Manufacturing Today Europe Issue 138 March 2017 by Finelight Media Group

BEST PRACTICES FOR INDUSTRY LEADERS

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

today

Working

EUROPE

138 March 2017

MANUFACTURING

smarter The risk assessment process needs to be modified to meet the demands of the more dynamic Industry 4.0 approach

Also in this issue:

BT working with Baxi Heating The Cloud Contact PCI solution from BT offers Baxi Heating’s customers peace of mind when paying by credit card

• Components and maintenance • Packaging • Training • CRM technology • Industrial strategy

EDITOR’S COMMENT

Chairman Andrew Schofield Editor Libbie Hammond Art Editor/Design David Howard Staff Writers Jo Cooper Andrew Dann

Amazing

tech W

Production Manager Fleur Daniels Production studio@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Advertising Administrator Tracy Chynoweth studio@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Operations Director Philip Monument Editorial Researchers Mark Cowles Tarj D’Silva Jeff Goldenberg Ben Richell Richard Saunders Kieran Shukri Advertising Sales Joe Woolsgrove - Sales Director Mark Cawston Tim Eakins Darren Jolliffe Jonas Junca Dave King Theresa McDonald

hile looking through the pages of this issue of Manufacturing Today Europe I was so impressed by the innovation and state-of-the-ar t technology that I had to mention it in my Ed’s page! From incredible earphones that translate languages to footwear that helps treat diabetic foot ulcers, it is clear that despite the uncer tainties of today’s world, manufacturers are quietly getting on with their amazing work, undeterred. It is comfor ting that while the UK is facing Brexit, the US is dealing with the uncertainties of the Trump administration and the rest of the world has its own issues to deal with, we can rely on our manufacturers to remain steadfast in their ambitions. I would love to give a mention to every company in the magazine as they are all working so hard – please have a look through as I am sure you will find a story that interests you.

libbie@schofieldpublishing.co.uk

MANUFACTURING BEST PRACTICES FOR INDUSTRY LEADERS

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

today

EUROPE

138 March 2017

Subscriptions ikidd@schofieldpublishing.co.uk

Working

smarter The risk assessment process needs to be modiﬁed to meet the demands of the more dynamic Industry 4.0 approach

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.manufacturing-today-europe.com

Also in this issue:

BT working with Baxi Heating The Cloud Contact PCI solution from BT offers Baxi Heating’s customers peace of mind when paying by credit card

s #OMPONENTS AND MAINTENANCE s 0ACKAGING s 4RAINING s #2- TECHNOLOGY s )NDUSTRIAL STRATEGY

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, and correct at time of writing, 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.

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 1

Features 4 Spend a little to save a lot Spending money to save money doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t come easy to some, but a spend today could potentially save you millions in the long run

10 Information is power

10 Information is power The challenge for businesses is not capturing data, but how to use it. With data now coming from everything from cars, washing machines and even fridges the date deluge is set to rise

4 Spend a little to save a lot

6 Sustainable future Sustainability has changed in the eye of the consumer, demanding regulations and dwindling resources have pushed the subject to the top of the agenda

12 Working in a smart world The world is entering a new industrial revolution and this new era of digitalisation brings numerous opportunities in terms of growth and efficiency

12 Working in a smart world

8 The learning challenge E-learning is electronic learning that creates interactive and knowledge sharing in a digital format

8 The learning challenge

14 The productivity plan All eyes are on the UK industrial sector, which has led many to question whether Theresa Mayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new incentive to support UK manufacturing will be the game changer its meant to be

16 Manufacturing news Updates and announcements from the manufacturing arena

2 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

CONTENTS

Profiles 19 Mettler-Toledo Safeline Ltd. 23 Errecinque 26 Baxi 26 Baxi

78 80 82 86

Neuman Aluminium Industries Shine Food Machinery Limited HTH KÃ¸kkener A/S Weiss Spindeltechnologie GmbH

86 Weiss Spindeltechnologie GmbH

30 33 37 41 45 50 53 57

BA Clic Components Interfloor Hinopak Motors Limited SFS Intec Limited UK Elekta Planmed Oy FANUC UK Falcon Foodservice Equipment

88 92 95 97

Springfarm Architectural Mouldings Limited Air Bearings Ltd Stama AFT

57 Falcon Foodservice Equipment

97 AFT

60 62 67 70 73 76

100 102 104 106 108

GripIt Denny Bros Group Spaljisten LoneStar Fasteners Europe Mymanu MANN+HUMMEL Filtration Technology (Poland)

Romi Machines UK Diamond Box Goodridge Ltd Novart Oy Morgan Innovation and Technology (Morgan IAT)

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 3

Spend a little to save a lot

Paolo Carnovale looks at maintenance, specifically how to justify predictive/ preventative solutions

4 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

pending money to save money doesn’t come easy to some. But in the case of predictive and preventative maintenance regimes – especially for high-capital assets – a relatively modest spend could potentially offset repair or lost-production costs that run into millions. The problem with maintenance spend is that it is very hard to quantify its benefits if nothing actually goes wrong – accountants tend to like tangible figures as opposed to those generated by ‘what-if ’ scenarios. Couple this to budget competition from other disciplines and the job of justifying the expenditure becomes even harder. As it is tough to define an ‘opportunity cost/ loss’ in terms of maintenance statistically, it is far easier to look at the issues simplistically by determining, for example, the cost of maintenance vs. the cost of repair/replacement

Components and maintenance and the expected life of a machine or asset vs. its extended service life. In all cases, the cost of lost production, goodwill and customer confidence must also be factored in to this equation. Even with these simple analyses, the need to have maintenance as a strategic element of an operational plan becomes very clear, but what is the next logical step? For those with complex operations, the obvious route is the deployment of a computerised maintenance management system (CMMS), which will help remove much of the guesswork and workload by defining a strategy and timetable as well as the actual work to be undertaken on individual machines and assets. More often than not, this type of proactive approach is combined with technological solutions that offer a real-time snapshot of machine health. These solutions range from simple temperature sensors and vibration probes all the way up to bespoke, fully featured condition monitoring (CMS) software solutions. How they are selected, deployed and subsequently interrogated depends very much on the application. In the case of electronic systems, most are ‘clever enough’ to know when they are going wrong or are much easier to interrogate using intelligent systems, although cabinet-based components do need careful monitoring. Mechanical and electromechanical systems, on the other hand, tend to be more demanding and can fail in a much wider (and noisier) variety of ways. In the majority of mechanical systems, wear is the primary culprit, resulting in (to name but a few) reduced tolerances, elevated heat levels, slower and jerkier movement and the inevitable loud squeal and grinding that foreshadows something going seriously wrong. The good news is, with proper servicing and regular observation, mechanical systems can easily match and even exceed the predicted overall life of the machine. One of the primary predictive measurements in the case of wear is heat generation. Lubricant failure and additional friction almost always equate to elevated heat levels. In these cases simple, inexpensive temperature sensors come into their own. One example would be the PN151 NFC Infrared Temperature Sensor from Calex. By mounting a sensor like this near potential wear points, operators can be quickly made aware of any issues that are normally preceded by elevated temperatures. Another approach would be to use thermal-visualisation solutions, such as those offered by FLIR. These deliver a ‘heatmap’ in an easy-to-decipher format and are designed to highlight specific

From a strategic operational perspective, maintenance expenditure should be seen as something that can increase overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), create faster return on investment (ROI), lower reactive repair costs, reduce secondary damage and contribute to increased or maintainable product quality

hotspots, delivering the means to target maintenance more precisely. Wear is also normally accompanied by vibration, especially in rotating equipment. Specialist vibration sensors exist, such as those from SKF, which can measure multiple frequencies in order to differentiate between normal and abnormal vibration. Indeed, some sensors and their associated software can even highlight the potential failure mode by interrogating the frequencies being measured and comparing them against those generated by known failure modes. Earlier, we mentioned maintenance as a strategic tool. With this and a longer-term view in mind, plant managers have to cater for the changing demographics of their workforce, from one that comprises a greater number of older, specifically skilled workers, who know their machines more intimately and can therefore interpret subtle wear signals, to a smaller, younger multi-skilled workforce who rarely build up the same level of technological relationships. This younger workforce is also much more comfortable with digital solutions. From a strategic operational perspective, maintenance expenditure should be seen as something that can increase overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), create faster return on

investment (ROI), lower reactive repair costs, reduce secondary damage and contribute to increased or maintainable product quality. These are the tangible benefits that have to be at the forefront of any expense justification; and with a modest expenditure potentially having a massive positive impact on virtually all strategic goals, it is very hard to create a cogent counterargument. Predictive maintenance products help contribute to the range of RS solutions for customers looking to establish an effective plant maintenance programme. v

Paolo Carnovale Paolo Carnovale is Head of Industrial Product Marketing, RS Components. RS Components and Allied Electronics are the trading brands of Electrocomponents plc, the global distributor for engineers. With operations in 32 countries, they offer more than 500,000 products through the internet, catalogues and at trade counters to over one million customers, shipping more than 44,000 parcels a day. Products are sourced from 2500 leading suppliers, and include electronic components, electrical, automation and control, and test and measurement equipment, and engineering tools and consumables. http://uk.rs-online.com/web/generalDisplay. html?id=plant-maintenance

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 5

Sustainable

future

‘Precycling’ – don’t just recycle, be resourceful

or consumers, the perception of sustainability of a product or a brand has evolved from being just a purchasing consideration to becoming a strong purchasing catalyst. For brands, retailers, and other businesses, consumers’ growing green consciousness, coupled with demanding regulations and dwindling resources globally, has pushed sustainability to the top of the agenda (and into the bottom line). As anyone with the aftermath of a round of e-commerce purchases littering their living room floor can tell you, packaging and sustainability are inextricably linked. More commerce means more packaging means more waste. Manufacturing is at the beginning of this chain of waste, which places a responsibility in waste reduction at the core of firms’ responsibilities. The European Commission recently revised up its ‘Circular Economy Package’ recycling targets, with the adoption of a common European Union-wide goal of 75 per cent packaging waste to be recycled by 2030. Manufacturers with significant packaging operations must act now to avoid being seen as environmentally unfriendly, and to ensure they can prove their sustainability credentials. The global leader in packaging is Sealed Air,

6 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

and the business has spent years educating its customers and the marketplace that sustainability is not just about recycling, but that it is about being more resourceful at every step of the supply chain operation, establishing sustainability objectives that can be met long before any package needs to be recycled at all. This is precycling. Ken Chrisman, President of Product Care for Sealed Air, discusses how the company promotes sustainability throughout the supply chain and manufacturing process, and how the Fortune 500 business is pledging to make a global difference in its own right. “This is a critical time in the history of Sealed Air, in the history of the industries we serve and in the history of the world. A convergence of sustainability, technology and business is redefining how businesses operate, and redefining how organisations should view their environmental responsibilities. “We are a global company, and the innovations we create can have a truly global sustainability impact, which is why we place resourcefulness at the heart of our organisation. Sealed Air’s 2020 Sustainability Goals demonstrate our commitment and accountability for our sustainable solutions and superior products. With these goals, we are empowered, innovating, and

improving. Every day, for our customers, for the world. “Packaging professionals need to be taking a similarly holistic view of their operational and fulfilment processes. Resourcefulness requires an assessment to be made as to how a packaging choice will impact a business throughout its supply chain and right to its bottom line, not just how it will be recycled after use. “Manufacturing firms are integral in setting a precedent in the supply chain. By leading in the supply chain process, firms have the responsibility to champion the precycling process ahead of any considerations surrounding recycling efforts. Manufacturing needs to lead the way in protecting resources effectively as well as utilising them efficiently. “There is no amount of recyclable, biodegradable, reusable packaging that can wipe out the carbon footprint of a damaged item. Damaged items have to be returned, repaired, rehandled, repackaged and reshipped – all of this requires resource and impacts sustainability immeasurably. And damage reduction is just one of many issues packaging professionals grapple with that have an outsized impact on sustainability. “It isn’t enough, nor is it good business sense, to only look at how a packaging solution impacts

Packaging

Packaging operations can reduce waste by reducing damage, be more resourceful by increasing the speed of fulfilment, and reduce the financial and environmental cost of shipping by reducing the size of every package that ships out the door

your carbon footprint. These can be serious procurement decisions that can have a significant impact on the health of a business. “As a company, we invest heavily in R&D innovation – and yes while a great deal of that investment goes toward creating more recyclable, sustainable solutions, it also fuels technology for businesses to make more of the resources they have available, helping them to be more efficient in their use of energy, source material, and manpower. That is the beauty of packaging - it can create a world where businesses save the world and safeguard their profit margins at the same time. “This is certainly true for manufacturing where packaging can be a major power play in meeting green objectives. By safeguarding your materials, packaging provides a knock-on effect in the reduction of energy use and costs throughout the manufacturing process. “From the start, our products had this impact. Our globally recognised invention, Bubble Wrap, was truly revolutionary both as a product and as a value proposition. It enabled an economic boom of manufacturing and entrepreneurialism by creating the concept of affordable small parcel shipping. By wrapping items essentially in air, businesses were able to reduce packaging size and weight, and – most importantly – reduce

loss from damage. In other words, it promoted sustainability long before it was fashionable. “Bubble Wrap, of course, is only the beginning. We have developed automated packaging solutions that automatically reduce empty space in a box to reduce the need for filler materials, and others that ‘read’ the barcode of each order and dispense only the amount of packaging material needed. This cuts down on material use, but also reduces the overall size of the package, which has a compound effect on the amount of freight energy needed to deliver each order. We even look at ways to be resourceful that are invisible to most consumers, like our Shrink films provide high performance protection with a proprietary micro-layered technology that uses significantly less plastic. “We’ve even taken a look at our original invention, to see how it could be more sustainable. Our new Bubble Wrap IB ships in flat, airless rolls and is inflated on-site when it’s needed. This reduces the number of trucks on the road needed to ship the same amount of wrap by more than 75 per cent. “Packaging operations can reduce waste by reducing damage, be more resourceful by increasing the speed of fulfilment, and reduce the financial and environmental cost of shipping by reducing the size of every package that ships out

the door. It may sound counterproductive, but we truly are packaging company that wants customers to use less of our packaging by finding the right, resourceful solution for every item they ship. “Sustainability isn’t just recycling; and it isn’t enough just to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills – these are, in fact, small elements of a much bigger sustainability picture. And organisations, particularly those in manufacturing that have a reliance on packaging, need to begin thinking holistically about where opportunities for sustainability exist inside their operations. “Simple and easy changes within the manufacturing process can lead to significant waste reduction and cost savings that contribute to a greener and more efficient supply chain. Only when these changes are put into action can manufacturers and the supply chain overall learn how to contribute to a resourceful world that can sustain its own future.” v

Sealed Air Corporation Sealed Air Corporation creates a world that feels, tastes and works better. In 2015, the company generated revenue of approximately $7.0 billion by helping its customers achieve their sustainability goals in the face of today’s biggest social and environmental challenges. www.sealedair.com

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 7

The learning

challenge

E-learning and how it can facilitate workplace training. By Niklas Brundin, Wolf-Dieter Hoppe, Johan Treutiger, Carl Reiman and Caroline Dedering

-learning leverages slide shows, videos, gamification and simulation to create interactive discussions and knowledge sharing in digital format. It is a quick and flexible way to train a large number of employees, independent of physical location and time, and create attractive opportunities to effectively drive changes within an organisation. By using interactive quizzes and tracking methods, e-learning has been shown to increase motivation and learning engagement while making it possible to follow up employees’ results, ensuring everyone completes their training modules and gains the essential knowledge. Additionally, with digital material it is easier to maintain and make central changes to the learning material compared to traditional non-digital formats, keeping it updated at all times. Research shows that e-learning, when replacing traditional instructor-led training, can reduce instruction time by up to 60 per cent, and costs by at least 50 per cent. Organisations report e-learning as the second most valuable training method, and over 42 per cent of global Fortune companies use some form of technology to instruct employees during formal learning hours – a number which is projected to increase. E-learning has shown gains in nearly every sector and is currently growing at a rate of about nine per cent per year. Reasons for this rapid growth are both demand – the increasing need of for knowledge – and supply; as technology has become cheaper, simpler and more available, the possibilities for e-learning have grown.

8 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

One form of e-learning is massive open online courses (MOOCs), which are online courses with unlimited participation and open access via the internet. Participants can be from both inside and outside the organisation. In addition to traditional course material such as filmed lectures, readings, and problem sets, many MOOCs provide interactive user forums to support community interactions among students and teachers. MOOCs have shown positive results, illustrated by a survey by Harvard Business Review, with 72 per cent of respondents reporting career benefits and 61 per cent reporting educational benefits as a result of MOOCs.

Choosing the method to convey information A key question when having information to convey is which method is the most suitable. As methods have different advantages and disadvantages, the most efficient option clearly depends on the situation – and, in particular, the piece of information. Arthur D. Little has developed a framework with two key parameters for selecting which method to use for conveying information: criticality, meaning both how important the information is and the number of affected people; and complexity, meaning how complex it is to grasp and understand. For information with low criticality and low complexity, affected parties can simply be informed (e.g. by e-mail). If the information has low criticality but high complexity, it is appropriate to make the information easily accessible, for example, by making it available on the company intranet.

Training Figure 2: Four key success factors when implementing e-learning

Source: Arthur D. Little

Information with low complexity and high criticality needs to be actively communicated to the target audience and combined with follow-up activities. Information with both high criticality and high complexity needs to be taught to the target group in order to ensure that it is fully understood and grasped. E-learning is an excellent substitute for physical training unless the information has both very high criticality and very high complexity. In this situation physical training is unbeatable, as physical presence enables complete customisation, which is required to convey this type of information.

Discovering where e-learning will benefit within the company Within the manufacturing industry there are several beneficial applications for e-learning to train people and drive change. Potential target groups are internal work force, customers and partners. Training of the internal workforce, both blue collar and white collar, is suitable when launching new processes or products. E-learning is also valuable for sharing knowledge within the company. E-learning is a powerful tool to help customers realise the full potential of the offered products and services throughout the product life cycle. Arthur D. Little’s experience is that customer satisfaction will increase, and that it strengthens the manufacturer’s relationship with its customers. For partners, such as service providers, component suppliers and maintenance companies, e-learning is an efficient option for continuous knowledge transfer. Supporting these actors is a powerful way to improve customer satisfaction and reduce costs throughout the value chain.

Ensuring success through e-learning We have identified four key success factors when implementing e-learning: • Develop a clear strategy covering when and for which types of information e-learning should be used. As part of the strategy development process it is crucial to investigate problems the organisation experiences with current learning practices. • Ensure user-friendly interfaces for users and administrators in order to simplify usage and continuous updating of the learning material.

• •

Apply usage incentives and follow-up systems to make sure e-learning is prioritised among the employees. It is powerful to develop courses for specific roles, as well as to implement certifications. Align with existing training activities and knowledge management systems. Start with a list of e-learning priority areas focusing on ‘must have’ functions rather than ‘nice-to-have’ ones.

