginning

in late January 2014, Polar Manufacturing worked to a tight schedule to ensure the project was completed in just 11 weeks. Parts of the sculpture were produced during February and March, with both companies working together for a further three weeks to erect the structure at Heathrow in time for Easter 2014.

Looking to capture the movement of a school of fish underwater, the two companies created visually striking light patterns through the use of ultra-modern interactive digital lighting. Originally meant to be comprised of a large amount of steel, the final result of Emergence was that of a sculpture comprised of 500 individual components of carbon fibre. In March 2015 Emergence was named Special Project of the Year at the 2015 Lighting Design Awards in London, with judges describing the sculpture as ‘simply beautiful’.

As demand continues to increase for Polar Manufacturing’s optimum quality services, the company has strengthened its marketability to potential new customers through a revamp of its website that gives viewers a clear and thorough insight into its skills and expertise in a visually pleasing manner. Each process undertaken at the company’s facilities is described under its ‘What We Do’ section, while a ‘Projects’ link allows viewers to see its strong capabilities in delivering superior solutions to major customers. Another notable improvement on the company’s website is the addition of a new video, which takes viewers behind the scenes at Polar Manufacturing’s facility and shows the level of detail put into producing rear wings for the high performance British sports car, Ariel Atom.

Alongside the revamp of its website, the company has also invested in a new 1.2 x 3.1 m long, 90 psi pressure autoclave at its manufacturing and production facilities. The pressurised heated chamber, or oven where the lamination is cured, is the second to be delivered at the facility and will allow extra capacity and meet ongoing demand in the laminating segment of the business.

Using the approved pre-preg kit, and with instruction from the lay-up manual, the fabric is placed into the mould before the layers are built up. Although core materials such as foam or Nomex are used to ensure a thicker laminate without sacrificing high strength and low weight benefits, a variety of materials are available for use to make up a part; options include carbon, glass or amarid fibres. Once all materials are placed in the mould, it is packaged in a vacuum bag for the curing process inside the autoclave. Each handcrafted component made by Polar Manufacturing has a serial number attached at the lamination stage to ensure absolute traceability.

Recently, Polar Manufacturing expanded its capabilities in lamination when it was approached

by Lotus Cars to aid in the manufacture of rear clam shells for the Lotus Exige. Acting quickly, Polar Manufacturing set up operations to build the glass

reinforced plastic (GRP) components within two weeks and established its ability to manufacture two clam shells per day through the utilisation of a split shift from one mould tool. Now able to deliver the more cost-efficient wet-lay lamination process as well as the high-end pre-preg option, the company has further enhanced its capabilities

to support its customers diverse requirements.

Ready and willing to take customers through the entire design and construction process, Polar Manufacturing is certain to flourish in composites sector as it continues to offer the best materials, a superior service and expertise under a high quality one-stop-shop solution.

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A can-do attitude F Celebrating its centennial year in 2017, family firm Ferrum AG has become the global leader in the can seaming machine sector

Ferrum AG Products: Metal forming and sealing technology Site: Switzerland, US & India Employees: 420 www.ferrum.net

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ounded in 1917 as a foundry for machinery and special parts used in tintechnics facilities, Swiss firm Ferrum AG was taken over by entrepreneur Rudolf Werder in 1925 and has since grown from a young business with two business units - metal castings and machinery for the canning industry - to a 400 strong organisation with five companies of different sizes under its helm. “Our five different business units are foundry, manufacturing, centrifuge technology (pharma and salt winning sectors), canning and washing technology,” affirms Roger Küng, chief sales director of Ferrum AG’s washing machine sector.

“When the company was established, its main activity was the foundry and the manufacture of machinery and equipment for the canning industry. The division washing technology has been taken over in 1933 by the company Kienast and Lange. The washing technology was added as a 3rd division for Ferrum, producing washing machines, centrifuges and smoothness for large

laundries. Following this development, two more divisions were added: manufacturing and the centrifuge technology; the latter of which is used in the chemical, fine chemical and pharmaceutical industries.”

