SFC (Europe)

SECURING SU HIGH INTEGRI

SFC (Europe) is a market-leading British manufacturer specialising in the production and supply of safety critical and high integrity bolting for various industries, including energy, oil and gas (both onshore and offshore), subsea and refining. Richard Hagan met with Business Development Director Ian Crabtree and Business Development Manager Adam Tranter to uncover the story behind SFC’s market dominance, its dedication to quality and its plans for the future.

Established in 2013, SFC (Europe) began life primarily focused on the business of trading studding, stud bolts and nuts. Thanks to its team’s combined knowledge and experience within the fastener industry, added to its reputation for excellent service, the company found fast success, particularly in the export market.

In 2016, SFC seized an opportunity to acquire a nearby specialist manufacturing company. This decision profoundly evolved

SFC’s offering, elevating the company from the business of trading into a dedicated manufacturer and supplier of specialist safety critical components produced in accordance with client specifications and drawings, as well as international standards.

Facilities and machinery

SFC’s headquarters and manufacturing facility is located in Wolverhampton, UK. Employing 94 specialised staff, the company occupies a modern, high-tech

UCCESS WITH ITY BOLTING

90,000 square foot facility that includes manufacturing, inspection, testing and extensive warehouse space.

A particular highlight of its production machinery is the two new Miyano BNA42DHY3 7-axis CNC machining centres. “These are very state-of-the-art machines,” said Business Development Director Ian Crabtree. “You program them with the component you need and then you load the bar - the raw material - into their magazine feed. The machine then produces the final, finished component.”

Meeting demand

“These machines have vastly improved certain processes of ours because previously, we sometimes had to take the item from one CNC machine to another in order to finish it off, whereas now it all gets done on a single machine,” he added. “It’s also made those processes much more efficient because we can run the machines overnight after-hours to work on their own.”

Business Development Manager Adam Tranter agreed: “The machines are built for high volumes, with good cycle times

and increased productivity, which is important because the industry generally suffers from long lead times. With our new machines, we are able to load the bar feeds and run the machines on a lights-out operation.”

Nonetheless, SFC has added a night shift to its operational cycle to further enhance its machine shop capacity so that it can continue to meet increasing demand from its customers. In addition to its night shift and new machinery, in April 2023 SFC will expand its operation, following the acquisition of an additional 30,000 square foot facility across the road from its current one.

“The additional space will enable us to expand both our existing raw material storage space and our machining

capacity,” Mr Tranter revealed. “Increasing our machining capacity is an ongoing process however, as we continue to push ourselves to meet the challenge of our customer and industry demands head-on.”

According to Mr Crabtree, SFC will make good use of the additional raw material storage in the new facility: “We have increased our stock range of raw, semi-finished and finished product from £3.5 million to £6.5 million, ranging from Petrochemical grades to specialist materials, including (but not limited to) Super Duplex, High Nickel Alloys and Nickel Aluminium Bronze. We have been able to demonstrate flexibility in accommodating our customer demands too, by investing in their commonly used grades and parts to

further limit lead-time constraints, through the use of framework agreements and consignment stock.”

Stockholding investments

“We have also been continually investing in raw, semi-finished and finished product stock to limit implications of the everincreasing costs within the raw material market,” he continued. “In addition to this, we are expanding on our client-specific product manufacture strategy. For example, proactively manufacturing 100 parts against a production order for 50 to ensure any lead-time constraints are reduced for future calls for the same part.”

“The increased raw material stock is part of our ongoing effort to capture the

growing diversification within our markets,” said Mr Tranter. “We’re constantly monitoring demand for new material grades within these areas, and we try to meet market changes through company investment. Raw materials are sourced from approved mills – either client

specific or by our own audits. Regular checks are performed on incoming materials to ensure compliance with the applicable standards.”

Following on from its substantial investments into stock, plant and equipment, SFC has enjoyed measurable increases in business across all of its target markets, with particular growth in parts made to order via the client’s specifications and/or drawings.

Success in oil and gas

While SFC services various sectors, one of its longest-standing markets is the oil and gas sector, and it’s one that the company says remains key to its success.

“As an example, we work closely with domestic and international refineries, both

for shutdown and MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Operations) based projects,” Mr Tranter explained. “From our initial establishment as a stud bolt manufacturer, we have managed to develop and build a working relationship with these refineries to provide a cost-effective and lead-time suitable solution for all eventualities. This practice includes refineries in Europe as well as further afield.”

“For example, we maintain a readily available stock portfolio solely for such circumstances,” Mr Crabtree added. “SFC receives the call, with parts immediately processed, fully inspected, packed and dispatched for next day or same day arrival with the customer. This happens regularly; and it demonstrates SFC’s flexibility to ensure that emergency demands are

con sistently met with high-quality products and effective communication.”

Recounting the company’s most recent such order, Mr Tranter recalled the satisfaction of the client’s happiness. “The ‘Thank you’ that we received from the refinery was great. They’re looking for the best service from us to allow them to get back up and running, because when a refinery or rig goes down, it’s potentially losing millions per day. So, servicing our customer demands and expectations is what makes us get up in the morning.”

Concluding, Mr Crabtree highlighted SFC’s plans for the future: “Looking ahead, our expansion in capacity has enabled us to begin to explore new markets for SFC as we also consolidate and expand our existing footprint within specific industries

on a global scale. We’re excited because we’ve already seen early positive signs that point towards a strong and successful future for SFC.”