Conclusion

Today’s global trends, such as the high speed of innovation and technological change, require companies to be agile and quickly implement sustainable changes to survive. To do so, companies need to continuously train employees to ensure they possess the right skills and know-how. The challenge is to do this in a cost-efficient way or, in other words, find the most suitable format for conveying knowledge and information. E-learning, which has become significantly simpler and less expensive to use in recent years, is a wide-ranging solution. v

Future of Operations – 15 main building blocks

Niklas Brundin, Wolf-Dieter Hoppe, Johan Treutiger, Carl Reiman and Caroline Dedering Niklas Brundin is a Partner, Wolf-Dieter Hoppe is Associate Director, Johan Treutiger is a Principal, Carl Reiman is a Manager and Caroline Dedering is a Consultant at Arthur D. Little. Arthur D. Little has been at the forefront of innovation since 1886, and is an acknowledged thought leader in linking strategy, innovation and transformation in technology-intensive and converging industries. Arthur D. Little is present in the most important business centres around the world, and is proud to serve most of the Fortune 1000 companies, in addition to other leading firms and public sector organisations. www.adlittle.com

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 9

Information is

power

Make customer data your business fuel. By Tanmaya Varma

ore than 90 per cent of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s data has been created in the past two years, according to Aureus Analytics. As the rate of growth continues at such unprecedented speed, the challenge for businesses is not capturing this data, but using it. With the rise of the Internet of Things and data now coming from everything from cars, washing machines and fridges, the data deluge is only set to rise. In 2017, the ability to evaluate and apply aggregated data successfully will be the new common ground for the entire c-suite. Not only will it be essential for retaining existing customers and converting prospects into new sales, but also new initiatives around delivering on customer experience will fault at the starting block without a comprehensive view of customer data. In fact, properly managed, big data can create value and

10 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

generate new revenue streams for manufacturing organisations. With an organisation-wide strategy in place, big data gives businesses the power to inform better decision-making, streamline the supply chain, improve capital management, and even co-ordinate individuals within and outside of the organisation for custom projects. The opportunities are huge. However, the danger when dealing with data is that organisations canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t cope, overwhelmed with the amount available to them, and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know where to start to make it useful. According to a recent study by EY 32 per cent of respondents are overwhelmed by data, and while 81 per

cent agreed that data should be at the centre of decision-making, only 31 per cent have adjusted their operations accordingly. In the growing digital business world of today, companies who do not embrace big data, or know how to structure it, could see their competitive edge slip away and face extinction in just a number of years. With this in mind, businesses need to understand how to use data to deliver insight to help drive their customer experience, and the services the business offers. Therefore, the key to success lies in analysing data to gain useful information through breaking down their data into bite-sized, usable chunks.

CRM technology The customer journey When looking at implementing a data strategy, it’s important to align your internal business operations with the typical lifecycle of your customers. This can be done through what is called a ‘customer journey exercise.’ By mapping the customer journey, any organisation can identify how a customer typically goes about making a purchase decision with the company. These exercises help to identify the areas where crucial customer data needs to be captured and puts a business in a position to continue to evolve and improve its services. Through having large amounts of the correct data to peruse through, businesses can extract customer habits, customer behaviour and other significant patterns that can drive the personalisation and efficiency of services.

Using data to enhance the customer experience In the world of manufacturing it’s easy to forget about the importance of delivering a personalised customer experience but business can be won or lost on this very principal. There’s plenty of evidence to support this statement. Consulting firm Gartner found that 89 per cent of marketing leaders expect to compete primarily on the basis of customer experience by 2016, compared with 36 per cent four years ago.

Today, any manufacturer seen to be slow in their response to changing customer demands risks losing business in an instant – equalling millions of pounds in lost sales. Sennheiser Electronic, the audio design and production specialists, has made some remarkable progress in this area. Significant global business growth and channel diversification made it clear to Sennheiser executives that they could no longer rely on homegrown solutions that kept data in isolated silos. They needed a more holistic approach, which made their divisions work more efficiently together and ultimately provide a better customer experience. They invested in technology from SugarCRM that could provide them with the flexibility, agility and scalability they needed. This enabled Sennheiser to map the entire customer life cycle and build a 360-degree view of each interaction.

The power of data analytics Possessing consolidated information and knowing how to use it will allow businesses to give the customer what they need before they realise they need it, rather than offering someone something they might want to buy. CRM technology is an integral part of this process, providing the tools needed to synthesise customer information gathered across channels and platforms, and turn it into insights that can be translated into actions, practices and processes. Having these insights at your disposal

will in turn empower a business to build deeper relationships with its customers, and support the growth of the business through helping it to keep up with industry demands and improve sales and service operations. With the manufacturing industry growth at a 30-month high, according to the latest Purchasing Managers Index data, factories are gaining momentum. Therefore, if manufacturers wish to capitalise on the industry impetus then they must arm themselves with meaningful data. Through this, quality customer experience can be ensured and, its ability to retain and attract customers can help boost business revenue. In today’s information economy, data is power, but only when it is insightful. The right CRM systems allow data to be ‘big enough’ to provide important insights but simultaneously ‘small enough’ to remain manageable, accessible and relevant. For organisations looking to avoid the big data deluge, tools are on hand to, help them make the most of their data, rather than becoming overwhelmed by it. v

Tanmaya Varma Tanmaya Varma is Global Head of Industry Solutions at SugarCRM. SugarCRM enables businesses to create extraordinary customer relationships with the most empowering, adaptable and affordable customer relationship management (CRM) solution on the market. Unlike traditional CRM solutions that focus primarily on management and reporting, Sugar empowers the individual, co-ordinating the actions of customer-facing employees and equipping them with the right information at the right time to transform the customer experience. www.sugarcrm.com

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 11

Working in a smart world Neil Dyson takes a look at the dynamic Industry 4.0 approach and the effects this has on the risk assessment process

he world is entering a new industrial revolution where digital innovation is changing all facets of today’s business world. Every industry will be impacted and undergo some degree of digitisation. This is also true for industrial sectors, where smart manufacturing is one of the current hot topics. This new era of digitisation brings about numerous opportunities in terms of growth and efficiency. In order to realise the potential of today’s digital transformation while remaining safe, secure and competitive, businesses must adopt an effective approach to manage their processes, systems, physical and data assets. Now widely accepted as the ‘fourth industrial revolution’, Industry 4.0 includes cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing – a system of collaborating computational elements that include mechanical and electrical elements that are connected in a smart cloud and are able to communicate in real time. Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) systems are large systems that connect and integrate industrial

12 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

control systems with enterprise systems, business processes, analytics and people. These systems differ from traditional industrial control systems by being connected extensively to other systems and people, increasing the diversity and scale of the systems. Industry 4.0 solutions will enable smart factories to digitise processes that improve both efficiency and quality, while reducing manufacturing costs. They will support highly flexible, automated ‘plug and produce’ manufacturing, taking just-in-time manufacturing to a new level. Currently, industrial automation is a consolidated reality, with approximately 90 per cent of machines in factories being unconnected. These isolated and static systems mean that product safety (functional safety and security) can be comfortably assessed. However, the connected world of Industry 4.0’s smart factories adds a new dimension of complexity in terms of machinery safety challenges. IoT connects people and machines, enabling bidirectional flow of information and real-time decisions. Its diffusion is now

accelerating with the reduction in size and price of the sensors, and with the need for the exchange of large amount of data.

All change ahead In the world of Industry 4.0, adaptive and dynamically configurable machines and machine modules allow unique combination of machines for higher efficiency and productivity on the shop floor. The digital transformation of production equipment and production lines will impact the communication between machine modules (M2M) and between products and machines (P2M). However, in today’s static machinery environment, the configuration of machines and machine modules in the production line is completely known at the starting point of the system design. However, if substantial changes are made, a new conformity assessment may be required. It is an employer’s responsibility to ensure that all machinery meets the requirements of the Machinery Directive and Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER), of which risk assessments are an essential ingredient.

M2M risk

The introduction of a modular certification approach is therefore the answer, as this will enable machinery safety practice to keep pace with technological change by reducing complexity based on customer-specific modular approaches

Therefore, if a machine has a substantial change made, a full CE marking and assessment must be completed before it can be returned to service. Any configuration change in the production line requires re-certification of the whole facility. However, the dynamic approach of Industry 4.0’s cyber physical systems means that with a simple press of a button, easily configurable machinery and production lines can be instantly changed. As it is the original configuration that is risk assessed, such instant updates to machinery mean that the time-hungry, traditional approach of ‘risk assessment as you make changes’ will become obsolete. The risk assessment process therefore needs to be modified to meet the demands of the more dynamic Industry 4.0 approach. This would mean that all possible configurations of machines and machine modules would be dynamically validated during the change of the production line. Each new configuration would be assessed in real time, based on digital models of the real behaviour of each configuration, which would be based upon the machinery manufacturer’s correct (and trusted) data about the Cyber Physical System. The result would be a rapidly issued digital compliance certificate. Machinery safety in our current Industry 3.0 world therefore looks like this:

• Risk assessment (ISO 12100) • Safety concept assessment (SRECS)

o Development of safety functions acc. to IEC 60204-1 and ISO 13849 and for complex safety sub-system acc. to IEC 61508 • Safety Assessment of machinery safety of control-related measures based on IEC 62061 and machine directive 2006/42/EG Whereas machinery safety in an Industry 4.0 world would look like this: • Modified Risk assessment (ISO 12100) case of human-machine interaction • Safety concept assessment (SRECS) o Development of safety functions acc. to IEC 60204-1 and ISO 13849 and for complex safety sub-system acc. to IEC 61508 • Safety Assessment of machinery safety of control-related measures based on IEC 62061 and machine directive 2006/42/EG Industry 4.0 takes safety assessments into four separate domains – the smart factory (cyber-physical production systems), vertical integration (automation), horizontal integration (with other systems outside the main production environment) and human-machine integration. The introduction of a modular certification

approach is therefore the answer, as this will enable machinery safety practice to keep pace with technological change by reducing complexity based on customer-specific modular approaches. This will create a circle of continuous learning, where 95 per cent of validation runs in real time, with modular certification software running as a kind of assistant system and new questions and problems being solved by human experts. The good news is that despite these incredible technological advances being just around the corner for the machinery industry, it still can’t be done entirely without human interaction! v

Neil Dyson Neil Dyson is Business Line Manager for Machinery Safety at TÜV SÜD Product Service, a global product testing and certification organisation. TÜV SÜD Product Service analyses over 20,000 products each year in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas, ensuring that products are safe, reliable and compliant and minimising liability risks for manufacturers, importers and retailers. TÜV SÜD Product Service’s sister company, TÜV SÜD BABT, is the world’s leading radio and telecommunications certification body, and is a Notified Body under the European Union’s Marine Equipment, R&TTE and Machinery Directives. www.tuv-sud.co.uk

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 13

The

productivity plan

According to Graham Carberry, all eyes are on the UK industrial sector

14 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

Industrial strategy

heresa May’s industrial strategy is a step in the right direction for the UK manufacturing sector, as it calls for an increase in investment and a focus on innovation, education and the Northern Powerhouse. At its core, the initiative attempts to address the key factors that will modernise and bolster Britain for the longterm. Similar strategies have been launched in the past, however, and with little success. This has led many to question whether this new incentive to support UK manufacturing will be the game changer it’s meant to be.

The UK: A global player The UK’s leading position in academic research and development, technology leadership and strong capital markets (and therefore efficient access to capital), means it is well placed to prosper on the global stage. Increased automation will also allow the UK to recover some manufacturing from lower cost countries whilst positioning itself at the forefront in areas ranging from science, materials and processes to commercial applications. On closer inspection, however, the UK continues to contend with two connected and fundamental problems. Firstly, within manufacturing, the UK already trails Germany, Japan, the US and China in the adoption of existing advanced manufacturing automation. Secondly, the UK has struggled with low productivity for years. It still falls short of Japan’s industry growth in terms of revenue per man hour, for example – and the gap is not closing. Transferring the IP generated by the UK’s leading universities into commercial enterprise has also been a challenge. Despite three of the top ten academic institutions in the world residing in the UK, the country has had limited success in commercialising this knowledge into manufacturing technology and new products. This can in part be seen as a failure related to productivity. Successful commercial capitalisation of emerging IP into new products requires funding simplicity and access to commercial production and marketing skill sets, but the UK has struggled to deliver in the areas for new businesses and university spinouts. The government’s industrial strategy clearly positions life sciences, low-carbon vehicles, industrial digitalisation, creative industries, nuclear, smart energy, robotics and 5G network technology as the main priorities for future investment, growth and innovation. This will most likely take the form of a twotiered strategy to support top-end R&D in target sectors while directing younger generations to STEM subjects to ensure they are training in

areas of economic utility. Despite the simplicity of this concept, this will arguably be the hardest proposal to deliver as it involves the co-operation of major new institutions such as technical colleges across the country and a skeptical education establishment. Protecting this type of labour advantage is critical, so it’s vital that Brexit isn’t allowed to prevent access to higher skilled professionals and technical staff.

Access to investment and effective infrastructure Thanks to a number of recent government initiatives, there are now multiple sources of funding available to UK business from a broad range of institutions. Many of the most efficient and successful tools, including patent box and tax incentives for VCT (Venture Capital Trust) and EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) investment, have been impacted by EU legislation, while the overall funding environment has become extremely complex for SMEs. There is therefore a substantial amount of work to be done to simplify access to funding. The UK government is currently trying to devolve power to rebalance its London-centric nature economy. The announcement of an additional £556m to the Northern Powerhouse project as well as other investments are a step in the right direction. However, unlocking additional transport capacity and ensuring sufficient power generation will be a politicised and slow process.

The UK government is currently trying to devolve power to rebalance its London-centric nature economy. The announcement of an additional £556m to the Northern Powerhouse project as well as other investments are a step in the right direction. However, unlocking additional transport capacity and ensuring sufficient power generation will be a politicised and slow process

Freeing trade In light of Brexit, free trade is one area currently outside the government’s control. Whilst Brexit offers the opportunity to free businesses from unhelpful legislation and to directly stimulate the economy in key sectors, it also runs the serious risk of substantially impacting the UK’s new and existing trade with large export partners. With Theresa May’s plan in place, inward investment in new industrial processes and technologies will be the drivers of change over the next 20 years. Those who fail to invest in innovation will very quickly find themselves falling behind the competition. Although this kind of investment may seem costly in the short-term, the benefits far outweigh the costs, including faster and cheaper labour and greater access to materials. The next steps that the government has outlined in order to tackle the productivity gap clearly highlight the importance they place on addressing this issue as quickly as possible. This focus will continue as we try to sustain economic growth with lower net immigration and on-going economic uncertainty. v

Graham Carberry Graham Carberry is a Partner at Livingstone. Livingstone is an international mid-market M&A and Debt Advisory firm, with offices in Beijing, Chicago, Düsseldorf, London, Los Angeles, Madrid and Stockholm. Its 110 professional staff completed over 60 deals in 2016.  www.livingstonepartners.com

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 15

News in brief Visibility essential

According to Michael Lyle, President & CEO, InfinityQS, manufacturers hoping to increase output, save money, and boost quality and efficiency must ensure that enterprise-wide visibility remains at the core of all organisational operations. Lyle stresses the importance of capturing as much quality data as possible to track trends, monitor and trace issues, and perform statistical analyses. Only with this level of both macro and micro analysis across all plants will an organisation be equipped with the necessary operational knowledge needed to make important quality developments and crucial cost savings.

Strong start

The latest Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) figures for the UK manufacturing sector show a good start to 2017, posting at 55.9 for January 2017, only slightly below December’s 56.1 high of over two years. New orders have built at a rapid pace, with output for January at a two and a half year high, the fastest rise since May 2014. However, the price pressures identified in the previous two months’ surveys have strengthened further, with input cost inflation rising steeply to a record high and output charges also increasing sharply – at record rates for this survey. While the growth rate for orders is slightly lower than the previous month’s highs, the figure still stands far above survey averages.

Expecting trouble

According to new research by Mimecast, 65 per cent of manufacturers believe they will suffer a negative business impact from cybercriminals in 2017. Sixty eight per cent of manufacturers also believe a malicious attachment in an email will be the most likely way they’ll be infected by ransomware, followed by web browsing to a site with malicious content and email with a malicious URL. To give businesses a way to assess the risks associated with email attacks, Mimecast has launched its first Email Security Risk Assessment (ESRA) – an analysis report measuring the effectiveness of email security systems.

16 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

Collaborate for insight

Honeywell and Seeq have announced they will collaborate as part of the Honeywell Connected Plant initiative to help process manufacturers leverage data and insights in their operations. This joint development agreement will help customers minimise unplanned shutdowns, maximise output, minimise safety risk and optimise supply chain strategies. “Honeywell’s deep domain knowledge and capabilities in process optimisation, data consolidation, storage and asset monitoring combined with Seeq’s technology help us to identify and solve previously unsolvable problems,” said Shree Dandekar, senior vice president and general manager, Honeywell Connected Plant. “Our goal is to create an effective solution that securely captures, aggregates and analyses data, and then leverages a vast ecosystem to provide a higher level outcome for our customers. This ecosystem includes leading equipment vendors, process licensors, OEMs and other industry experts.” “We see this collaboration between Honeywell and Seeq as beneficial to continuously improving how we serve our customers with the latest advanced software and analytics,” said Steve Sliwa, CEO and cofounder, Seeq Corporation. “Honeywell provides key infrastructure to collect and securely store data, while we embed decades of domain knowledge into advanced analytics for more business value, faster. This collaboration will help us provide our customers with new insight through transformative capabilities that lead to more rapid decision-making and process optimisation.”

A real giant

The GirderMAX from Faymonville is a girder bridge to transport super heavy loads at legal axle loads on public roads. This huge beam system is suitable for the transport of transformers, gas turbines, generators or any other bulky and heavy load. Starting from a payload of 330,000 lbs. up to 550,000 lbs., this heavy haul transport system is combinable with all modular platform trailers from Faymonville: DualMAX, ModulMAX or CombiMAX. With its coupleable beams, the length of the girder bridge is easily adaptable to the load and to the number of required axle lines. The two sets of main beams with an individual length of approx. 26’ can be used as overhead suspensions beams with load supporting elements or, in combination with the so called Z-beams, in a lowered position especially designed for gas-turbine and generator transports. The whole system can be hydraulically lifted by 6’-6” and the patented widening system can change the width within seconds from approx. 9’ to 26’! The GirderMAX is designed for 2x12 dual lane trailers in West Coast design; nevertheless the total length can be adapted to less axle lines. The GirderMAX permits ideal transport circumstances thanks to a cross pendulum stabilisation and a self-tracking device for the steering system of the rear trailer. The set-up comes with a pile of useful accessories like empty-run supports, load securing devices, parking supports, HatzDiesel engines on both sides and wireless remote controls for all hydraulic functions.

MANUFACTURING NEWS Exciting vehicle announced

Following the completion of a six-month feasibility study, INEOS has confirmed that it is to go ahead and build a brand new ‘uncompromising’ 4 x 4 off-roader. Whilst the company is one of the largest manufacturers in the world, it will be the first time that INEOS has produced such a vehicle. The project is the brainchild of INEOS Chairman, Jim Ratcliffe, who was a fan of the original Land Rover Defender. When it ceased production, Jim saw a gap in the market for an off-roader that stood for adventure and active driving but also had the capability to be a work and utility machine. The company is expecting to spend many hundreds of millions on the project and is determined that the vehicle will not only fill a gap in the market vacated by the Land Rover Defender but also provide a step change improvement in build quality and reliability. Identification of a suitable manufacturing location will be a part of the next phase of the project and the company will look at UK sites alongside other European options. “I am a great admirer of the old Land Rover Defender and have enormous respect for its off road capability,” says Jim Ratcliffe, “and our new 4 x 4 has been inspired by it. But whilst our off-roader might share its spirit, our new car will be a major improvement on previous models.” The vehicle will not be a replica of the Defender but will reflect its philosophy. The target market is global and includes agriculture and forestry workers, explorers and adventurers as well as traditional

Defender fans that simply enjoy an authentic 4 x 4 driving experience. The project is to be run by Dirk Heilmann, formerly head of Engineering and Technology at INEOS. Dirk, now CEO of INEOS Automotive has already started recruiting a team of automotive experts and says: “This is an amazing project for everyone involved. Our job is to create the world’s best 4 x 4 and we are already moving forward with our plans.” INEOS is determined that its new vehicle will offer a real and pure alternative to the current crop of standardised ‘jelly-mould’ SUV’s.

Ultimate insight TGW Logistics has further enhanced its service and maintenance provision for customers with the introduction of Smart Glasses. The company’s Lifetime Services engineers use the augmented reality tool when on site to communicate in real time with the hotline maintenance team. The office-based team sees what the remote engineer is seeing and, when required, is able to advise on maintenance or troubleshooting work. With the glasses also linked to TGW’s Computerised Maintenance Management System, the on-site engineer only needs to look at a QR code attached to a system component to have the relevant maintenance information displayed on the glass screen. Colleagues can see problems for themselves, understand what the engineer is facing and provide them with instructions on how to proceed. The smart glass works as an archive too, allowing the recording or reconstruction of certain procedures using a library or reference function, in case the same problem shows up at a different site.