A firm believer that diversification is a successful core strategy, Ferrum AG is able to ride the waves of change as its markets have varied cyclic characteristics. For example, one market sector’s economic slump can be absorbed by the successes of other markets. Moreover, as Ferrum AG’s business units operate in small niche markets, they all boast significant market shares and are well positioned to maintain and expand these. “We supply a huge variety of industrial sectors with products and services that form the base for countless end user products. The widely diversified product range reduces the financial risks. Benefits of this include worldwide activities on every continent, a high level of self-financing and economic independence; all of which ensure that the company will continue to enjoy a strong

Ferrum

position with excellent prospects in the future.”

With offices in Rupperswill and Schafisheim, Switzerland, as well as Houston, Texas, the US, and Mumbai India, Ferrum AG has developed into a respected, financially solid company with a product and service portfolio that is tailored to the latest market requirements. Due to these strengths, the company has become the world number one in the can seaming machine sector and stands among the global leaders in centrifuge technology for chemicals, pharmaceuticals and raw materials. In addition, it is amongst the leading companies in Switzerland for car wash technology and textile washing technology and runs one of the bestequipped foundries in its home country. “Our canning technology is produced in Switzerland and exported worldwide; this is due to the strong reputation we have gained for experience and reliability over the last 98 years. Our canning machines can close 3000 tins in one minute. We also deliver, service, supply and install machines and spare parts across the globe,” says Roger. With well-trained and highly experienced Ferrum AG service employees working in 15 countries such as Europe, Asia, Russia and North America, the innovative firm is able to deploy products, services and staff to over 70 countries.

Proud to deliver Swiss quality and functionality in all areas of operation, the company’s canning technology sector has witnessed strong growth due to high quality machines with optimum productivity. In fact, a single can seamer can seam up to 150,000 beverage cans an hour on a nonstop, 24/7 basis. Moreover, to meet the special regulations for food processing technology, the company uses special vacuum seamer machines to seam wet products, such as corn, which increases the shelf life of the product.

Meanwhile, Ferrum AG’s washing technology business segment is the only division within the

company to not produce its own machines; instead, washing machines, dryers and ironers are directly imported from Belgium from the Alliance International. “The industrial ironing tables, small ironers and clothing distribution systems come from Sidi Mondial, GMP and LCT from the Netherlands, while installation and servicing comes from the Ferrum AG team,” says Roger.

“The market for laundry equipment in Switzerland is highly competitive. Many strong suppliers have very good quality machines on the market. The service takes more and more importance. Here lies the strength of Ferrum

washing technology. We are trying to stand out from the employees through an excellent service.

The importance of maintaining the service and supply of spare parts and equipment is very important. The customer expects a quick solution in case of problems or breakdowns. Replacement is only necessary, when the machine cannot be repaired. In these situations delivered must be quickly. We have very good experience with our suppliers, which is one of the main reasons why the business is going well.”

Benefiting from activities worldwide on every continent, a high level of self-financing and economic independence, Ferrum AG is certain to progress as an organisation with a strong market position, a broad product portfolio and excellent opportunities for growth. “We have a variety of interesting projects coming up in the future and, with this work load, are confident about the future.

Within the washing technology segment, we are looking to expand the business by 2018 and have more machines on the market; to reach this target we require good co-operation with suppliers and a strong connection with business partners,” concludes Roger.

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Plextek Consulting

Driving

innovation Serving a diverse range of market sectors, technology consultants Plextek Consulting has built a successful reputation throughout the UK based on strong relationships

Plextek Consulting.

Services: One of Europe’s largest independent technology consultancies Sites: Great Chesterford, UK Employees: 100+ www.plextek.com

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ounded in 1989, Plextek Consulting has developed over the years to become a leading design and manufacturing consultancy group with major clients operating within defence and security, medical, automotive, wireless communications and autonomous systems sectors. As the trusted partner of choice for more than 300 commercial clients, government agencies and start-up companies, the company serves customers such as the MoD, Thales, QinetiQ, BAE Systems, Ofcom

and TDK. CEO, Simon Cassia reflects on one project that raised the company to a new level, both in terms of its size and experience: “Plextek Consulting won against a significant tier one competitor for its first design and manufacturing contract with a US corporation by providing a pioneering solution where innovation enabled a very attractive business model. By the time the customer had built its own engineering and manufacturing capability six years later, we had manufactured five million complex, in-vehicle devices. The experience gained in the relationship provided a great springboard from which to offer the same service to other customers, and Plextek now performs this dual technical design service/manufacturing role for several companies.”