Jim Ratcliffe, INEOS Chairman

Filling a gap in machining Ajax Machine Tools has enhanced its portfolio of milling machines with the launch of the new AJCBM1000. The Ajax range of CNC bed milling machines has been designed to fill the gap between the machining centre and the tool room mill, and the new AJCBM1000 certainly fits the bill. The structure of the new AJCBM1000 includes an extremely heavy-duty bed casting and this build quality is also emphasised in the totally flexible turret head that is well suited for awkward cutting applications. Ideal for the job-shop and one-off or small batch production subcontractors, this CNC machine offers an excellent capacity range at a remarkably competitive price.

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 17

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

Focus on: Mettler-Toledo Safeline Ltd. Errecinque Baxi BA Clic Components Interfloor Hinopak Motors Limited SFS Intec Limited UK Elekta Planmed Oy FANUC UK Falcon Foodservice Equipment GripIt Denny Bros Group Spaljisten LoneStar Fasteners Europe Mymanu MANN+HUMMEL Filtration Technology (Poland) Neuman Aluminium Industries Shine Food Machinery Limited HTH KÃ¸kkener A/S Weiss Spindeltechnologie GmbH Springfarm Architectural Mouldings Limited Air Bearings Ltd Stama AFT Romi Machines UK Diamond Box Goodridge Ltd Novart Oy Morgan Innovation and Technology (Morgan IAT)

y EUROPE

BEST PRACTICES FOR INDUSTRY LEADERS

EUROPE

MANUFACTURING MANUFACTURING toda y toda

Mettler-Toledo Safeline Ltd.

A host of

innovations

All staff photo taken on the day of the Lord Lieutenant’s visit to present the company with its Queen’s Award

Following the hugely successful introduction of its Profile Advantage range of detection systems, Mettler-Toledo Safeline Ltd. is once again demonstrating the innovation that makes the company a leading supplier of metal detection technologies

eginning its journey as Safeline based in Salford, Manchester in 1989, the company rapidly established itself as an internationally recognised specialist in the delivery of industrial metal detection systems for the food, pharmaceutical processing and packaging industries. Safeline was acquired by the multinational manufacturer of precision instruments, Mettler-Toledo in 1997. Today Mettler-Toledo Safeline continues to maintain a leading position in the speciality market for industrial quality assurance instrumentation, with its highly acclaimed and trusted Profile and Signature metal detection solutions. “Mettler-Toledo Safeline is one of four operating companies within the product

inspection division of Mettler-Toledo and specialises in metal detection technologies, while the other three businesses within the division provide other speciality inspection solutions, such as checkweighing, x-ray inspection and vision inspection systems. The metal detector business provides brand protection and support that allows operators to achieve and maintain compliance in accordance to regulations, standards and legislation relating to food safety. This is also true within the pharmaceutical sector, where product quality and compliance to international standards is again highly important,” elaborates Mettler-Toledo Safeline Managing Director, Alan Purvis. “Roughly 90 per cent of our sales are to the producers of food and the

rest is currently mixed between pharmaceuticals, speciality chemicals and a few other industrial applications. We produce inline instrumentation and equipment, which operates to a very high level of performance and includes electronic and software based instrumentation that runs 24-7 in production lines all over the world. This involves very high-speed real time signal processing, which is at the heart of the equipment that we provide.” Mettler-Toledo Safeline was previously profiled by Manufacturing Today Europe during April 2016, during which time Alan outlined the advantages of the company’s then newly introduced Profile Advantage range, an innovative detection system developed in close co-operation with PhD students and senior researchers of the University

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 19

84 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

Mettler-Toledo Safeline Ltd.

of Manchester. Having racked up in excess of more than 1000 units globally during its first full year of sales Profile Advantage has proven to be a huge success for Mettler-Toledo Safeline, allowing the company to cement its place as a trusted industry leader. Indeed the company has established a far-reaching global presence, with a solid export market and clients located in all corners of the world. “We currently export around 96 per cent of what we manufacture in the UK and we have a sister company that is based in China which exports across Asia. We are active in every market where our key accounts in food or the pharmaceutical industries need metal detection technology,” Alan says. “We are particularly strong in the Northern American market and also within most countries throughout Europe. We are also very strong in Thailand and South-East Asia and in Australia, so we are very diversified from a market activity point of view. In total we have more than 100,000 systems that we have sold, installed and continue to service around the world, representing a massive export business that is led from our base here in Manchester.”

Throat metal detectors

Profile Advantage inspecting black pudding rings

V Tech SMT Ltd Celebrating 20 years

Vtech SMT Ltd offer turnkey solutions from the supply of equipment and consumables to the electronics assembly industry. We are committed to delivering an excellent service to our customers for their material and logistical requirements and are continually assessing and adapting to new processes and innovative solutions to meet their needs. We are celebrating 20 years of trading and as MT Safeline has supported us from our early years we are proud to celebrate and share this news with our other customers and friends. Our 20th year has started on a high with the supply of a Panasonic Surface mount assembly line into a new LED lighting company. This £450,000 order was secured due to the build speed of the two Panasonic NPM-W2 SMT machines which has allowed our customer to reduce their current component placement time from eight minutes to less than two minutes per PCB over their current placement machines, as the placement speed is in excess of 115,000 components per hour. Vtech also offer a wide range of equipment for use on assembly lines from hand held soldering irons to hand electric drivers for box build or small final assemblies. We have recently become the main UK distributor for Alutec a robot manufacturer. This free standing or bench mounted 4 axis robot can be used for many applications and is available in a variety of sizes. As these robots are totally flexible they can be used for dispensing sealants to applying screws or routering PCB panels. The Vtech team are ready to help whether you are looking for a consumable product or solution to an engineering application.

Further to continuing to service its clients around the world with its existing portfolio of metal detection products, Mettler-Toledo Safeline is set to unveil a host of innovations that are designed to afford the end user even greater flexibility in monitoring the effectiveness of their metal detection equipment. “We are just starting a rollout of a suite of significant equipment enhancements, which we will be making available to our sales teams and customers over the coming months. This is represented by four new developments, which will be available for clients operating within the snack foods and confectionery sectors, as well as with products such as powdered ingredients, cereals and pulses,” Alan reveals. “Two of these enhancements are targeted at significantly improving the sensitivity and ease-of-use of vertically installed metal detectors. This will contribute to improved overall

equipment effectiveness (OEE), which will in turn save our customers money through greater productivity, uptime and throughput. The other improvements will make it easier to integrate new equipment into difficult to access areas, such as vertical installations where metal detectors may be mounted in the upper storeys of plants that are hard to reach.” Leveraging industry-standard Virtual Network Computing (VNC) technology, with MettlerToledo Safeline’s emulation feature will make it possible for clients to control and monitor Profile metal detectors from a remote location, rather than directly at the machine. The technology is also flexible enough to be integrated into existing OEM equipment, making it a suitable solution for a variety of clients. Some of these enhancements will be made standard on all machines while others will be given as

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 21

Mettler-Toledo Safeline Ltd.

Queen’s Award 2016 – (L to R) David Barber Head of Products; Mike Bradley - Head of Sales; Daren Butterworth - Technical Manager; Andrew Blackburn - Software Development Manager

22 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

optional extras according to the needs of the customer, meaning that Mettler-Toledo Safeline is able to offer an effective solution across a host of different applications. Mettler-Toledo Safeline’s innovation success was recognised through a number of industry awards during 2016, including the company’s second Queen’s Award for Enterprise since 2012. This recognition is a key indicator of the esteem

in which Mettler-Toledo Safeline products are held and will allow the business to continue to grow its market presence well into the future, while meeting the needs of its clients. “There is an increasing pressure on large multi-national food companies to not only improve their product quality but also their process efficiency to address cost pressure. Many of these customers are becoming much more centralised about their process controls and compliance standards,” Alan concludes. “Larger companies are becoming much more focused on having one recipe, one set of equipment and one process technology to produce their products consistently, irrespective of the manufacturing location. We are probably the only company with a network large enough to deliver standardised equipment like this on a global basis. We are strongly focusing on how we can help clients on that journey, to ensure that their products are produced cost effectively across the world.”

Mettler-Toledo Safeline Ltd. Services: Leading supplier of metal detection technologies

www.mt.com/metaldetection

Errecinque

growth

Drive for

Errecinque has grown significantly from its humble beginnings as a simple centre of flexible pipe assembly into an international company able to produce a range of components for all automotive applications

Urea sender units range Fuel pipe - motorbike

GPL pipe

ounded in 1981 by Piero Lovera, a man with an entrepreneurial vision to undertake a new challenge in pipe assembly following 20 years of working with Fiat and Iveco, the largest Italian group in the field of automotive and industrial vehicles, Errecinque began operations as a flexible pipe assembler. Discussing the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s development is Luisella Lovera, Managing Director of Errecinque: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The company was founded by my father Piero Lovera in 1981 and we celebrated our 35 year anniversary in December with a big dinner party for our 200 personnel. There have been many developments over the years since our beginnings as an assembler of tubes, with Errecinque acquiring technologies on a step-by-step basis to arrive to the place we are in now. Last year our turnover was 29 million euros and we have four plants in Italy, two of which are based in the North, one in central Italy and one in the South.â&#x20AC;?

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 23

Urea tube assemblies

Indeed, over the last three decades, the family owned Errecinque has grown and developed in line with market developments and its own strategic vision to gain a strong international presence. This focus on growth through flexibility, technical expertise and a swift response time resulted in the company developing an innovative new air brake system and also becoming a significant supplier for Iveco in 1988. Following the utilisation of an alternative and innovative material in the air brake system, which enables major economic and technical benefits for customers, the company went on to manufacture pipes for high pressure environments with this same new material. These pipes are reinforced by one or two layers of polyester braiding, with assembly carried out inside the plant; this way of operating ensures customers are provided with products that are ready to be installed on vehicles and also guarantees quality as no external suppliers are used. Futher innovative developments took place over the years, with the company developing the thermoforming department in the late

24 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

Errecinque

90s and starting new lines of co-extrusion and corrugation in 2000; in the same year Errecinque established a new production line for blow moulded plastic pipes, which can replace pipes made of metal, rubber or aluminium in the suction systems of cars and industrial vehicles. Alongside innovative developments, the company also optimised manufacturing processes and productivity with strategic acquisitions, the establishment of new sites and the development of new production lines. Recent developments within the company include the absorption of a specialist in plastic moulding and rubber in Volpiano, in 2006, and the production of plastic pipe assembly for SCR applications as well as the development of solutions for urea systems in 2007. From there, the company began the study of urea sender units and expanded its own product portfolio in 2008, with the production of the first urea sender units beginning in 2013. Further innovative progressions took place one year later, with Errecinque producing the first urea sender units to be equipped with urea quality sensors; this development resulted in the company becoming one of the key players in the global urea market. With huge demand for its new product, Errecinque moved the production of urea sender units to a new area in the Volpiano plant, which enabled high production capability. Luisella comments on the development of Errecinque’s urea sender unit: “The urea unit is our latest product to be created, with development beginning four years ago and production starting one-and-a-half years ago; today full production is 100,000 pieces on field, with hopefully many more to come.” Other products include plastic flexible tubes for air, water, fuel, oil and fuel vapours as well as all fluids on industrial vehicles, whether it be light, medium or heavy range, passenger cars and motorbikes, as Luisella confirms: “Our main line of products is tubes for automotive applications; in fact, 90 per cent of turnover is made out of products for vehicles from trucks to passenger cars.” Having achieved 20 per cent growth in 2015 thanks to the inception of the urea unit segment of the business, Errecinque anticipates steady growth over the coming years as it seeks out opportunities in new geographical areas, as Luisella concludes: “To us, when it comes to the market, opportunities are endless, not only with our target customers such as truck, passenger cars or motorbike manufacturers, but also with new clients in new potential markets over the coming years. As part of this strategy, we opened a representative office in Detroit, the

Air duct pipe

Air intake pipe

Urea electrial heated

US, in 2015; through our agent in the US we are conducting market research with a number of companies in the direction of the urea unit product. “Because of our flexibility in handling volumes of all sizes, as well as our ability to handle different part numbers in a short time frame, our customers appreciate the service that we give them; this is a strength that we will see to deliver to more customers in both the US and Europe. We are already working a lot with producers of luxury cars thanks to our expertise in design and prototyping and this is another area that we hope to expand in the future.”

“

To us, when it comes to the market, opportunities are endless, not only with our target customers such as truck, passenger cars or motorbike manufacturers, but also with new clients in new potential markets over the coming years

Errecinque

Products: Manufacture the urea sender unit system, tubes, plastic, metal and rubber items

www.errecinque.it

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 25

Baxi

Safe and

secure

Celebrating 150 years of industry experience during 2016, Baxi is a highly renowned boiler manufacturer that is steeped in heritage

26 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

ith a forward thinking philosophy inspired by a passion for business and earning life time customer loyalty, it is little wonder that Baxi has enjoyed 150 years as a leading specialist boiler manufacturer. The roots of the company date back to 1866, when iron moulder Richard Baxendale opened the doors of the fledgling business. An underfloor draught system for solid fuel heating, launched in 1935, was the first product to bear the Baxi brand. By 1955 Baxi had established itself as a household name, with the company continuing to reach many impor tant milestones throughout its history, including the Bermuda gas-fired back boiler in 1966, which revolutionised home heating, the UK’s first domestic wall-hung micro-CHP appliance in 2010, the Baxi Ecogen, which was recognised with a prestigious Queen’s Award

for Enterprise and Innovation in 2012, and the launch of the Baxi EcoBlue range in 2014. Since last appearing in Manufacturing Today Europe during April 2016, Baxi has continued to deliver the highest levels of customer service, which has enabled it to build on its previous success. During October 2016 the company was recognised for its quality of service, taking gold in the ‘Contact Centre – Small – Customer Loyalty’ category at the UK Customer Service Awards. The team at Baxi fought off stiff competition from UCAS and Royal London Insurance to secure the award at a ceremony at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge in London. “It was a golden year for winning prestigious awards at Baxi in 2016, with the company winning awards for all par ts of the supply chain. Further to the Baxi Customer Suppor t Customer Experience Award, Baxi Genuine Par ts won the ‘Live Chat’

and ‘Service Provider’ categories of the Top 50 Companies for Customer Service Awards, and were fifth overall across all categories and industries,” revealed Baxi Managing Director, Paul Hardy. “We were also delighted to be named Wolseley’s ‘Supplier of the Year’ for our work with the company across all parts of its business and we won the ‘UK Business Award for Digital Marketing’ for our installer loyalty scheme. We were likewise shortlisted for a raft of other awards, recognising excellence across all par ts of the business, from manufacturing right through to aftersales.” Further to achieving the highest levels of service while interacting directly with clients over the phone, Baxi also helps to provide its customers with fur ther assurance by employing a specialist technology developed by BT to

protect electronic payments made by credit card. “To offer a safe and secure payment service that protects both Baxi and its client base we use a product from BT called Cloud Contact PCI, which also helps the company to remain compliant with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) requirements relating to taking credit card payments over the phone. PCI DSS represents quite a robust set of regulations, which require businesses to operate a very locked-down call centre environment or to have very strong security around how credit card payments are taken. The advantage of Cloud Contact PCI for us is that it is designed to have all of these considerations covered and is fully approved by PCI, which provides peace-ofmind to both our clients and to ourselves,” explained Baxi IT Manager, Terry Wilcox. “While we tend to not publicise that we employ Cloud Contact PCI, or use it as a marketing tool, clearly when clients are required to make a payment using a credit card there are some concerns over the safety of payments and data. We are able to overcome that fear by explaining to clients what technology we employ and how we use it. This allows customers to feel safe in knowing that payment via credit card is the simplest way to make a transaction, which is especially important when they may be in a distressed situation where their boiler requires immediate repair,” he continued. “Cloud Contact PCI has

proven to be very effective, meaning that we are able to take credit card payments over the phone while giving customers full assurance that their payment details are secure. The credit card details themselves are not actually taken by our agents, rather they are taken automatically by the Cloud Contact PCI system. This means that our agents do not see the details of the transaction as it goes through and that clients are simply referred back to our team at the end of the transaction to conclude the call or request further assistance. It is a very secure environment and is proving very effective in making clients feel valued and protected.” Baxi has also worked to enhance the suite of products and services that the company is able to offer. As par t of its mission to earn customer loyalty by operating as a market leader in smar t heating solutions, Baxi was the first boiler manufacturer to have its training courses approved by the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE). This followed the completion of a £250,000 refurbishment of the company’s Warrington Training Centre during 2015, which provides state-of-the-ar t classrooms and workshops. Baxi’s other training centres in Dartford and Warwick, as well as its network of satellite

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 27

Baxi

centres, are also CIPHE Approved. Through these cutting-edge facilities, Baxi offers a range of courses, including training on boilers, and specialist courses on heating and hot water systems, heating controls, Nest, and the latest Government legislation. The development of the company’s training programme followed extensive research and direct input from installers. “A few years ago we carried out extensive research among installers and heating contractors to find out what was impor tant to them when doing a training course, what they thought of our training, what they liked and what could be improved. We were pleased to hear that they thought our trainers were the best in the industry, however, like most other training courses, they felt that too much time was spent on theory and not enough time spent getting their hands on boilers,” Paul explained. “We took this research very seriously and our trainers completely rewrote all our courses so that at least 70 per cent of the time spent training is now spent working on live boilers. This has meant considerable investment in our training centres to ensure that there are enough boilers for delegates to work on. Since refurbishing our Warrington Training Centre in 2015, we have invested in more live boilers at our other

28 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

training centres. We will be opening a brand new training centre in Cambridge in spring 2017 and have extended our satellite training centres to give us UK-wide coverage.” During October 2016 Baxi also launched a new range of boilers, Baxi 200 and 400 Combis. These new boilers offer innovative solutions to independent merchants. “Our innovative new boilers have already exceeded expectations and are selling very well. They were launched following 18 months of development in consultation with installers to make sure they met all our partners’ needs. They are extremely light and compact, easy to install, straightforward to service and maintain and have the capability to be connected. They have been launched with a really creative campaign that has captured the imagination of installers and increased their engagement with Baxi.” Paul concluded: “Like so many other UK manufacturing organisations, things have been very challenging around the EU referendum, because there is much uncertainty in the construction marketplace. Times are changing and we have to keep up with the pace of change. The ‘Internet of Things’ and connected homes technology will change our business in so many ways, and we have to invest in researching and developing products to match the market’s needs.”

Baxi Products: Specialist boiler manufacturer

www.baxi.co.uk

BT TAKES THE HEAT OUT OF HANDLING CARD PAYMENTS FOR BAXI HEATING.

A CLOUD-BASED SECURITY SOLUTION FROM BT IS ENSURING THAT BAXI HEATING’S CONTACT CENTRE IS OPERATING SECURELY AND EFFICIENTLY.

rotecting customer data, especially sensitive data like credit card details, from the rising threat of cybercrime and fraud is incredibly important for any business. Last year alone there were 1.9 million cases of fraud on UK-issued cards. To ensure that customer credit card details are protected, organisations taking credit card payments need to comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Baxi Heating needed a solution that would allow them to meet these standards without negatively affecting their outstanding customer care.

“We believe that just focusing on data security alone isn’t enough, the customer experience must also feel simple and safe,” says Terry Wilcox, IT Manager, Baxi Heating. As they had a close working relationship with BT, Baxi Heating were confident that they could work with them to find a suitable solution. Working collaboratively, an effective secure contact system was delivered.

THE CATALYST FOR CHANGE. Without an external solution, securing their contact centre to meet PCI DSS whilst maintaining an efficient customer journey would be a massive task for Baxi Heating. It would restrict the number of call centre agents who could be authorised to take card payments. With less agents, the number of calls the company could handle would be limited, meaning increased waiting times and frustrated customers. Baxi Heating needed a compliant system that would allow them to handle customer card payments quickly and easily, freeing up time for their agents to take more calls.

A FASTER, AND MORE SECURE, CUSTOMER JOURNEY. With BT Cloud Contact PCI, when a customer calls and chooses to pay by card, SecureMode is activated and all details are sent to the cloud-based payment system, bypassing the contact centre. As no sensitive details are shared between the customer and agent, there are fewer restrictions in place at the contact centre. This means more agents can be available to take payments, so that more calls can be handled, providing a faster response to customers.

With no need for calls to be transferred at any stage of the customer journey, the process is far more efficient. The numbers entered by the customer are verified there and then to make sure they’re correct and as agents don’t deal with any card details, the risk of fraud is reduced.

“Customers immediately feel it’s more trustworthy and secure, as well as making for a more efficient payment process,” says Terry Wilcox. A FUTURE-PROOF SOLUTION FOR A FORWARD THINKING ORGANISATION. “With BT’s experience in security and innovation, we were well placed to deliver a future-proof solution that meant Baxi Heating not only met industry regulations, but that they did so whilst still being able to provide outstanding customer service,” says Nasreen Khan, BT Account Manager. Should Baxi Heating decide to expand their call centre capacity in the future, the cloud-based contact centre solution is easily scalable, so they can continue to meet the security standards in place without the need for an expensive new solution.

Visit bt.com/business/baxi or call 0800 032 5698

BA Clic Components

New company, new

concept

With an innovative cabinet system that allows the construction of carcass units in as little as 30 seconds, BA Clic Components is bringing real cost effective change to clients with a revolutionary new concept in cabinet construction

A Clic Components is a young and exciting business that offers clients a new and innovative concept in kitchen cabinets that uses the patented ‘Uniclic for furniture’ technology. BA Clic Components was established in August 2016, after successfully negotiated a licensing agreement with UNILIN to sell its Uniclic technology, while taking on the ongoing and future production of all Clic components and ClicBox units to existing UNILIN customers within the UK and Ireland. As a result of the agreement BA Clic Components is now responsible for the full sales, promotion and marketing activities of both Clic Components and ClicBox, while activity promoting the product range through existing and new distributors and stockists alike. BA Clic Components operates out of a newly purchased 52,000 sq ft of factory space at

30 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

Barbados Way at Hellaby in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, where a dedicated facility has been established. The site features the very latest production equipment where a driven workforce has been assembled to fully promote and progress the BA ClicBox brand. The establishment of the new site signals the beginning of a dynamic ‘Join the Kitchen Cabinet Revolution’ campaign, with the innovative BA ClicBox at its heart. That the company is confident this will appeal to many markets is without dispute as the revolutionary design of the ClicBox concept will appeal directly to a broad base of clients including merchant groups, kitchen fitters, dealers, builders and developers, truly proving to be a defining change within the kitchen manufacturing and construction industries. When compared to traditional methods of kitchen furniture and cabinet construction, BA

ClicBox offers several advantages in that it is: • Easy to assemble. • Is easy to transport, handle and deliver to sites. • Takes up to 69 per cent less van space. • Can be assembled on site up to five times faster than normal flat pack cabinets. • Requires no tools, glues or fittings. • No fittings mean none can get lost. • Is stronger than traditional cabinet designs. There are also many additional benefits to using ClicBox carcassing including lower raw material use, a smaller ecological footprint and of course a much faster and easier way to assemble panels. To be precise, the technology assembles five times faster than traditional installation methods, which in turn means better productivity saving suppliers and fitters both time and money.

In terms of its physical properties, BA ClicBox technology features 18mm thick MFC panels, with 1mm ABS across its leading edges and 8mm solid back panelling. Constructed units feature 18mm adjustable shelves that are fully edged all round and can be positioned at one of three possible heights. Wall cabinets are 330mm deep, with an 18mm void and internal depth of 304mm, while base cabinets are 570mm deep with a 49mm void and an internal depth of 513mm. BA ClicBox cabinets also feature solid top and bottom panels, which are fully interchangeable without the need of cumbersome tools. The materials used in the making of the units are also Forest Stewardship Council approved, meaning that clients can purchase BA ClicBox units in the full knowledge that they will receive a high-quality product that is also responsibly sourced and manufactured. The launch of BA Clic Components has proven to be highly positive, with the company making a significant impact at the 2016 W16 Elements Show. The respected trade exhibition was held at the NEC in Birmingham and saw BA Clic Components launch of ClicBox, which was subsequently hailed as a huge success. During the event, the BA Clic Components team worked

tirelessly to demonstrate the ClicBox carcass to exhibition attendees, many of whom where keen to discover more about the product. To prove that ClicBox is the fastest way to build a kitchen in the modern market, the BA Clic Components team ran a competition amongst stand visitors to see which of the stand’s visitors could construct the carcass in the quickest time. The fact that ClicBox can be assembled without the need of tools makes it incredibly easy to build and in fact, the winner at the exhibition successfully completed the challenge in just 10.62 seconds! With entertaining demonstrations such

Finsa

FINSA is a long-standing partner of BA Components. We have been part of the company’s evolution for a number of years. BA Component’s feedback on our products and the high standards of quality of their own products are key to the continuous improvement and development of our product range, resulting in reliable, durable and sound finished products. A good example of this is our deep routing MDFFibralac Top, a fundamental solution in the BA Component’s door range.

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 31

BA Clic Components market. With a highly positive start and an innovative new technology, BA Clic Components is set to revolutionise the way that clients look at cabinets and kitchen furniture.

BA Clic Components

Services: Innovative new ClicBox technology

www.baclicbox.com

Allingham Transport and Warehousing as this highlighting the benefits of the product itself, the feedback in the stand was very positive, with the levels of interest being so high that the stand subsequently ran out of brochures and BA Clic had to print extras to see it through the show. “The response to the Clic technology was fantastic with most visitors showing real enthusiasm for the products. This exposure for the brand and the feedback we received means this product will become a serious contender for future developments and projects with national house builders, ECO developers and trade merchants,” says National Sales Manager for ClicBox, Nicole Irvine. “Bespoke cabinet

32 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

manufacturers have identified the opportunity to introduce an option for contract work realising quickly that ClicBox will compliment their existing business and not impact on production schedules.” With over 600 visitors to the stand and a constant stream of demonstration’s and enquiries, the response to ClicBox was exciting and encouraging throughout the complete W16 event. The technology and simplicity of assembly had visitors thinking about introducing new ‘Clic related’ ideas for expanding their business, demonstrating a genuine level of excitement relating to ClicBox across the kitchen installation

Allingham Transport and Warehousing is one of Northern Ireland’s leading logistics and storage companies. We provide full load haulage and groupage services between Ireland, Great Britain and Europe, utilising a fleet of tractor units, all of which are plated to 44 tonnes and over 120 standard and high cube curt insiders, double deckers and refrigerated trailers. We currently operate three BRC accredited warehouses comprising of 14,000 chilled and ambient pallets spaces, providing warehousing facilities to a variety of sectors including retail and dairy. We also offer picking, co-packing, power pallet wrapping, de-boxing, container stuffing / de-stuffing and WMS for stock traceability and tracking.

Interfloor

Solid

underfoot

Operating as part of the part of the Victoria plc group of companies, Interfloor provides carpet underlay and flooring accessories to flooring retailers, distributors and specialist contractors within the UK and around the world

nterfloor was established in 2002 following the merger of Duralay International Holdings and the Consumer & Industrial Division of Gates Ltd, which owned the Tredaire & Gripperrods brands. Incorporated in 1920 and originally manufacturing jute products, the company’s modern brand heritage dates back to the early 1950’s when Duralay became the world’s first manufacturer of rubber based underlay. In 2015 Interﬂoor was acquired by Victoria plc, a group of highly successful entrepreneurially managed companies principally operating in the UK, European, and Australian flooring markets. “We are today the largest manufacturer and distributor of carpet underlay and related

accessories in Europe. Interﬂoor is a truly successful UK manufacturing business and award winning exporter with a great brand heritage and an exciting future. We have a turnover of circa £75m and employ over 300 people across our two manufacturing sites, which are located in Haslingden, Lancashire and Dumfries in Scotland. We supply almost 2000 UK outlets incorporating a wealth of small independents as well as virtually all the main flooring retailers and wholesalers, including Carpetright, John Lewis, United Carpets, Headlam, Floorwise and Kingfisher. In addition we also supply around 400 customers across the rest of the world. Export accounts for almost 20 per cent of our business and we are

particularly strong within the Middle-East, Far-East and Northern Europe,” reveals CEO, John Cooper. “Joining Victoria plc has been highly beneficial to the company, as it has allowed increased investment into our manufacturing base to deliver increased capacity and efficiencies throughout the business. This is coupled with the fact that the sharing of best practice amongst the companies within the Group has obvious benefits, and we are now working alongside an exceptional team of entrepreneurially minded senior managers, all focused on growth and delivering increased shareholder value, which is helping to further drive the Interfloor senior team to even greater heights.”

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 33

34 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

Interfloor

Recticel innovations driven by sustainability

All businesses have a responsibility to support global environmental targets and address the issue of a growing and ageing population. Recticel, the European leader in polyurethane applications, has taken its commitment a step further. Recticel has made sustainability the key driver of its innovations. It is considered throughout the entire value chain, from raw materials sourcing to product manufacturing, consumption and possibilities for reuse and recycling. Partnerships The approach involves numerous partnerships with suppliers, customers, research institutes and NGOs. Earlier this year, Recticel announced that it will use the new CO2 based cardyon® polyol developed by Covestro in the production of its flexible foams. This innovation will save natural resources and mitigate global warming by reducing the carbon footprint of end products. This collaboration is just one example of Recticel’s commitment to developing value-added solutions for its customers while benefiting society. Download the Recticel Sustainability Report from our website: www.recticel.com

Interfloor provides a suite of underlay flooring solutions, which provide several highly desirable advantages in terms of comfort, aesthetic and insulation. In addition to helping to ensure carpets continue to look new throughout their lifetime, underlay provides an effective barrier, aiding heat retention that can potentially cut heating bills by up to 15 per cent. Furthermore, underlay also acts as a barrier to sound, which helps to secure a quieter home. In many cases underlay for wood and laminate floors can reduce in-room noise by as much as 30 per cent. In terms of appearance, wear, day-to-day usage and cleaning, underlay acts as a shock absorber against everyday wear-and-tear that can extend the lifetime of a carpet by up to 50 per cent. In terms of hygiene underlay also acts as a barrier to embedded dirt, making it easier to clean and maintain carpets. With a comprehensive base of underlay products and associated accessories, Interfloor represents a one-stop-shop for clients looking to secure a safe and effective solution to their flooring needs. This extensive product line includes the highly respected Durafit range, as well as underlay products for wood and laminate

and underlay systems for underfloor heating. The Durafit system was the first double-stick system for carpet and underlay upon its launch during the 1980s. It is now regarded as the de-facto standard for stick-down systems and has been used successfully in thousands of contract installations, large and small, around the world. The Durafit system offers many major benefits to any installation regardless of size and adds to the creative use of carpets, including border work and brand logos, which can enhance any site whether it be a sporting venue, welcoming hotel or a strong corporate business unit. Durafit achieves all this and more while retaining impressive qualities in terms of durability, comfort and sound and heat insulation. Further to developing a strong product portfolio backed by a high level of customer service, Interfloor has invested significant resources into ensuring that it represents a responsible operator within the market with an acute awareness of issues surrounding the environment and sustainability. “Interﬂoor has great green credentials, with almost 50 per cent of all the materials used in production being of a recycled nature, and all of the resulting underlay

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 35

Interfloor

variety of business types throughout the world should equally prove to be a sector for growth. “Interfloor is a genuinely great UK manufacturing business and we are proud of our heritage, our brands, our people, and our success to date. The strategy moving forward is simple - we will continue to build on our strengths by embracing an even more customer centric culture within the business,” John concludes. “We will do this by always asking ourselves ‘If I was the customer, would I be happy?’ We will also further drive profitable growth and deliver increasing shareholder value through delivering exceptional customer service. This means customer service encompassing not just delivery on time and in full, but equally quality, range, price, sales support, marketing support and new products.” While the recent decision to trigger the UK’s exit from the EU has created some uncertainty within the market, Interfloor has been fortunate in that its UK sales and export activities have continued unabated. In fact, the increase in new housing developments within the UK presents a further source of opportunity, while an increase in contract services for a

products themselves then being 100 per cent recyclable. Subject to environmental permitting regulations and periodic environmental audits due to the nature of the manufacturing processes, the business strives to surpass any base requirements and challenges itself to take an industry leading position,” John says. “This has included investing £3.4 million into installing a state-of-the-art regenerative thermal oxidiser to ensure emissions are well within legal bounds. As a result of being a major supplier to the likes of Carpetright, John Lewis, and Kingﬁsher, Interﬂoor is also subject to regular social and ethical responsibility audits as required by these highly regarded professional retailers. Social responsibility is also seen as being very much an integral part of the cultural change undertaken, with works councils recently being introduced at both manufacturing sites, involvement in charity activities and increased involvement with local authorities and elected officials.”

36 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

Interfloor

Products: Underlay for carpets and wood & laminate, and flooring accessories

www.interfloor.com

Hinopak Motors Limited

Pakistan’s industry Hinopak Motors Limited manufactures and markets world renowned Hino diesel trucks and buses in Pakistan

king

akistan’s automotive industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the country. The sector provides employment to 192,000 people and accounts for four per cent of Pakistan’s GDP. Currently there are 3200 automotive manufacturing plants in the country, producing 200,000 vehicles per year. For the year ending 2016, 206,777 vehicles were sold in Pakistan. The automotive policy of Pakistan predicts an investment of Rs250 billion in the next five years which will make the target of 0.5 million cars per year, achievable. Although Pakistan’s auto market is considered the smallest in South Asia, it is the fastest growing industry in the country. Hinopak Motors Limited was originally established in 1986 thanks to the collaboration of Hino Motors Japan, Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Al-Futtaim Group of UAE and PACO Pakistan. In 1998, Hino Motors Japan and Toyota Tsusho Corporation obtained a majority shareholding in the company after a lack of investments from the other two founding companies. The decision at the time to invest was a brave one. Pakistan’s economy was passing through a depression and the sale of commercial vehicles was at a record low. Part of the company’s success can be put down to longevity. More than 100 years experience and research backs Hinopak Motors. Hino Motors Japan was founded in 1910 and remains Japan’s pioneering motor vehicle manufacturer. Japan Hino Motors is part of the Toyota Group and has been leading the Japanese commercial vehicle market for decades. It is a well-established brand, renowned for quality and superior technology. It is the trusted market leader in Japan and one of the largest automotive manufacturers in the world. Established in 1948, Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC) is also part of the Toyota Group. It has an extensive network of representative offices all over the world and offers a vast variety of goods and services to its customers. As a leading player in the automotive business Toyota Tsusho Corporation provides additional support to Hinopak Motors with expert advice and knowledge of world markets.

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 37

Hinopak Motors Limited

Dawood Engineering

We specialise in products suitable for use with regard to functionality, structural integrity and conformance, established by automotive industry standards and practices. Dawood Engineering is committed to meet these objectives in a manner, which provides consistency in product quality, optimum availability, and superior customer services, while maintaining operations that are efficient and profitable for all. Developed with over 35 years experience in the manufacturing of automotive and engineering parts and components, Dawood Engineering maintains total control over the production process, from concept through to the final shipment. Our products are not just designed we engineer them. Dawood Engineering support and work with Hinopak Motors on the development of many projects. We appreciate the way Hinopak Motors communicates its requirements regarding accuracy, complexity and the deadline of each project. We work together with Hinopak Motors to ensure that their targets are met so they are able to satisfy the needs of their customers. Parts required aren’t common off the shelf items and superior quality is required to meet the company’s demand. Dawood Engineering is one of many companies linked to Hinopak Motors and we look forward to a long-term business relationship.

Today Hinopak Motors has over a 50 per cent share in both the Pakistani medium and heavy-duty truck and bus industries. The company is a vital contributor to the economy, a provider of jobs and plays a crucial role in development through progressive manufacturing. The company’s list of firsts stands testament to its success story. In 2007 it was the first company to supply buses under the urban transport scheme in Pakistan, in 2008 it was the first company to introduce the 3S concept (skill, speed and scale) in the heavy-duty commercial vehicles market, in 2009 it was the recipient of the quality excellence award and in 2011 in was the first Pakistani automobile company and Hino affiliate to receive the ISO14000 for Environment Management Systems and Standards. A year later it became the first Pakistani automobile company and Hino affiliate to receive ISO9001 for Quality and Environmental Management Systems Auditing. It is also Pakistan’s first automobile company to export buses to the Middle East and African countries. Entry into the export market was an important milestone for Hinopak Motors, it lead Pakistan into an exciting new era for the automotive industry and fulfills its commitment towards the economic growth of Pakistan. Continual innovative developments have resulted in Hinopak Motors being the largest manufacturer of buses in Pakistan. It supplies the largest number of urban buses for commuters in Punjab and Sindh. Models in its bus portfolio includes the Roadliner Supreme luxury bus designed for long journeys, the Citiliner Intercity bus, the Citiliner Urban bus, the luxury Senator coach and the Rapidliner deluxe coach. As well as buses, the company specialises in truck manufacturing. The Hino 500 truck series consists of vehicles especially designed for the rugged terrain in order to meet the requirements

of the diverse Pakistani automobile market. The Dutro light duty 300 truck series is Hino’s globally renowned model with a high performance direct injection engine that delivers power, fuel economy and lower and cleaner emissions for minimum environmental impact. Hinopak Motors also develops and markets various super structures to customers’ requirements for the safe hauling of a variety of supplies like food, equipment and machinery. Hinopak Motors has recently unveiled its latest range of Hino 500 series trucks, Dutro light duty trucks and new buses that are in line with global Euro emission standards. It’s the first Pakistani commercial vehicle manufacturer to introduce a complete range of environmentally friendly vehicles. Emission standards are adhered to through an electronically controlled common rail fuel injection device. The vision of Hinopak Motors Limited stated on its website, is to ‘provide the society with safe, economical, comfortable and environment friendly means of transportation by manufacturing and supplying commercial vehicles and services.’ This vision wouldn’t be achievable without good employees. The company places staff before technology and machinery and organises regular training programmes within Pakistan and abroad for employees at all levels. It also conducts a wide range of professional training courses for its customers and vendors to open up new technical and managerial avenues to improve existing skills.