Central to the company’s culture is its ability to innovate, taking an idea from concept to market. Supported by a strong network of suppliers, commercial partners and research organisations, Plextek Consulting is able to offer an appealing and competitive service to all of its markets.

Commenting on the strengths of the business, Simon says: “It

Bottom left: Monitor with Essex interface and next generation telecell Right: PneumaScan instrument

is simply innovation and real world manufacturing experience. We innovate in two key areas: technology and business model. It is the execution of the solution through manufacturing experience that has gained the company its reputation for onfunction, on-time and on-budget delivery.”

One significant industry for Plextek is security and defence. Over the last three years the company has won 19 MoD innovation projects, putting it in a leading position within the UK. It has also received its second Raytheon SpaRK (SME Partnerships Advancing Raytheon Knowledge) award. “Plextek Consulting has found Raytheon’s approach to innovation very refreshing,” notes Simon. “Like several other companies, including the UK MoD, Raytheon holds R&D competitions to link into the latest thinking in the industry. These are high risk and potentially high reward projects, therefore Raytheon can be confident that we have the capability to progress the innovation all the way through to manufacture and in-service support.”

The synergies gained from joining forces with major companies on a collaborative innovation and R&D model are highly significant in the everchanging technological landscape. Commenting on the importance of such relationships Richard Daniel, CEO of Raytheon UK says: “We believe that building collaborative R&D relationships with this community will enable us to deliver innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of our customers across our sectors. In exchange they will gain access to challenging markets, paths to exploitation and relationships with primes, which include guidance and networking.”

Raytheon’s most recent award to Plextek was for addressing the need for a technology to provide dismounted soldiers with a reliable estimate of their position in a GPS-denied environment. “The technology involved integrating inertial sensors within soldiers’ boots. The sensors within a group of dismounted soldiers are able to communicate and share information with each other, improving the overall positional accuracy of each soldier.” The system was developed from the company’s work on precise navigation and timing, which was initially demonstrated by unmanned underwater vehicles, as part of the company’s unveiling in October 2014 of five new unmanned technology developments. Amongst other systems introduced were electronically steerable antennas for small UAS, selective video compression and video technology for remotely piloted systems, which improve the communication reliability of video feeds, and counter-UAS and local airspace monitoring solutions.

Outside the defence industry, Plextek is playing an instrumental role in improving automotive safety in accordance with the rise of connected

vehicles.

“No such awareness exists for what is arguably a dangerous threat: attacks on the networks and systems inside vehicles,” highlights Simon. “It is clear that cyber security on these systems needs to be absolute, or the risk to occupants and pedestrians could be extreme. We have recognised this weakness and have been instrumental in the creation of a new consortium focused on cyber security for connected vehicles. Its members are looking to define the threats, classify the security needs and then consider how to solve those needs.”

Over the past years, Plextek has been able to maintain its strong reputation and competitive position in the market, despite challenging economic conditions. “The diversity of our activities has ensured the company is extremely resilient and it has emerged from the most recent economic turbulence as a much stronger organisation,” concludes Simon. “As we look forward, going into 2016, our defence and medical divisions will be building on existing

client engagements and focus on the scaling up of project sizes. We will also start executing a number of product designs as part of new relationships in which Plextek will be the manufacturing and supply partner. Ultimately, with technology and product innovation as the bedrock of our business, the aim in the next five years shall be to develop our client relationships that will lead to scalability, both in terms of capability through partner collaboration and in revenue through manufacturing and supply.”