Hinopak Motors Limited

Services: Design, develop, manufacture, market and sell buses, trucks and other specialised vehicles

www.hinopak.com

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 39

26 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

SFS Intec Limited UK

Change for better

principles

SFS Intec is part of The SFS Group construction division, the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of carbon and stainless steel fastening systems for metal and flat roofing, cladding and facade systems

Darren Gunga, Operations Manager

FS intec UK dates back to 1891 when the American Screw Company started to trade from a Liverpool warehouse under the name of The British Screw Company Limited. It wasn’t long before the company relocated to a larger manufacturing site on Kirkstall Road in Leeds, where it still stands. At the time, the US was in a severe recession, so all the machinery from one mill was dismantled and shipped to Leeds, where it was set up and a local workforce trained. The company survived various economic challenges, a fire, various restructuring and was eventually sold to SFS Stadler, a Swiss company, in 1984. “It proved to be an excellent fit as SFS Stadler had established a reputation as the leading problem solver for roofing and cladding fastenings, offering comprehensive services backed by the most advanced research and development facilities available for fastener manufacturing,” said operations manager at SFS Intec, Darren Gunga. The success of SFS Intec is due to its ability to detect emerging markets and work closely with its customers to develop unique products. Today SFS Intec UK supplies the widest range of innovative high performance roofing, cladding self-drilling fastener systems, hinges and window installation systems in the UK and the Middle East. “The range includes self-drilling fasteners, blind rivets, accessories and installation tools for single and twin-skin cladding systems, standing seams, composite panels and metal and non-metal rain screen panels. For single ply membrane flat roofs, not only do we supply the fastening systems to cover every

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 41

application, but installation tools to ensure correct fixing and increase productivity,” said Darren. “Our Leeds factory focuses on the finishing processes of the product. The main body of the fixing is supplied in bulk from a SFS Group factory and then finished here in Leeds, in particular powder-coating,” added Darren. The process is the modern and more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional wet painting, producing a more aesthetically pleasing product with a better warranty on colour stability. Powder coating helps prevent galvanic corrosion between dissimilar metals and rust and is resistant to lubricants, fuels, hydraulic fluids and most commercial solvents. It’s durable and complies with major OEM specifications. The finish can be applied to a wide range of metals and components and is suitable for both internal and external applications and it is this diversity that is causing a rapid growth in the demand for powder coatings, combined with the development of new materials, formulations, equipment, and applications advancements. As market requirements for powder coating increased SFS Intec redeveloped the UK plant as part of a £6 million investment programme. The new production and logistics facility included the latest high-speed curing technology for the process and inventory optimisation using a computerised Warehouse Management System (WMS). Darren introduced Ian Morgan - Supply Chain Manager to discuss the success of a particular aspect of the WMS, the automated retrieval system regarding customer service staff: “We now have paperless workflows, barcode scanning utilisation, extremely quick put away times of received goods and the ability to pick goods quickly and accurately with short reaction times. The modern, automated packaging facilities with bespoke labelling appliances use all recyclable and reusable packaging material. We also provide EDI links to parcel carriers with collections by specialising parcel and pallet carriers for customers to track their orders.” More recently in 2015 new compressors were installed in the factory, but in December that year the River Aire flooded its banks and many businesses along Kirkstall Road were damaged. “We coped amazingly well with the flood due mostly to staff commitment. Many team and family members turned up at the premises

42 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

SFS Intec Limited UK

on Boxing Day to initiate flood defence procedures,” said Darren. Due to flooding the clean up operation couldn’t begin until 28th December. A major refurbishment ensued and the plant reopened its doors on January 4th 2016, the scheduled return to work day prior to the flood, following the Christmas holidays. Darren adds: “We were 70 per cent operational, but within the week we were back up to full capacity.” It may have been a bad start for 2016, but it proved to be a record year in terms of production and turnover for SFS Intec UK, a shining example of the resilience of the company and its workers. Over the last three years annual output of powder-coated fasteners in Leeds has increased by approximately 124 per cent and is continuing to grow. It looks like an exciting year a head for SFS Intec as it heads into 2017. In January 2017, new energy efficient lighting has been installed in the factory and initial savings are forecasted to be five per cent with a reduction in the company’s carbon footprint of 65 tons per annum. The next steps are to install a more efficient heating system and reduce landfill to zero per cent. New products will be launched later in the year. The SFS Group is also investing heavily to increase capacity and productivity at major sites in Switzerland. The group continues to show its commitment to European manufacturing from supply right through to its local operations such as the Leeds site. This strategy ensures quality for products and systems, keeps expertise and know-how in house and ensures lead times and customer expectations are met and exceeded. Darren concludes: “Our plans for 2017 are to review the production processes and reorganise our working methods to further develop our capacity and meet fluctuating market demand. As part of our commitment to the Kaizen ‘change for better’ principles of continuous improvement and to remain extremely responsive and flexible to customer demand, we are investing in training to ensure flexibility within the team. We are also working

on setting new specific KPIs to further enhance our monitoring of supply chain performance and eliminate any waste within the process.”

SFS Intec Limited UK

Services: Global market leader for mechanical fastening systems and precision formed components

www.sfsintec.biz/uk

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 43

Binding quotes. Immediate booking. Zero wait.

SEND

Kuehne + Nagel UK In our 125 year history, Kuehne + Nagel has evolved from a traditional international freight forwarder to a leading global provider of innovative and fully integrated supply chain solutions. We develop individual solutions for your complex logistics requirements. Through common processes and one standard operating platform, we can consistently deliver high-quality services around the corner and around the world. Established in 1968 - 12,000 employees in 100 locations - 10 million sq. ft2 warehouse space - Headquarters: London www.kuehne-nagel.uk

Elekta Icon is the sixth generation of the Leksell Gamma Knife system, resulting from Elekta’s extensive history in SRS technology and decades of collaboration with neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists around the world

Revolutionising Kuehne + Nagel

Kuehne + Nagel and Elekta UK have signed a control tower services contract until 2021. On behalf of Elekta, Kuehne + Nagel will manage all of its end-to-end order and transport planning activities. The services provided include the management of all inbound flows from global suppliers into Elekta’s production warehouses and global spare part distribution centre in the UK, China and the Netherlands, and the management of all outbound flows of medical equipment from Elekta’s production lines. Future enhancements will include end-to-end deliveries to hospital rooms globally including Elekta’s MR Linac that will become a clinical product by the end of 2017. The agreed integrated logistics KN ControlTower business model enables a progressive program to evaluate Kuehne + Nagel as a global logistics service provider for air, sea, overland and warehousing activities for Elekta which will ultimately elevate the engagement into a truly integrated solution.

cancer care Elekta is an innovation leader in pioneering radiation therapy solutions, with image-guided radiotherapy at the forefront of what it does

lekta was founded in 1972 by Laurent Leksell and his father, Lars Leksell, a Swedish physician and Professor of Neurosurgery at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. He was a pioneer in modern neurosurgery techniques and renowned as the inventor of radiosurgery and developer of the advanced radiosurgical platform, Leksell Gamma Knife®. This non-invasive method for treating brain disorders works by applying a single dose of high radiation to a small and critically located antra-cranial area through the skull. It is the preferred radiosurgical method for its precision, efficiency and exceptional therapeutic response. Today, Gamma Knife

Professor Lars Leksell

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 45

46 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

Elekta Elekta’s MR-linac was a collaboration between international leaders in the fields of radiation oncology, physics, medical imaging and nuclear medicine

Gailing

Gailing is a global player in transport, rigging, logistics and installation services. The development of future-oriented business strategies in the field of logistical full-service solutions represents the core business of Gailing. Since the implementation of the new MRI guided radiation system ‘Atlantic,’ Gailing is the preferred supplier and partner of Elekta for the installation of this new and complex innovation. Gailing understands itself as a 360° solution provider, which analyses the processes and needs of its customers and develops individual solutions on that basis.

“

Radiation plays a central role in approximately 50 per cent of patients who are ultimately cured of cancer, but still causes anxiety in patients who fear negative posttreatment side effects

Broadwater Mouldings

Broadwater Mouldings is proud to have been a partner to Elekta on their range of state-of-the-art treatment systems since 1996. We specialise in the assembly of electrical components such as LED lighting and touch screens. We are an expert in design, manufacturing and development of mouldings and assemblies utilising CAD, CAM and CMM. We use robotics to assist in cost effective manufacturing. We also specialise in delivering semi-gloss and high-gloss finished colours straight from the tool. Our strategy is to be the partner of choice for clients seeking FRP mouldings, whether they are currently enjoying the benefits of FRP or seeking to change from traditional materials to take advantage of the design freedom that FRP offers.

surgery is performed in hundreds of leading hospitals and clinics around the world, to around 70,000 patients. No other non-invasive procedure in this field has greater clinical recognition. “Our history is what drives us forward. We have dedicated ourselves to pioneering advancements for cancer care,” said Global Vice President of Supply Chain and Manufacturing at Elekta, Steve Wort. “There have been many developments over the years since our beginnings. We are the leading innovator of equipment and software used to improve, prolong and save the lives of people with cancer and brain disorders. Elekta solutions are used in more than 6000 hospitals worldwide and we employ around 3600 people around the world,” explains Steve. Indeed, over the last four decades Elekta has grown and acquired Philips Radiation Therapy Division, which became Elekta Ltd in 1997. Additional key acquisitions include Neuromag in 2003, IMPAC Medical Systems Medical Intelligence in 2005, Beijing Medical Equipment Institute (BMEI) in 2006, 3D Line Medical Systems in 2007, CMS in 2008, Resonant Medical in 2010, Nucletron in 2011, Radon in 2012, and a number of key distributors, in line with market developments and its own strategic vision to gain a strong international presence in cancer care. Further innovative developments have taken place over the years advancing the company to the very forefront of radiation therapy. Elekta was the first to integrate CBCT and introduce imageguided radiotherapy in 2003, developed the first

Monte Carlo based treatment planning system in 2008, the first to introduce an analytics platform to mine MOSAIQ® data in 2014 and it developed the first on-line adaptive radiosurgery system, Leksell Gamma Knife® Icon™ in 2015. In addition to these significant advancements, Elekta has been working on a new and revolutionary machine for the oncology department.

The next generation of radiation therapy: MR-linac* An exciting breakthrough in the treatment of cancer is a new product called the MR-linac that has taken ten years to develop. “This is next-generation innovation for the treatment of cancer patients using radiotherapy. Development started in 2007 and it’s the first high-field MRlinear accelerator of its kind,” said Steve. MR-linac integrates an ultramodern radiotherapy system and a high-field MRI scanner with advanced software that allows a physician to capture diagnostic quality images of tumours and surrounding tissue during treatment. The MR-linac is expected to improve tumour tissue targeting while reducing exposure of normal tissue and critical anatomical structures to the radiation. It will allow physicians to precisely locate a tumour and visually track it. This allows physicians to rapidly respond and offer personalised care. Elekta, its technology partner Philips, and the MR-linac consortium members are working to make the MR-linac a reality. MR-linac has the potential to fundamentally transform radiotherapy by enabling radiation oncologists to see the

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 47

Manufactured in Crawley, Elekta’s Versa HD gives clinicians flexibility to employ conventional therapies to treat the broad spectrum of tumors throughout the body

Silcotec Europe Ltd Silcotec Europe Ltd is proud of their 20-year co-operation with Elekta, particularly in the recent development of Elekta’s ground breaking MR-linac system. When looking for bespoke cable and electro mechanical assemblies to connect critical technology, world-leading OEMs such as Elekta choose Silcotec Europe as its partner. Silcotec Europe specialise in the manufacture of cable harnesses and integrated solutions to exact standards. We look forward to growing our friendship with Elekta over the coming years

48 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

treatment target in real time, and to rapidly adapt the plan in response to diagnostic quality MR images. The technology fully integrates three subsystems to achieve unparalleled precision and accuracy in radiotherapy, an advanced linear accelerator that is manufactured by Elekta in Crawley, a 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system supplied by Philips and online adaptive workflow software. These three systems combined allow for simultaneous radiation therapy delivery and high-field MR tumour monitoring, enabling online treatment alterations in response to changes in the targeted tumour position. It is hoped that the precision of the treatment will reduce patient concerns around after care. “Radiation plays a central role in approximately 50 per cent of patients who are ultimately cured of cancer, but still causes anxiety in patients who fear negative post-treatment side effects,” said Professor Kevin Harrington, Joint Head of the Division of Radiotherapy and Imaging at The Institute of Cancer Research, London and The Royal Marsden. “MR-linac has the potential to radically improve the precision of radiation delivery, through crystal clear imaging. We expect

Elekta Versa HD is designed to provide the precision and speed necessary to deliver advanced treatment techniques that demand maximum accuracy in tumor targeting

MR-linac to increase physician confidence in treating the intended target, while also putting patients at ease.” Currently the MR-linac is being tested in seven hospitals in the US and in Europe, including two sites in the UK. Consortium members are currently engaged in various stages of evaluation and are collaborating to establish new protocols for clinical research and develop methods for data collection and analysis. The system is undergoing thorough tests and various objects have been selected for shape and weight. Elekta is not only an innovation company, but it also values manufacturing excellence. The manufacturing side of the business happens within Europe, Asia and the US. The primary manufacturing site for the company’s linear accelerator in the UK is located in Crawley, West Sussex. The company makes a significant contribution to the regional economy with around 200 manufacturing jobs in the UK supply chain. “Over the past years, we have had significant job growth at the Crawley facility, and we also work to develop young talent by hiring apprentices, many of whom are now in technical roles within the company,” concludes Steve.

Elekta

Services: Specialise in providing radiation therapy, radiosurgery, medical equipment and clinical management for the treatment of cancer and brain disorders

www.elekta.com

*Elekta’s MR-linac is a work in progress and has not yet been released or received regulatory approval for clinical use.

NTS Group

As a first-tier systems supplier NTS firmly believes that international machine builders need to increasingly outsource the production and development of key modules, in order to operate successfully. The original equipment manufacturers are confronted with continuous cost price pressure and an ongoing need for higher quality. As the life cycle of products shortens the demand for flexibility and agility grows. The NTS Group enables clients to concentrate on their core business, such as the development of core technology, marketing, and sales and service by delivering key modules with excellent quality against competitive prices. In partnership with Elekta Ltd NTS developed, produced and assembled the Gantry System and several modules for the innovative MR-linac System.

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 49

Planmed Oy

Picture

perfect

Dedicated to the development, manufacture and marketing of advanced imaging equipment and accessories, Planmed Oy is a leader in the mammography and orthopedic imaging field

innish firm Planmed Oy’s history dated back to the early 1970s, when its parent company, the Finnish dental manufacturer Planmeca Oy, was founded by Mr Heikki Kyöstilä. While Planmeca Oy has mainly focused its attentions on evolving into one of the leaders in the dental industry over the last four decades, the firm also made the strategic decision to broaden its design and manufacturing activities into the medical field in the 1980s. This expansion into a new market resulted in the establishment of Planmed Oy,

50 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

with the first Planmed Sophie mammography unit introduced at the 1989 RSNA meeting. Planmed Sophie was world’s first completely motorized mammography unit and was awarded an honorary mention in the prestigious Pro Finnish Design competition in 1990. Another new innovation followed in 1992, when the first mobile mammography unit Planmed Sophie Mobile was introduced. The product line was completed with Planmed Sophie Classic in 1996, which is still successfully marketed today as its trusted S-model.

Alongside these ground-breaking innovations for breast cancer screening, the company developed and patented several other novel enhancements for the Sophie product line such as Planmed Cytoguide, a biopsy needle guidance system for stereotactic breast biopsy in 1991, Twincomp compression system in 1998, and the unique MaxView Breast Positioning System, which maximises the field of view in mammography, thus enabling the detection of the smallest lesions. The new millennium also meant transition from analogue to digital mammography, and Planmed followed the market by developing a completely new Planmed Nuance product line with two new units introduced in 2005: Direct digital Planmed Nuance and digitalready Planmed Nuance Classic. The flagship product Planmed Nuance Excel with a 24x30cm detector came one year later and won silver recognition in Medical Design Excellence Awards (MDEA) competition in 2008, and an honorary mention in Fennia Prize 2009. The Nuance product line featured several

patented novelties such as SideAccess patient positioning, TriFilter technology for the lowest possible radiation dose, and Planmed Nuance DigiGuide for digital stereotactics. Planmed also added a diagnostic workstation with computeraided detection or CAD to assist the radiologist in diagnosis. With these additions Planmed was able to provide a complete solution for every requirement when it comes to digital mammography. Remaining innovative and willing to expand in medical imaging, the company launched a revolutionary new concept, Planmed Verity, in 2010. This product was something no-one had seen before, and raised Planmed to completely new level what comes to medical design and innovation. The product won several design awards such as Red Dot Design Award 2012 and was crowned the best in show Medical Design Excellence Awards in 2012. â&#x20AC;&#x153;While further developing our digital mammography products, we were also continuously searching for another foot-hold in medical imaging. At the time CBCT was

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 51

Planmed Oy becoming standard in dental imaging with Planmeca developing the first cone beam system in 2005. This caught attention of a group of Finnish radiologists and orthopedists, and they asked if we could develop something similar for them. We then reengineered the dental system and rebuilt it for the orthopedic imaging,” says Juha Huttunen, Production and Material Manager at Planmed Oy. He continues: “Our parent company is a major benefit when it comes to innovation as we share a common department, research and technology, so when we look at the market to develop future products, we pool our resources together and have a significantly more strength to innovate and go to market.” The most recent innovative development took place in 2016, when Planmed introduced the award-winning Planmed Clarity product family with Digital Breast Tomosynthesis capability. Available as a 2D full field digital mammography and a 3D digital breast tomosynthesis system, Planmed Clarity has continued the success of the company’s design expertise and was recently awarded the Reddot Design Award as well as the Fennia Prize in recognition of its strong design that integrates safety, durability and exceptional ease of use. “All of the systems that we have shipped this year have resulted in overwhelmingly positive feedback, and this is throughout all sides of the business. One thing our customers appreciate is excellent image quality, which is what we have been recognised for with these awards,” says Juha. “Moreover, our products are exceptionally friendly from two perspectives, the radiographer who uses the device and the patient who is imaged.” Operating from a state-of-the-art site, where everything from machining to painting, research and development and assembly takes place, the company is not only able to ensure optimum quality to customers but also react to any requirements or changes quickly. With the mammography market growing significantly and also new opportunities showing themselves in the medical CBCT imaging, the company’s ability to deliver a one-stop-shop solution is certain to hold it in good stead over the coming years, as Juha notes: “We are now in the phase where the market is replacing the first generation of digital mammography units with the second generation; looking at these older units we saw they were utilising amorphous selenium detectors, which made the products more fragile. However, in the new units we are using amorphous silicon, which gives the product more robustness and significantly decreases the cost of ownership in comparison to the prior unit. “Meanwhile in medical CBCT we are currently looking at ENT (ear, nose and throat) imaging, which is at the same point that the dental imaging market was in 2005. We can provide ENT surgeons with products that are not only designed for their speciality but can also offer higher special resolution at a much lower radiation dose than traditional MDCT scanners,” he concludes.

Planmed Oy

Products: Manufacture advanced imaging equipment and accessories

www.planmed.com

52 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

FANUC UK

Automatic for the

people

Having experienced major success in 2016, FANUC has begun moving into a new state-of-the-art facility to enable further growth

perating as part of the global FANUC organisation, Coventry based FANUC UK has developed a solid reputation as a provider of ground-breaking industrial automation and robotic solutions to its diverse customer base. Currently located at a site that has integrated the robotics, controls and machine tools divisions, the company is known for pushing the boundaries of innovation in its supply of high quality products; these include CNC controllers, lasers, robots, machining centres, wire EDM, injection moulding machines and fully integrated automation systems. With versatile technologies available to suit every manufacturing process, FANUC UK’s decision to strategically integrate the three divisions into one in 2015 resulted in a sales increase of 20 per cent on the previous year. Further bolstering growth was the company’s focus on training its engineers in all areas of the business, which in turn ensures increased flexibility, particularly when it comes to service/ spares and machine sales.

Having achieved its first major automation contract in 2015, which incorporates both robotics and machine tools, as well as boasting a strong performance in all areas of the business, FANUC UK is now preparing for a relocation to a site in the Technology Park, Ansty, on the outskirts of Coventry. Four times the size of the existing facility, this new site will enable full turnkey automation as well as the opportunity to work on larger, more complex projects. Speaking to Manufacturing Today Europe on FANUC UK’s strategic relocation is Tom Bouchier, Managing Director at FANUC UK: “The new facility will enable us to progress into larger systems and full turnkey automation projects as we can currently only do a certain size of project where we are presently based; this is because the new site has a larger workshop and also offers additional space for us to begin doing full production lines, as opposed to individual cells. We can provide customers with solutions that will include FANUC Robots, Robodrill CNC machines, Roboshot injection molding machines,

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 53

54 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

FANUC UK

Robocut EDM machines and lasers. We are the only automation company in the UK with this range of products that are all manufactured by ourselves, which means we can make the control platform the same and thus join products together with ease.” The overall cost of the building is £19 million, with the company also acquiring an additional two acres of land to allow for a further 25 per cent expansion in the future. In line with this significant expansion, FANUC UK will be seeking to add an extra 50 to 60 personnel over the next few years, however, Tom is currently focused on the more immediate matter of ensuring a smooth relocation to the new site: “It will be a bit of a juggling act over the next few months but

we anticipate the relocation will be complete by mid-May 2017. We have managed to get early access to workshop space, which means we can start working on a project without any downtime. However, logistically we are only five miles away from the new site so engineers can still get parts and go to the new site to work; it will just take a little more transportation time for us. To prevent downtime we will relocate department by department while continuing to work at each site until the move is complete.” Alongside this strategic relocation, another major development for the company has been the launch of a new collaborative robot, the CR-7iA, which works alongside humans in close proximity. The robot is one of FANUC’s range of collaborative robots, which uses multiple sensors for safety, can handle payload of up to 35 kilos and boasts 100 per cent reliability, is aimed at the automotive market and has generated huge interest from the international automotive manufacturing industry. Despite the collaborative robot’s success in Europe, Tom says the UK market remains conservative when it comes to working alongside larger robots: “The UK is a little bit behind in embracing collaborative robots working in production lines and has a mainstream attitude as to how these robots can be employed. Changing these traditional views is proving challenging for us, nevertheless, we will be looking to introduce this robot to a customer in an assembly plant in March 2017.” Keen to remain competitive FANUC also recently announced a collaborative effort with Cisco, Rockwell Automation and Preferred

Networks (PFN) to jointly develop and deploy the FANUC Intelligent Edge Link and Drive (FIELD) system with the goal of making the factory of the future a reality. The FIELD system is to be a platform for the delivery of advanced analytics for FANUC CNCs, robots, sensors and peripheral devices used in automation systems and will drive enhanced machine reliability, flexibility, quality and speed. The system also extends the success of the group’s existing FANUC Zero Downtime (ZDT) project in the US, which leverages the Cisco IOT cloud and software platform to help customers connect their machines and plant floor assets with exceptional results. For example, FANUC ZDT can be installed on all new systems, improves cycle times, reduces energy consumption and extends the life of the robot. “FANUC ZDT is a prediction method of checking robots as it can monitor potential problems before there is an issue and can then prevent downtime of these robots; it is a great tool for major companies that have multiple robots,” explains Tom. As it continues to launch innovative products and increases productivity at its new facility, FANUC UK is certain to continue its trend of growth over the coming years.

FANUC UK

Products: Industrial automation and robotic solutions

www.fanuc.eu/uk/en

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 55

Edina advert_WIS advert 22/12/2016 11:16 Page 1

Delivering energy efficient CHP solutions.

Edina is a leading supplier, installer and maintenance provider for combined heat and power (CHP) projects, and sole distributor in the UK and Ireland for market leading MWM gas engines. Our CHP solutions provide: • • • •

market leading electrical efficiency; high reliability and availability; low lifecycle costs, and; guaranteed revenue from exported energy.

For more information about CHP and our power generation solutions, contact us at: T: +44 (0)161 432 8833 E: info@edina.eu W: www.edina.eu

Falcon Foodservice Equipment

Horizontal

cooking With almost 200 years manufacturing cooking equipment, Falcon Foodservice Equipment supplies a comprehensive range of tools to meet the needs of caterers and chefs in every sector of the catering industry

Le Cordon Bleu, London

ince the company was created in 1819, Falcon Foodservice Equipment has established a name for itself, identifiable with high quality performance products. Tim Tindle, Falcon‘s managing director explains the significant history of the company since its inception. “The company was founded in 1819, the year Queen Victoria was born and it was initially a foundry-based operation. In those days catering equipment was made out of cast iron, whereas today it is made out of stainless steel. In 1969 the company became part of Glynwed, which later became AGA. In 2004 we moved to our new factory, nestled in the Ochil hills just outside Stirling. At the same time we closed our last foundry,” he said. In 2007 the company reached a massive milestone when Ali SpA, an Italian family business and one of the largest global leaders in the foodservice industry acquired it. Being part of the Ali Group, which is solely focused on the commercial market, has helped Falcon revitalise itself and look to the future.

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 57

Wallace view

Gray Precision Engineering

We have been associated with Falcon from the start of business; they are a very good company to work for. Gray Precision Engineering will assist them in the design and manufacture of tools to their component drawings and press suitability. Gray Precision has worked closely with them to manufacture jigs and fixtures to suit their parts and available welding machines. We have seen many improvements within Falcon over the years to become one of the most progressive companies Gray Precision work for.

58 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

Today the company supplies a comprehensive range of equipment, designed to meet the needs of caterers and chefs in every sector of the catering industry, from cafes to tearooms, and casual dining venues to Michelin starred restaurants such as the world famous Three Chimneys on the Isle of Skye, or The Club in Abi Dhabi. Falcon also provides equipment to the public sector. “In the public sector our brand is popular across all sectors - schools, universities, hospitals, the military and prisons, and is used in many catering colleges,” adds Tim. Innovation is key to the success of the company. It works with leading UK robotics specialists to enable the company to develop pioneering systems like a corner welding plant. Tim explains: “We chose a company grounded in welding technology that had moved into automation. The challenge to the development team was to weld, without filler wire, the corner of an oven door that was manufactured out of 0.8mm stainless steel and in doing so have a finish that required no secondary operations.” After much hard work and creative thinking the

Falcon Foodservice Equipment F900-cookline

Chargrill MB

end result went beyond expected capabilities in three significant areas; finish, semi-skilled processing and robustness in operation. The commercial technology paid for itself in 12 months and Falcon is now able to deliver a high quality product more cost effectively than before. In 2016 Falcon launched its new F900 range of suitable products. The company is proud to have moved into the growing segment for beautifully crafted units that combine great performance and functionality. When speaking about the range Tim explains: “Our patented Dynamic Link System (DLS) allows for the units to be suited tightly together, almost seamlessly and with minimum fuss. The range has a European look, is ideal for the growing trend for front of house kitchens and is spearheading our drive into export markets.” The growing success of its export sales is also assisted by being part of the AFE group, a principle business unit within the Ali Group. “We often work together with our sister companies Williams Refrigeration and Mono Bakery equipment to deliver great solutions,” said Tim. “Being an Ali group company also helps as they are a truly giant brand in our industry and that of course helps our credibility when we enter a new market,” he adds. The joint AFE office in

Dominator Plus

the Middle East is another example of synergy as is joint purchasing of certain products such as steel. Tim comments: “We also benefit from a number of best practice forums that we operate across the factories in the UK, covering areas like Health and Safety and Energy Saving. As an MD it is also useful to have other managing directors to bounce things off from time to time.” When asked about the future of the company Tim is keen to tell us that changing markets don’t appear to have a negative effect on the business. “A noticeable side to the 2008 economic downturn was that UK consumers down-traded but still ate out,” said Tim. The restaurant business responded to the crisis with innovation and designed cheaper menus and better deals. Tim added: “We’re seeing consistent year-on-year growth in eating out and that won’t change.”

Tim concludes that over the next 12 months the strategic vision for the business is to develop new product lines and markets, by increasing quality, reliability and efficiency. “It’s not about being the cheapest it’s about being the best in class. We have aggressive plans in all areas and the whole team know where we are and where we want to go on our journey together,” he ends.

Falcon Foodservice Equipment

Products: The UK’s leading manufacturer of professional cooking equipment; supplying operators and chefs across Europe, the Middle East and Asia

www.falconfoodservice.com

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 59

GripIt

The sticking

place

Jordan Daykin with his Grandfather Stanley by the shed where it all started

With a history comprising ingenuity, innovation and even dragons, GripIt represents a company with a remarkable success story that is primed to step up to the next level within the global market

he fascinating journey of GripIt from literally a bedroom project to the world’s ultimate plasterboard fixing technology on the market began in 2008, when the company’s current Managing Director and co-inventor of GripIt, Jordan Daykin, encountered a problem when attempting to attach fittings to plasterboard walls. “I was 13 years old and had just moved into my grandparent’s house. They had converted their garage into a bedroom for me and as is typical in these kinds of projects, plasterboard had been fitted over the top of the building’s outside walls, which leaves only a small gap where fixings are able to open behind the board,” Jordan explains. “This created problems when attempting to hang items such as curtain rails and my grandfather, Stanley Daykin and I tried all of the existing fixings on the market and found that none of them worked. As a result, we took to my grandfather’s shed to create a bespoke solution that would go on to become the foundation of the GripIt concept today.” After applying the same solution to fix heavier items such as television sets to the walls of his garage bedroom, Jordan realised that there was huge potential for an effective solution like GripIt to take a leading position within the market for plasterboard wall fixings. Following this eureka moment and a period of research and further development, the GripIt Fixings business was born and quickly caught the attention of both retailers and customers alike. After a rapid entry into the market and an impressive period of growth, it became clear that the creators of GripIt would again need to take innovative, bold steps to progress further.

60 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

“It took about four years to get the patent granted for GripIt and to undertake all of the relevant product development and testing before we finally launched the product in November 2012. This was hugely successful and we eventually managed to get GripIt into 500 stores across the UK. At the end of 2013 I was keen to get the company to the next level,” Jordan says. “I then decided to apply for BBC’s ‘Dragons’ Den, thinking that I would never get on the show. However, a few months later I received a telephone call telling me that I had made it through to the next round and would be appearing on the show. The appearance was filmed in March 2014 and I was able to win investment from Deborah Meaden, who invested £80,000 for 25 per cent of the business.” As a result of this victory, the business once again entered into a period of rapid development and grew from being present in 500 stores to more than 5000 locations across the UK. These include everything from small independent retailers through to highly recognised brands such as Maplin, B&Q, ScrewFix, Wickes and several others. To meet this increasing demand, GripIt has also continued to invest into its manufacturing capabilities to both facilitate its present market expansion as well as to set the stage for future growth into the international arena. During 2015 for example, the company invested £1 million into opening its own in-house manufacturing facility and throughout 2016 GripIt spent an additional £2.5 million on enhancing its production capacity. The company now manages 12 moulding machines, two automatic assembly lines and a fully automated packaging line. This development also allowed the business to expand from two to five units,

increasing its manufacturing space to 35,000 sq ft and growing its team to 32 members of staff. Despite interest from several venture capitalists and existing investors in contributing further funds for the growth of the company, GripIt took the decision to raise the desired capital via the Crowdcube crowd-funding platform. This generated huge levels of interest and enabled GripIt to hit a target of £2 million in investment in just five days. As a result of this success, GripIt is again actively using the Crowdcube platform with an aim to further engage with its clients and investors, as well as to raise capital to introduce further products to the company’s portfolio. “We decided to use the Crowdcube platform because we wanted to give people a chance to buy into the technology,” Jordan reveals. “That was the reason that we originally chose the crowd-funding option and the reason that we have gone back to it is that the system has been very successful and we have investors that are contacting us daily to say that they would like to invest more. This next round of development will help us to add new products to our existing range.” This next step in the GripIt journey will also allow the business to further break into the global market, with target growth across the US, Europe and Australia. Indeed, the company has already established teams that are dedicated to promoting and selling the GripIt brand into regions around the world and has ambitious plans for the coming years. “We have just signed a deal with Kingfisher in Europe and will be appearing in 900 stores across the region, while Australia, New Zealand and America also offer great opportunities for expansion,” Jordan concludes. “We have a five year plan in place for America, with a distributor that sells to 24,000 stores, our target is to fit GripIt into 18,000 of those. The aim of the business is to increase its overall store count from 5000 to 25,000-30,000 locations around the world. This will be all about innovation and delivering new products to extend what the GripIt brand is able to offer.”

GripIt

Products: Innovative plasterboard fixtures

www.gripitfixings.co.uk

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 61

Denny Bros Group

Prints

charming Founded in 1945 by brothers Douglas and Russell Denny in response to the simple conundrum of where to get dance tickets printed, Denny Bros Ltd. has since grow into an international force in labelling solutions

Graham Denny, Managing Director

62 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

n the seven decades since the company was first incorporated, Denny Bros has evolved as a family-owned venture that today represents one of the world leaders in innovative labelling solutions across several demanding markets. The business remains today as an independent, family-owned printing business with an ethos underpinned by the strong guiding values of its founders comprising trust, innovation, quality and customer service. Barry Denny, the son of Douglas Denny, is the current Chairman of Denny Bros Ltd, with Graham Denny as Managing Director and his brother, Andrew Denny holding the position of Strategic Development Director. Having started life as a commercial printing business, Denny Bros has since grown into a company that pioneers the development of innovate labelling solutions, which are commonly employed across a range of healthcare,

agrochemical, informational and promotional applications amongst others. During the 1980s the company patented a product known as Fix-a-Form®, which comprises a label with a leaflet or booklet attached. This ‘multi-page’ label enables substantially more information to be provided on pack than a conventional single ply label and features such as braille, tactile symbols and a range of security features can be incorporated. Denny Bros was the first company to develop a product of this type and continues to hold a number of worldwide patents for the application. “Denny Bros was the first company to produce labels featuring attached booklets and the introduction of this product was fairly revolutionary to our business. Demand was so strong that we struggled to meet demand in the UK. International demand was also building and this led to the formation of Fix-a-Form

Fix-a-Form®, the multi-page label

Neck, collar and tag format label printing

International Ltd. This company acts as the hub which licences the multi-page label IP to a network of leading international printers and independent leaflet label suppliers in over 50 countries worldwide – demonstrating the impressive growth of Denny Bros Group in terms of both its product portfolio and market presence over the years. The company also has an engineering department and manufactures Fix-a-Form® making machinery, which is subsequently exported around the world,” explains Denny Bros Managing Director, Graham Denny. “We presently have around 20 licensees around the world following the development of the licensing and engineering side of the business and that has since led to the formation of further business being added to the group. The Denny Bros Group is now comprised of ten individual companies, each has its own slightly different niche including our most

recent acquisition Richard Ching & Son Ltd who specialise in high quality nameplates, rating plates and signs. ” Continued investment into the company’s production and distribution capabilities has allowed Denny Bros to grow into a globally trusted leader in bespoke labelling solutions. Its in-house engineering capability has equally played an important role in ensuring that the company is able to continually refine its product and to respond quickly to the needs of its clients. “We invest in the business and its manufacturing capability all the time, which is further bolstered by our dedicated engineering capacity, which allows us to develop custom machinery at our locations on site. We have an engineering team of around 12 people, who are involved in the continued development of our specialist Fix-a-Form machines,” Graham says.

“

Many of the labels that appear on products are multilingual because our clients tend to like to have a single label that they can distribute to many different countries and hence reduce their inventory

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 63

Denny Bros Group

Paragon Inks Ltd Paragon Inks Holdings Ltd is a UV ink and coating manufacturer, supplying the global web printing decoration market. Its one-world manufacturing facility is dedicated to offering a complete portfolio of products for a massive variety of companies through product formulation, GMP manufacturing, innovation and development. The company’s focus on product and print, and converting application knowledge provides customers with an unrivalled level of service, offering complete and bespoke added value packages. As proud winners of The Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2014, dedication and commitment to their home and global customer base is paramount.

64 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

“In terms of the company’s other equipment, our production team is always focused on exploring the latest developments in printing and packaging machinery and digital printing is becoming increasingly important, although traditional lithographic and flexographic printing still remain the mainstay. We have invested quite heavily into keeping the company’s equipment up-to-date, as this is very important with our industry.” With a diversified market base in terms of both its geographic and industrial presence, Denny Bros continues to enjoy strong demand for its innovative products from clients around the world. This is further bolstered by the

Denny Bros Group

increasing requirement for information to be present on labels, which are often displayed the same way on products distributed across several regions. “The demand for more information on packaging is something that is ever-increasing. Many of the labels that appear on products are multilingual because our clients tend to like to have a single label that they can distribute to many different countries and hence reduce their inventory. This is particularly true in the markets for clinical trials, which are often global so will require a single label that can be used in different regions,” Graham elaborates. “In terms of market strength, Europe is leading the way in terms of demand with Germany and France each representing strong territories. Malaysia and Australasia also provide strong demand. In India we part-own the license, Unick Fix-a-Form and Printers PLC, and have enjoyed some really positive growth doubling their sales over the last five years following investment in equipment supported by us.” Despite having enjoyed a rapid turnaround from a small printing business to a globally established enterprise, Denny Bros is showing no signs of slowing down. Demand for its products remains strong and although the market may show signs of future uncertainty, Graham is confident that Denny Bros is prepared to further grow the business over the coming years. “We want to be the leading supplier of Fix-a-Form® leaflet labels throughout the world,” he concludes. “As we withdraw from the EU, the UK as a nation is facing some uncertainty regarding the future of our main export markets, which is something that we will be obliged to face up to, but we are going

to take a positive approach and have recently recruited additional export sales staff to take advantage of any emerging opportunities.”

Products: • Fix-a-Form® (multi-page labels) • Single ply labels • Anti-counterfeit & security features • Patient Information Leaflets • Fix-a-Form machines • Nameplate & waymarkers • Conference facilities

www.dennybros.com

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 65

Spaljisten

Wrap KLEIBERIT Adhesives

The Specialist amongst Adhesive Manufacturers KLEIBERIT is the brand name of Klebchemie M. G. Becker GmbH & Co. KG. The company, based in Weingarten, Germany, develops and produces adhesives and coatings for a wide field of applications such as woodworking, furniture and panel production, construction, automotive, paper and textiles. The product range is designed specifically for customer needs and applications. In the modern and innovative KLEIBERIT Technology Centre, the company develops new ideas and turns them into solutions, working very closely with customers. Worldwide availability of the products made in Germany is ensured by an intelligent logistic concept and global organisation. KLEIBERIT has become a global trendsetter in the field of polyurethane (PUR) adhesives and has significantly influenced the market with its innovative product and application solutions such as KLEIBERIT HotCoatingÂŽ the worldwide revolution in surface finishing. The company, founded in 1948, employs about 550 people and produces about 50,000 tonnes of adhesives and coatings per year. A worldwide network of specialists and sales engineers provides solutions to customers, which are designed to fit their specific needs. www.kleiberit.com

stars

Niklas Lundin

Starting with a business idea to produce veneered moldings for the building industry, Spaljisten today distributes its wide range of single item and complete complex furniture products to a global market

ounded in 1975 by Rolf and Anita Malmquist in Aseda, based in the hear t of Smaland, Sweden, Spaljisten began operations as a manufacturer of veneered moldings for the building sector. Following a decade of servicing customers, the company went on to benefit from investments in wrapping techniques; these investments have since proven to be a major milestone in its success story, with the company gaining an ongoing contract as a supplier and growing partner of IKEA and fur ther developing its product range from single items to complete furniture products. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have been working with IKEA as a supplier since 1983 and today operate at our site with 140 personnel, delivering foil-wrapped furniture to our customer base. Although we have faced some

challenging times over recent years, our profit has increased significantly in 2016 with a jump in turnover to nine per cent,â&#x20AC;? comments Managing Director of Spaljisten Niklas Lundin. Today boasting the capability and capacity to manufacture a diverse range of single item and complete complex furniture products at large volumes for distribution to a global market, Spaljisten has been owned by Active Invest Sweden AB since 2004. This acquisition has resulted in continuous investments in the organisation, as well as its facilities and machineries to ensure Spaljisten remains a competitive par tner on a global market. This strategy of ongoing investment has proven fruitful, with the company generating a 55 million euro turnover from its 35,000 square metre factory space.

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 67

68 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

Spaljisten

With foil wrapping the company’s core competence for decades, Spaljisten today has several wrapping lines installed and is thus able to offer profiles with 2D and 360 degree wrapping technology. One of the lines is unique as it is specialised in processing thicker foils that mainly have a high gloss finish that is used for fronts and panels; these panels fulfil the highest requirements when it comes to top quality surfaces. Alongside groundbreaking technology and state-of-the-art facilities, the company also ensures optimum quality through its focus on delivering the best solutions when it comes to material and production development. Indeed, with the world’s leading retailer of furniture as its main customer, Spaljisten ensures satisfaction every time by hiring dedicated personnel that follow IKEA Compliance Standards and IWAY. Moreover, the company also takes part in the development process to successfully design

Senoplast Klepsch & Co GmbH

The company Senoplast Klepsch & Co GmbH based in Piesendorf, Austria has a long-term market presence within the furniture industry and in the area of ABS/Acrylic high gloss films. The trade name Senosan is your guarantee for product assurance and the highest quality in respect of surface excellence and colour consistency. In 2011, Senosan GmbH was founded as a subsidiary company of Senoplast Klepsch & Co GmbH in order to specialise in the production and marketing of high gloss films to meet the needs of the furniture industry. Senosan sheets and films differ from other materials on the market, because of our unique surface properties. Over 20 years of experience in intensive research and development has lead to where we are today. We can proudly say that our surface is state of the art - and this is no exaggeration.

new furniture and performs continuous tests in Spaljisten’s lab. When it comes to the values of Spaljisten, the company expects personnel to par ticipate actively in the firm’s development and improvement, take responsibility for tasks and take charge when required, understand their role and the impor tance of their job and create a happy and positive atmosphere within the organisation. Through the sourcing of exper t personnel, highly automated and continuously improved equipment and machinery, and a strongly adhered to ethos of responsibility, openness, development and improvement, Spaljisten has become a first choice international supplier of high quality products. Products within Spaljisten’s range include high gloss, matte and wood finishes for the home; areas in the proper ty suitable for these products include the entrance, kitchen, bathroom, living room and bedroom. Not only committed to high quality foil wrapping solutions, the company also has a firm belief in operating in a sustainable manner. For example, all scrap from disposable income packaging as well as internal waste is specially treated in a separate process to become briquettes. Moreover, Spaljisten feeds its local heating firm with over 50 per cent of its need, which is then turned into heat water for the community. Meanwhile, when it comes to production, the company conver ts all products into a lighter par ticle board to fur ther reduce its environmental impact. Additionally, the FSC cer tified company always has ‘the next generation and our footprint on the ear th’ in mind when it comes to the development of new products. Looking ahead, the next major step in the company’s effor ts towards sustainable paper use is to include corrugated packaging, assembly instructions, labels, protective paper

and other secondary paper material while also securing the deadline for 100 per cent more sustainable sources by 2020. In addition to its focus on sustainability, the company announced its suppor t of Hand in Hand in 2014; the non-profit organisation aims to reduce pover ty through job creation via the education and training of women in par ticular. Hand in Hand has programmes in India and several countries in southern and eastern Africa and Afghanistan, while Hand in Hand Sweden conducts fundraising activities to suppor t programmes. The organisation also suppor ts the programmes and par ticipates in the development of field operations with a vision of creating ten million jobs globally over the next ten years. Moving forward, Spaljisten is cer tain to continue delivering high quality solutions to its customer base while also seeking out oppor tunities for fur ther growth following a successful 2016. With a solid platform in place, the future looks positive for the company as it benefits from continued investment and the financial strength of its parent company. Complementing this ongoing investment is Spaljisten’s focus on the development of its personnel as well as the sourcing of new employees, who join either as experienced members of staff or as interns who are star ting their careers in foil wrapping. By investing in the future of Spaljisten in all areas of the business, the company is cer tain to maintain its competitive edge for many years to come.