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Tronrud Engineering

Production

partner

A forward-thinking approach means Tronrud Engineering embraces innovative new technology

Tronrud Engineering AS Products: Supplier of specialist machinery Sites: Norway, Singapore and India Employees: 100 www.tronrud.no

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ronrud Engineering was established in 1977 by Ola Tronrud, and today the company maintains its position as a supplier of specialist machinery and automation solutions to a wide range of industries. “We assist our customers with the development of profitable industrial products and technical solutions,” begins sales and marketing director Kurt Parkstad. “Our talented staff works closely with the customer throughout the project process, from idea through to design and construction to commissioning. More than thousand projects have been completed since the company was founded,” he continues.

The development, production and delivery of innovative customised products and services provide its customers both increased profit and advantage, recognised for its good design and high quality. With the aim of being a co-operative partner, participating in all stages of the delivery, the company has built many years experience in prototype manufacturing engineering, ensuring its competency in various consultant assignments.

Working across a range of industries, its projects have included an automatic assembly line for brake house fittings within the automotive sector, to ball welding on vanes for jet engines and trolleys for moving helicopters and large offshore equipment. Keeping all aspects of its business

including R&D, M&E engineering, machining and welding in-house allows the business to effectively operate across a broad spectrum of work.

Innovation and creativity plays a more important and increasing part in today’s business, and as the reforming rate increases in all industries, Tronrud has to continue to be innovative in order to keep up with the global competition, and furthermore to stay ahead.

As one of the first enterprises in Norway to introduce 3D computer assisted design, its construction department has through many years acquired a special competence in 3D drawing. “The demand for effectiveness in production and the optimal utilisation of manmachine is becoming more and more important.

At the same time innovation and R&D remain vitally important in the development of the company. Most of this work is done in close cooperation with customers and R&D centres in Norway. Tronrud Engineering put a lot of effort and resources in new development projects,” says Kurt. Most notably it was one of the first company in Norway to begin commercial production with 3D-printer in metal.

Being at the forefront of manufacturing has also led to contracts within the sustainable industries, as Kurt points out: “We have been

able to develop automatic manufacturing equipment for various sectors of the PV industry.

We offer a wide range of flexible production modules which can be combined to form fullyautomatic production lines within wafer or cell manufacturing, or smaller stand-alone systems.

We have also worked on a Cathode ray tube cutter in co-operation with Repant developing a deposit automat for empty bottles and crates.”

With its welding department consisting of a full range of skilled personnel, the business is able to execute both internal and external production assignments, welding in the vast majority of materials including steel, stainless steel and aluminum in a welding hall equipped with friendly environmental suction systems and wide entrances for loading and unloading.

Other processes include water jet cutting and a machining department with 19 CNC controlled milling machines and turning tables where the company can process most kind of materials. With drawings transferred directly from its designers to the machines, high accuracy and short programming time is ensured. With quality being fundamental, the necessity of a strong supply chain and a talented workforce is great, as Kurt explains: “Our highly skilled employees, experience and good relations with the clients give us the strength to remain competitive in today’s environment. And of course; good and reliable products, so our supplier’s quality is very important for the quality of the final product delivered by Tronrud Engineering. A close follow up of the supply chain is of utmost importance for our success and our client success.”

Tronrud’s commitment to quality is highlighted by the company’s ISO certification, which it successfully achieved within months of applying.

The procedures for safety and quality that this certification highlights are particularly essential for the work the company carries out in its role as a supplier to the oil and gas industry. Working within that industry, Tronrud has been involved

in projects such as manufacturing an automobile transport trolley for heavy equipment to be used in EX environment offshore, as well as the assembly of BoltSafe sensors; a concept ensuring that the correct residual pre-tension is applied to threaded joints in offshore cranes and bridges.

“We are very optimistic about the coming years in most part of our business segments,” says Kurt. “Because we are involved in several market areas, the impact of the downsizing in the

oil and gas industry has not been too negative,” he adds. As the company looks ahead with the strategic vision to grow in the existing markets as well as expand into new markets and new products, the future is looking very positive.

As part of Eggemoen Aviation & Technology Park – with 600 acres of land and access to an airfield and railroad, the company benefits from being part of the new cluster area for industrial development and innovation.

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