Spaljisten Products:

Manufacture foil wrapping for furniture www.spaljisten.se

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 69

LoneStar Fasteners Europe

Credited for

quality

Offering high-performance fasteners, and precision engineered components and pipeline packages for the world’s energy sector, LoneStar Fasteners Europe continues to lead the market with its proven quality and service

70 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

perating as part of the wider LoneStar Group, LoneStar Fasteners Europe (LSFE) maintains a proven track record in the supply of safety critical fasteners, and precision-engineered products into the world’s energy and heavy engineering supply chain. The LoneStar Group is headquartered in the West Midlands, UK and currently employs in excess of 1000 people across 13 sites. This includes a network of its own manufacturing and distribution operations, as well as primary supply sources that allow the business to support clients operating throughout the US, Europe, the Middle East, Central and South East Asia and Australia. LoneStar Fasteners Europe was previously profiled in Manufacturing Today Europe in August 2016, during which time the company highlighted its commitment to delivering a premium level of service to clients operating

across a diverse base of industry sectors. A raft of certifications and document packages including ISO 9001/14001/18001, along with Achilles FPAL and UVDB Verify registration further underlines this dedication, while the company was also awarded Fit 4 Nuclear accreditation during the second half of 2016. This proven ability to deliver the highest standards of professionalism and quality, combined with further highly sought after industry accreditation, has allowed LSFE to make substantial progress over the subsequent months. “Since August 2016 LSFE has been awarded several large OEM agreements from within the oil and gas and power sectors, which has allowed us to make further investments in stock profiles to support these contracts whilst widening our overall client base. We have also received additional approvals and accreditations from the Norwegian oil and gas sector and UK nuclear industry that have allowed us to

continue to make new offerings and diversify accordingly across all safety critical markets,” reveals Sales & Marketing Director, Mark Jennings. “While the short to medium term outlook for the oil and gas industry, specifically in offshore and deep water extraction, remains reasonably flat, LSFE has been working hard within these sectors to secure its market position. This is to ensure that we remain both competitive and cost effective.” Having secured Fit 4 Nuclear accreditation, LSFE is presently making strong progress within the nuclear industry and this has already resulted in the undertaking of several successful projects in recent months. “By working in conjunction with our own ISO 17025 lab, we have executed several projects throughout 2016 relating to the design and development of fasteners and materials within the nuclear sector,” Mark elaborates. “These have been for various industry bodies and test facilities located within the UK and has included developing process control and manufacturing routings that have the potential to be subsequently developed into full scale programmes that will be used on new upcoming projects.”

While LSFE is able to draw on the strength and global network of the wider LoneStar Group, the company’s main manufacturing plant for all types of product, is located at Universal Point, Wednesbury within the West Midlands. This represents a state-of-the-art facility that first opened in 2015 and incorporates the latest

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 71

LoneStar Fasteners Europe

CNC manufacturing equipment for fastener manufacturing including multi-spindle, mill/ drill capability turning centres and a forging capability to manufacture bolting of up to four inches. It is also the site of the company’s internal independent ISO 17025 laboratory that is capable of conducting various forms of both destructive and non-destructive testing. The company also manages a second site in the West Midlands town of Bilston, which is specialised in petrochemical manufacturing while also acting as a distribution centre. The Bilston plant received significant investment during 2016 to allow the site to better meet the complex requirements of its clients as part of an on-going programme of development, which will better position LSFE to meet the changing demands of the manufacturing market. “In 2016 we added a variety of CNC turning and vertical machining centres to the Bilston plant and added further manual machines including large capacity thread rolling to the facility. This allows us to modify and perform a variety of secondary manufacturing processes to stocked products to cater for client specific requirements with urgent delivery lead times,” Mark says. “LSFE continues to invest in all aspects of its manufacturing capability as it looks to achieve efficiency savings throughout the manufacturing process. In 2016 a decision was made to increase its stock holding of raw materials suitable for forging to allow for finished headed product to be manufactured on short lead times and offer European origin base materials in a wider variety of products including structural fasteners used in bridge, crane and tower construction.” During the coming months LSFE will seek to further its presence throughout the power sector across several applications, while capitalising on its current success within the nuclear industry. “Current focus over the next 12 months is to continue to develop our power sector business within both conventional and renewable sectors, whilst maintaining traction in key business areas such as oil and gas,” Mark concludes. “Achieving this through development of our client based approvals in addition to working with our distribution partners in Europe.”

LoneStar Fasteners Europe Products: High-performance fasteners, sealing and precision engineering

www.lonestargroup.com

72 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

ears

Music to your

Mymanu

With the groundbreaking Mymanu CLIK, Mymanu aims to deliver truly wireless earbuds that can provide customers with the ability to connect on a global scale

assionate about music and sound quality, entrepreneur Danny Manu established Mymanu in 2014 with the goal of providing customers with smart luxurious consumer electronics such as speakers that are small enough to put into a pocket or bag, but also powerful enough to deliver superior sound wherever the user is located. The first product, Myamnu’s waterproof speaker not only delivers on these capabilities, but also boasts a call answering system to ensure users can remain connected with friends as well as Bluetooth technology so music can be accessed from any Bluetooth device. With these speakers a resounding success, Mymanu began developing earphones for even greater flexibility and convenience, as Danny Manu, Founder and Engineer of Mymanu begins:

“The Bluetooth waterproof speaker lets you listen to music in the shower and make a phone call; it did really well in the market and was distributed around England, Canada and Germany. Since then, we have reinvested all of our efforts into the development of Mymanu CLIK, the world’s first live translation earbuds which was

launched at the Mobile World Congress on February 27th 2017.” Successfully funded with Kickstarter, Mymanu CLIK is the world’s smartest truly wireless earphone with live voice translation. Available in black or white, Mymanu CLIK is set to revolutionise the way people communicate as it allows the wearer to interact with others in different languages, both locally and over a long distance range. Groundbreaking in its technology, Mymanu CLIK is able to translate 37 languages in real-time, which will thus help drive collaboration and break down language barriers in new and exciting ways. Moreover, it will enable more comfortable travel, freedom of movement and communication with everyone, while also delivering the most pristine sound quality for those wanting to listen to music.

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 73

74 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

Mymanu

Danny discusses the challenges of developing this groundbreaking product: “Developing CLIK is one of our biggest innovations so challenges included the fact that the majority of components in CLIK weren’t even invented during its development. This means we had to invent a lot of new components to make CLIK possible; because the product has tiny earbuds with a lot of processors packed with technology, the components already out on the market were a lot bigger than we required. For example, the batteries were too big so we had to develop a whole new battery; we also had to develop a whole new touch centre so users could control their music or activities on their phone via the earbud. “This was particularly challenging as we want people to be able to swipe left or right and touch with their finger, but a finger is huge in comparison, so it was about finding the right designers and engineers to make this possible. It was a huge learning curve, even for major

Azoteq

Azoteq is a world leader in low power and high sensitivity capacitive sensors. Azoteq has R&D design centres in South Africa, USA and China and a worldwide distributor presence. Based on the unique levels of SNR and world leading power consumption, Azoteq focuses on the wearable, hearable and mobile markets. Sensor solutions include a capacitive portfolio of one to 150 channel touch and proximity sensors. Azoteq has recently announced the release of ProxFusion™, a combination sensor with up to four sensor technologies embedded on a single chip. ProxFusion™ further addresses the evertougher demands for higher levels of integration and lower power consumption in the markets.

technology innovators, and we learnt a great deal in the development process.” Danny continues to elaborate on the process and features of the voice translation platform: “This aspect of the project was particularly time consuming. We had 11 engineers working on the development of CLIK and five working on the software. We now have a proprietary system to handle the translation on the ear buds and have a digital platform that will be launched beside the hardware for the ear buds, so those without the ear buds can use the translating system via a mobile application. People using the mobile app will not be able to experience the full power and highest accuracy of our system compared to using the earbuds. This is because the headset incorporates different processors, our proprietary software and microphones to ensure the translation is the most accurate. In fact, you can translate in a noisy environment because the headset has four MEM microphones embedded in it, its own translation processor and noise cancellation options so the only voice recognised by CLIK is your own. In comparison, the mobile doesn’t have these extra features. People will also be able to use the app to translate with multiple people at a time and use it for conferences; you can even read the conversation in the native and translated language on your phone.” Recently presented at CES in Las Vegas, CLIK generated notable attention from visitors thanks to seamless demonstrations that showed translations from Japanese and Chinese languages to name a few. “We generated huge attention at CES, with CLIK demonstrated on BBC Breakfast; the buzz was really exciting and the biggest retailers were at our stall wanting CLIK on their shelves. We met these retailers and distributors

again at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and raised a strong presence there too. It is our goal through Mobile World Congress, which is geared more to our industry, to establish our brand within the mobile industry.” With the Mobile World Congress now complete, Mymanu will begin manufacturing Mymanu CLIK and will invite users for BETA testing in the coming days with the goal of starting shipping products in May 2017. Soon to be the must-have product for music lovers, travellers and tech enthusiasts, Mymanu CLIK is certain to be a revolution for the ears thanks to crystal clear HD audio, Bluetooth connections and live voice translation. Looking ahead, Danny anticipates strong growth and demand for Mymanu’s groundbreaking gadget over the coming years. “It is our goal to establish Mymanu as the top and most innovative consumer Electronics Company in the world over the next two to three years. Following our product launch at the Mobile World Congress, we also anticipate that Mymanu will be put in a strong position in the digital world of business,” Danny concludes.

Mymanu

Products: Wireless speakers and smart wireless earbuds with voice translation

www.mymanu.com

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 75

Embracing

technologies

With 35 years of industry experience, MANN+HUMMEL Filtration Technology Poland sp. z o.o is a leading filter manufacturer to both domestic and global export markets

ith in excess of 60 locations around the world, the MANN+HUMMEL Group represents a business that has grown from humble beginnings to become a specialist in the manufacture and supply of air, fuel, centrifugal oil and industrial filtration systems and components, as well as blow and injection moulded components. The wider MANN+HUMMEL Group is a family-owned venture that employs around 16,000 people globally and generates recorded sales valued at circa €3 billion annually. During 2016 the Group acquired the Affinia Group in a transition that added approximately 4500 employees, around ten locations and further sales of €900 million to the business. MANN+HUMMEL Filtration Technology Poland sp. z o.o represents a local subsidiary of the wider MANN+HUMMEL Group from its production facility located in the town of Gostyn, which is a favourable position less than 300km from Poland’s capital Warsaw. The facility was established in 1982 and operated under the name of Wix-Filtron sp. z o.o. until May 2016 when it was incorporated into MANN+HUMMEL as part of the firm’s

76 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

acquisition of the Affinia Group. Today the plant joins MANN+HUMMEL in the production of in excess of 2700 filter products to the automotive industry across several applications including cabin filter, fuel filter systems, crankcase ventilation, oil filter systems, air induction systems and water filtration. With a proven track record of high-quality manufacturing in this field, the company has built a strong client portfolio of major car manufacturers that includes leading names such as Aston Martin, Ford, GM, Jaguar Land Rover, Lotus, Mercedes-Benz, Suzuki and Volkswagen Group, as well as the iconic motor cycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson. MANN+HUMMEL Filtration Technology Poland currently represents the Group’s second largest plant, employing a workforce of around 1800 employees. Presently approximately 50 per cent of the plant’s output is exported to clients around the world to markets including the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ukraine and Russia, with the facility’s manufacturing capability receiving a recent boost through an ongoing programme of investment. During 2016 MANN+HUMMEL invested $11 million

(€10.33 million) into extending the Gostyn plant and investing into new machinery, in order to further increase the manufacturing capacity and efficiency of the site. Throughout 2017 additional investments valued at $9 million (€8.45 million) are planned at the site to introduce greater manufacturing capacity. MANN+HUMMEL currently manufactures 90 million filters a year in Poland, which is supported by two distribution centres located within the UK and Russia. The acquisition of the worldwide filtration business of the Affinia Group brought the globally renowned WIX Filters and FILTRON brands into the MANN+HUMMEL portfolio and represented the largest single purchase in the company’s history. Since incorporating the Affinia Group, MANN+HUMMEL has worked hard to share know-how between the two companies, as well as to bundle the competencies and cement the customer relationships of each business. “The addition of the WIX and FILTRON brands to MANN+HUMMEL strengthen our global presence with an expanded product portfolio and access to new markets,” said Alfred Weber, President and Chief Executive Officer of MANN+HUMMEL. “Our joint 150 years of

MANN+HUMMEL Filtration Technology (Poland)

experience, complementary competencies, and 20,000 valued employees worldwide ensure that we will continue to grow and serve our customers with the best in filtration solutions.” Approximately 85 per cent of the Group’s sales are generated within the automotive sector, however while this represents a core area for the company, MANN+HUMMEL has taken other areas into consideration as it continues along its ‘Strategy 2022’ framework. MANN+HUMMEL currently holds more than 3000 patent applications, patents and registered designs, which it has developed through the use of several instruments to drive innovation management. One example of this is the Group’s implementation of its ‘Open Innovation’ process. MANN+HUMMEL increasingly works in close collaboration with its own suppliers to together identify and utilise innovation potential. Open Innovation makes it possible for the company to explore new paths, promote innovation and to reveal potential opportunities throughout the industry. During the coming months MANN+HUMMEL will continue to integrate the Affinia Group into its business, while further

working on improving its technologies in all areas, ranging from automotive to industrial air. The company is already a market leader in the filtration segment and is keen to continue to grow within this market, while breaking new ground in areas that it does not currently serve or has a smaller involvement in. MANN+HUMMEL is involved in a lot of basic development, in respect to manufacturing, specification and further development of its filter media and on-going investment into its facilities within Poland and around the world will remain as an important strategy throughout 2017 and beyond. This will enable MANN+HUMMEL to tackle challenges such as the recent Brexit decision to the manufacturing sector and to further embrace new technologies and ideas.

MANN+HUMMEL Filtration Technology (Poland) Products: Specialist filtration products

www.mann-hummel.com

Eurogielle srl

EuroGIELLE srl has been the cabin air filter specialist since 1995. It always keeps up-to-date with technological innovation and uses high performance raw materials to ensure maximum filtration efficiency, both by electrostatic and mechanical means. The company has excellent research, development and technical departments that collaborate with the most important automotive companies on a global level, and develops solutions able to satisfy all the needs of its customers. The factory manufactures a range of cabin filters that covers 96 per cent of cars and commercial vehicles circulating in Europe. We actively support our customers with filter replacement and provide updated set-up instructions for every single filter. The high production level of our factory and professionalism of our employees allow us to be the supplier and partner of Mann+Hummel. EuroGIELLE means MADE IN ITALY. In fact the company is certified ISO 9001:2008 (issued by the prestigious TUV) and ISO 14001.

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 77

Neuman Aluminium Industries

Outstanding

competence Neuman Aluminium Industries specialises in the development and production of high-quality aluminium parts across five separate divisions

t provides solutions to the automotive, construction, electronics, safety and packaging industries from 16 plants across ten locations around Europe, Asia and North America. The Neuman Aluminium Industries name stands for outstanding competence through top technological performance. With more than a half century experience of processing aluminium; whether melting, casting, punching, direct extrusion, impact extrusion, forging, milling, bending, sawing and heat treatments, the company is able to offer customers individual solutions suited to their specific requirements. While the origins of Neuman Aluminium Industries dates back to 1780, when Carl Österlein founded a hammer mill at Marktl and named the company within it k.u.k privilegierte landesbefugte Feuergewehr, the company’s own history began in 1880 when Friedrich von

78 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

Neuman acquired the mill. From there a period of innovation began, with Viktor von Neuman delivering electrification with hydro power in 1912 and the manufacture of graphic plates made of zinc in 1925. Over the years further innovative product developments took place within the company in line with market trends and customer demand. Seeing an opportunity to push the company’s success further, entrepreneur Dr. Cornelius Grupp took over the Neuman Group in 1981. From then, the company underwent major strategic developments that further cemented its solid reputation in sectors such as automotive, construction, electronics, safety and packaging. The company sought to become increasingly more efficient, local and more competitive in the market, which resulted in bold expansions across the globe.

In 1986 Neuman Aluminium Industries acquired a slug plant in the US and went on to establish Aluminium Fließpresswerk Slovakia, s.r.o. in Zarnovica/Slovakia, in1999 the company took over Neuman Aluminium Rottenburg in Rottenburg, German and opened a slug plant in Xinhui, China in 2002. In 2004 the company took over Raufoss Technology AS, which included Raufoss Norway and Raufoss Automotive Components Montreal in Boisbriand/Canada; following this acquisition, the company founded Neuman Aluminium Impact Extrusion Inc. in the US in 2005 before taking over PWG ProfilrollenWerkzeugbau GmbH in Neuhaus-Schierschnitz/ Germany in 2007. The company also founded Raufoss Automotive Components (Suzhou) Co./ China the same year before establishing PWG Automotive Components in China in 2010;

further developments in China followed with Neuman Aluminium expanding its slug plant in Xinhui in 2012 and the foundation of Neuman PWG in Slovakia and Neuman Impact Extrusion in Xinhui in 2015. Constantly seeking opportunities to grow, Neuman Aluminium has plans to open a new site in Mexico in the near future and has recently invested substantially in new forging and assembly lines in Canada and China; beginning in 2016 the work is due to be completed in 2017 to 2018. “In principle we have to follow our customers, especially in the automotive industry,” says Dr. Gerhard Anger, CEO of Neuman Aluminium Industries. “Although we generally see growth in all of our locations and businesses, we do however see extra growth for the next time period in NAFTA and China, as well as Slovakia in Europe.” Today the business has 2400 employees; 1600 in Europe, 600 in China and 200 across NAFTA; split into the following five divisions, slug production, direct extrusion, impact extrusion, roof opening systems and chassis components. The automotive market presently dominates the global operating company’s 450 million euro turnover. It takes 60 per cent; 21 per cent of the turnover then goes to packaging, ten per cent to construction/ engineering, five per cent to electronics and four per cent to the other industries. “We are focusing on automotive applications from OEM and tier one customers, suspension parts and generally parts and components for e-cars such as new structures and architectures,”

says Gerhard. “We are also focused on the special segment of sunroof guide rails, as there is a trend toward bigger sunroofs for SUVs and light trucks as well as safety parts and components for autonomous driving.” Other key strengths for the company include the consistent implementation of automotive standards in accordance with ISO/TS 16949; this results in high process quality delivered through proven standards, strict project control at new production or technological changes, preventative error management, a reliable supply chain through a strategic selection of suppliers and superior problem solving competence through systematic analysis. Neuman Aluminium Industries takes environmental issues seriously. The company avoids polluting health endangering substances and procedures that require large amounts of energy in both the manufacturing and marketing stages. Furthermore 20 per cent of all electrical power used at the Marktl site comes from its own hydroelectric power plants. Dr. Cornelius Grupp owns 100 per cent of the company. Remaining a wholly family-owned business enables Neuman Aluminium Industries

to plan long term across the family generations. The company benefits from entrepreneurial independence and short decision-making processes that ensure a fast reaction to both client and market changes. Moreover, the company maintains its mission of delivering innovation and customer-focused solutions, while also keeping developmental competence, a long-term strategy, global coverage, an employee friendly working environment and sustainability at the heart of its operations. Over the next 12 months Neuman Aluminium Industries will focus on the implementation of new capacities across the automotive, construction, electronics, safety and packaging divisions. The strategic vision over the next five years for the business is to elaborate further growth opportunities.

Neuman Aluminium Industries Products: Manufacture high quality aluminium parts

www.neuman.at/gb/Company

We wish to thank Neuman Aluminium for the long-standing cooperation.

A REAL TREAT: UNIQUELY EFFICIENT EXTRUSION DIE SOLUTIONS FROM THE GLOBAL MARKET LEADER Higher Die lifetime, consistently excellent form and dimensional stability, higher extrusion speed and all of that with a minimum of corrections – the unique coated extrusion dies (CED®) from WEFA bring your productivity up to speed. You can expect a real treat in terms of technology, precision and economy from the global market leader in the coated extrusion dies. WEFA Bohemia s.r.o Ruzova 407/10 I CZ-405 02 Decin III Czech Republic Tel. + 420 (0) 412 . 70 41 11 www.wefa.com

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 79

Shine Food Machinery Limited

Keep it in the

family

ith roots spanning back more than 40 years, Shine Food Machinery Limited has remained a family owned company since its inception. The company has evolved into a leading commercial kitchen manufacturer through the delivery of innovative design and the highest levels of customer service. Shine Food Machinery provides a variety of services to both the catering and construction markets and is proud to maintain its values of delivering right first time, thanks to a combination of longevity, innovative technology and the expertise and talent shared among its 65 members of staff. The figures speak for themselves. It has provided over £100 million commercial kitchens within the last ten years and its turnover has increased tremendously in the last five. Innovation is key to Shine Food Machinery’s success and the ability to be able to change has placed the company as a strong market leader. Reinvestment has funded the internal expansion processes and the development of impressive design and manufacturing methodologies. The company is working with a new technology called Building Information Modelling (BIM), a collaborative way of working, underpinned by

80 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

Shine Food Machinery Limited delivers innovative commercial  kitchen solutions for tomorrow

digital technologies to create more efficient methods to design, build and maintain buildings and infrastructure. Shine Food Machinery was proud to work with the Contractor LendLease on a BIM level three contract for HMP Winchester, working with the design team to meet the authorities requirements in providing a fully integrated 3D model of the entire facility to facilitate their future maintenance and renewal programmes. This has been followed by a further £14m of BIM projects to date. The BIM initiative appears to be paying off. Shine recently won Build Magazines Architecture Award 2016 for BIM commercial kitchen solutions in the UK, and the award winning doesn’t end there. It has also won the Catering Insight Award for distributor of the year in the rest of the UK category for the second year running. Leon Hoyles, Business Development Manager at Shine Food Machinery collected the award and said at the time: “We’re delighted to win the award. It’s all down to the hard work of the guys at the office and we’re obviously appreciative of the fact that it’s been awarded by suppliers.”   The company has designed, manufactured and installed commercial kitchens for a host of big name companies including Hampton by Hilton, Bristol Airport and Hampton by Hilton Excel

London Docklands, Which? Headquarters Baker Street, Hotel Indigo, Space Studios in London, the Greenway Hotel & Spa Progress, RAF Little Rissington, BHR Berkshire, Worcester Races, the Woolwich Offers Mess, Microsoft and Clarkson’s Plc. When tech giants Microsoft developed its London long-range plan it was seeking to create a Microsoft London campus, aligned to current and future needs. Shine Food Machinery was selected to deliver the project due to its understanding of the requirements for the level four main kitchen and food service area. The project, which was designed by Tricon Food Service Consultants, relied on a mixture of existing and new equipment to deliver the high expectations set by both Microsoft and contract caterers Baxter Storey. James Shaw, Project Manager at Shine Food Machinery commented: “We have been given extremely positive feedback from the client, who has said the team here in London has just set a new standard for global premises at Microsoft. Never have they seen before a project achieve such high levels of quality at practical completion.” Shine Food Machinery worked with Pioneer, Foster Coldstores, Foster Refrigerator, Trak Hupfer and Hatco to produce a high standard kitchen for Microsoft.

When Clarkson’s Plc, the world’s leading provider of integrated shipping services, was looking for a new London office it was no surprise that Shine Food Machinery was invited to get involved. Working on a tight programme together with Overbury Plc, Shine Food Machinery was employed to provide catering equipment solutions to the main kitchen, which fed the hospitality areas, main cafe bar and outside terrace BBQ & bar. The project, which was designed by leading UK food service consultants Humble Arnold, formed part of Clarkson’s decision to move to a new office at Commodity Quay at St Katherine’s Dock. Shine Food Machinery worked closely with a number of suppliers such as Mechline, Celltherm, Trak, Essex Fabrication, Halton, Rational, Winterhalter, Ambach, Fosters and Amerex to ensure that the high expectations of both value and performance were met. The company is proud of holding full ISO 9001 Quality Management. It has established a systematic approach to quality management and managing the business to ensure a structured approach while continuously focusing on the needs and requirements of its clients. As a result it has upheld the ISO 9001 accreditation for over a decade; this demonstrates that the company is a well-established and trusted market leader. It also achieved ISO14001 for Environmental Management accreditation back in 2006 and ISO18001 in Occupational Health and Safety Management. Shine Food Machinery takes the health, safety and welfare of its employees and that affected by its wider activities very seriously and has upheld the accreditation since 2009. As Shine Food Machinery continues to build upon its foundations it looks set to grow even further. The company will continue to introduce new and advanced technologies, such as the Building Information Modelling platform to keep ahead of the competition. While the company has clearly had a very successful history it looks well placed to enjoy even more prosperous years ahead. It’s expecting to generate a £12 million turnover in 2017.

Shine Food Machinery Limited

Products: Design, manufacture and install commercial kitchens

www.shine.co.uk

“

Never have they seen before a project achieve such high levels of quality at practical completion www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 81

HTH Køkkener A/S

Self-made Celebrating its 50th anniversary during 2016 and with more than 700 different products to its name, HTH Køkkener A/S continues to represent one of the Nordic region’s most prominent kitchen brands

82 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

success W

ith a rich history of tradition in manufacturing high quality kitchen furniture, HTH Køkkener A/S (HTH) today operates as part of the leading Swedish Nobia AB group of companies to deliver an exciting range of products that target bathroom, kitchen and wardrobe environments. The business was originally founded during 1966 by carpenters Hans Henning and Tonny Haahr, who perceived an opportunity within the market for kitchen manufacturing and subsequently secured a loan of some 10,000 DKK to launch the firm. Following a period of strong sales, mergers and acquisitions HTH became part of the STORA group of companies, which was later renamed Nobia in 1996 following a buy-out by Industri Kapital to form the largest kitchen producer in Northern Europe. Today HTH represents a fully ISO accredited company, with further certifications relating to its environmental and health and safety procedures respectively. In 2005 the business

achieved production exceeding one million cabinets, which was soon followed by further strategic expansion and the launch of its own basic (DIY) range in Norway 2008. Throughout its history ensuring that its products are the best on the market has continued as part of HTH’s DNA and having celebrated five decades in operation during 2016, the same focus on developing innovative new solutions still applies within the company. Indeed over the years, HTH has remained receptive to the demands of its clients and kept its place at the forefront of contemporary trends in furniture design. HTH Køkkener was previously profiled in Manufacturing Today Europe in May 2016, during which time the company’s Production Director, Kristian Snoghøej discussed the on-going importance of reliable and efficient manufacturing in allowing the business to adhere to its parent company’s vision ‘To become the leading and most profitable kitchen supplier, who inspires to and realises kitchen dreams through a world class customer experience’. To support

this vision, HTH maintains dedicated factories within Denmark that employ circa 1200 people, while a corresponding number of employees work within the fields of sales and kitchen consultancy across its extensive network of retail showrooms. These facilities are in turn supported by an on-going programme of investment and development to ensure that HTH remains at the cutting-edge of the market in terms of productivity, efficiency and quality. To this end, an important development within the company during the past six months has been the announcement of the launch of a tender to develop a new drilling and gluing line at its main production site in Ølgod, Denmark. “We are increasing our efficiency and capacity across the business and are achieving this by further implementing lean manufacturing. We also have significant investment plans for the next three to four years and we have an approved project for the development of a new drilling and gluing line during the next 12 months,” Kristian elaborates. “With the development of this new line we are aiming to achieve a high level of equipment availability, which will in turn lead to even more efficient production. We will also intend to be able to have more environmental control of the line, in terms of the amount of energy that is used during the manufacturing process. We are actually replacing equipment that dates back to around 1976, which means that the upgrade in technology between now and then is bound to result in greater efficiency. It is also expected that the new line will introduce new technology into the company but it is hard to predict what

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 83

HTH Køkkener A/S

SCM Group Engineering

SCM Engineering, an SCM Group division, is your perfect partner for ad-hoc technical solutions, including those high-end jobs. SCM Engineering can integrate its own wide range of solutions as well as those by its technological partners, providing a direct and exclusive project assistance, in addition to an excellent aftersales service, as well as maintenance and spare parts supply. We provide Nobia with a machining cell for the production of kitchen cabinet doors that consists of high-tech machines, operated by the SCM-proprietary Watch© supervision system. It functions without any need for human intervention, and delivers high-performance, high quality and reliable workmanship.

84 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

this will be at present, because we have initiated a functional tender. This means that we have told equipment suppliers what we need the line to do, rather than how to do it.” By extending a functional tender to equipment manufacturers, HTH has opened the way to a host of potentially innovative manufacturing solutions. While this remains an important consideration in terms of the company’s ambition to build on its already impressive levels of quality and efficiency, the introduction of new manufacturing techniques and technologies will also present significant advantages in design as the furniture market increasingly adapts to the trend of DIY solutions. “I think that is it clear that the way that companies like IKEA are selling kitchens today is having an effect on the market. DIY kitchens are becoming much more popular than they were previously because they have the appeal of potentially reducing installation costs by anything from 20-40 per cent depending on which product is originally purchased,” Kristian reveals. “We are currently rebranding our existing DIY kitchen lines, which represents a huge investment with an aim of expanding

the presence of HTH in this market within the Nordic countries. Of course the increase in demand for DIY kitchen furniture has had an influence on the design of units in terms of how complex they are. A DIY solution should be relatively simple to install without the need to hire a specialist to assemble or alter its components.” With the exciting prospect of integrating new manufacturing technologies into the business over the coming years, coupled with a proven track record of excellence in furniture design, HTH is well placed to further its presence within the DIY kitchen market. While the company has already established itself within this sector there is still huge potential for growth, which marks a tantalising opportunity for HTH Køkkener over the coming years. “Over the next 12 months we will be very targeted towards the DIY sector and are looking at our colleagues in the UK and learning from what they have achieved since introducing the concept a few years ago,” Kristian concludes. “Regarding the future, we are always looking for opportunities to grow and as a company the vision is naturally to expand on the back of our current success.”

Siemens HTH Køkkener A/S Products:

Kitchen, bathroom and wardrobe furniture www.hth.dk

Siemens and HTH Kokkener have a good and long lasting relationship, and together we have developed products and services ideal for our consumers. Our partnership and our products are based on the first choice of our consumers’ through strong kitchen brands and innovative products. We have jointly launched the news of our relationship on the market.

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 85

Weiss Spindeltechnologie GmbH

Global spindle

solutions

Operating out of its technical headquarters located in the municipality of Maroldsweisach, within Germany’s Bavaria region, Weiss Spindeltechnologie GmbH represents a market leader in the provision of high precision spindle units that are applied in turning, milling and grinding operations

reviously appearing in Manufacturing Today Europe during June 2016, Weiss Spindeltechnologie GmbH (WEISS) is a state-of-the-art manufacturing business that is geared toward the specialist manufacture of spindle units, which are typically applied across the technically demanding fields of turning, milling and grinding. “After buying the company in 1993, Mr. Weiss established Weiss Spindeltechnologie with around 75 employees. Since that time, the business since has continued to grow, while adapting to address new technologies for motor spindles. WEISS later extended its manufacturing capacity and in 1996 introduced its first repair and service branch in the US,” elaborates Weiss Spindeltechnologie CEO, Claus-Peter Lehnert. “In 2001 the majority of the company was sold to Siemens AG, while Siemens subsequently acquired the remaining shares of the business in 2003. When Mr. Weiss sold the company it had around 180 employees and generated a turnover

86 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

of around €30 million, while today WEISS is a business with 300 employees and worldwide business valued at circa €60 million in spindle manufacture and repair.” WEISS is today an international venture with offices located around the world and its global network allows WEISS to provide global spindle solutions (GSS), which represent the strength and innovation of the company as well as the potential of the business to deliver leading synergies through its Siemens parent company. This allows WEISS to mobilise first-class manufacturing technologies to clients across the world, while the WEISS brand has become synonymous with the provision of high-quality spindle solutions and expert advice from development and production through to final delivery. This is further supported by a comprehensive worldwide repair and service programme. Throughout its history WEISS has continued

to invest to ensure that the business remains at the leading edge of spindle technology. This has become increasingly important, as advantages in digital technology have begun to facilitate real time data collection and smart manufacturing. “Motor spindle technology is not new technology and is a well-established product, but with the rise of smart manufacturing and ‘industry 4.0’ there is an increasing awareness that the production of spindles must incorporate intelligent components. This means that motor spindles are increasingly developed with sensors and other digital elements,” Claus explains. “We work with our parent company to create data collection and analytical tools, which are developed using both new and existing technologies. This is because ten years ago, while performance monitoring had become an important trend within the manufacturing industry, it was perhaps too early to fully implement this technology due to the power

a leading position in motor spindle manufacture and to rise to the challenges that are created by operating within a dynamic and fast-changing manufacturing environment. This has further allowed the business to develop a strategy that will ensure that WEISS is a firmly established manufacturing brand for both today, as well as for the future. “We are very focused on delivering value stream oriented manufacturing and design processes that eliminate lost time and to increase throughput,” Claus concludes. “The industry is used to lead times of 24 weeks for spindle design, manufacture and delivery, while we have been able to reduce this by around 20 per cent to just 18 weeks. We also work to comply with the manufacturing cycles of our clients, while proving spindles for specialist machines quickly and efficiently.” of existing computers at the time. However, with the advent of modern cloud services and computing technology, it is possible to fully integrate data collection and analysis into the manufacturing process in real-time.” The growing integration of digital solutions across the manufacturing industry has created some exciting possibilities within the market in terms of data monitoring and collection, which can in turn be further translated into increased efficiencies in production. However, while the present phase of the digital revolution presents both equipment manufacturers and their clients within potential benefits in terms of greater efficiencies, the introduction of new technologies has also created challenges for the manufacturing sector in terms of changes in demand for more traditional components. “A majority of the research within the automotive industry for example, is currently going into the development of smart cars and it is clear that as a result of this production will change as the technology changes. This does not necessarily mean that future car designs will not need engine blocks or as many gears, but there will certainly be an increased demand for electric motors within the automotive industry,” Claus says. “This could have an impact on our business because we sell motor spindles to machine tool manufacturers and the future development of smart cars could lead to a drop in the need of milling machines and hence a reduction in the requirement of motor spindles.” To address this on-going change in the market, WEISS is currently focused on enhancing both its productivity and profitability, though modernising its factories and developing advanced machine tool products. “We are actively developing more complex spindles that can be applied to milling machines that are capable of both milling and turning, which can be quite challenging in terms of design,” Claus details. “The benefit of machines

that offer both milling and turning operations is that they have a smaller footprint on the factory floor and only require a single operator to use. This means that while the initial cost of the machine is slightly higher, the equipment will eventually pay for itself through efficiency savings.” By continuing to invest into the introduction of digital technology, WEISS is able to maintain

Weiss Spindeltechnologie GmbH Products: Standard and bespoke motor spindle solutions

www.weissgmbh.com

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 87

Springfarm Architectural Mouldings Limited

An ambitious

vision

SAM manufactures an extensive number of MDF internal and external mouldings available in a variety of finishes

pringfarm Architectural Mouldings Limited (SAM) was established in 1990 in Antrim, Northern Ireland as a family run business, and to this day it remains a family owned and operated concern. SAM puts its success down to its people whom it has remained highly committed to. While market conditions have been volatile over the last ten years, SAM has continued to invest in its staff, invested into another factory and continued developing innovative new products. The workforce increased from 90 to 180 from 2013-2016.

88 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

Cosma

SAM products are manufactured to the individual requirements of the customer to deliver a comprehensive range of high quality MDF internal mouldings. The company supplies a number of products to large merchants in both the construction and DIY sectors including an extensive range of MDF skirting and architrave designs, a bespoke service for moisture resistant MDF door linings and casings for different door

sizes, stair kits and accessories, standard grade MDF kitchen mouldings including pelmets, cornices and multi-purpose mouldings, standard grade MDF picture frame mouldings to meet bespoke requirements and an extensive number of SAM Zero and SAM Wrap MDF profiles. SAM Zero is an innovative UV gloss finish that eliminates the need for on-site painting after installation. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our customers want to tackle time

Cosma supplies brushes and machines for surface treatment to the industrial process environment. By using specialist brush technology we are able to create the surface finish you require. We can also help you to implement quality and process improvements to reduce your operating costs. In many cases, as we do for our longstanding customer SAM mouldings, we supply the required machines as well as the brushes. Cosma brushes perform on nearly every type of surface processing including sanding, denibbing, distressing, deburring, satinising, cleaning, dedusting and applying and spreading oil and stain. Let us create the perfect machine for you while never losing sight of your required surface finish and production speed.

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 89

Springfarm Architectural Mouldings Limited

Sam McCrea, Chief Executive Officer at SAM (left) and Richard Holmes, Managing Director at SAM (right)

Sam McCrea, Chief Executive Officer at SAM (left) and Paul Lavery, Commercial Director at SAM and Managing Director of Select Timber (right)

management issues effectively and don’t want to hand paint finishes themselves. Our products take some of the hard work out of construction and DIY,” says Richard Holmes, Managing Director of Springfarm Architectural Mouldings. SAM Wrap is a cost-effective alternative to traditional wood mouldings with the added benefit of negating knots, twisting and warping.

90 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

Select Timber consolidation MTE last featured SAM in June 2016. Since then the company has developed an ambitious business strategy called ‘Vision 2020,’ to generate a 100 per cent turnover within five years. As part of this strategy SAM announced that it acquired a Spalding based company called Select Timber Products in December 2016. Select

government is planning to spend £7 billion on an affordable housing programme to meet the diverse needs of homebuyers, including firsttime buyers. Housing providers are applying for part of the funds and we are watching the news very closely,” explains Richard. “Modular housing or prefabricated housing is also something that buyers are beginning to consider. Both of these markets are ideal for SAM Trimax and our other products.”

Timber has been supplying quality interior mouldings products to the construction industry since 1989. All 25 employees from Select Timber have remained in their roles, bringing the headcount at SAM to more than 200. Paul Lavery, Commercial Director at SAM and Managing Director at Select Timber, said at the time of the acquisition: “The past two years have been a particularly exciting time for SAM as we have doubled in size. We are keen to build on this momentum and we are looking ahead to the next five years with a focused and goal orientated strategy in place.” SAM predicts the deal will increase turnover by 20 per cent. Paul continued: “In line with our strategy the addition of Select Timber to the SAM family will enable us to continue as market leader and maintain the increasing demand for our unrivalled range of standard and value-added mouldings.“ Select Timber is located in the southeast of England, in an area that SAM identifies as a driving force for the UK economy. It is also a hub of activity for the construction sector and in a key area for the exporting side of the business. “The presence of a manufacturing and distribution facility in the heart of England provides us with a fantastic opportunity to enhance the SAM product and service offer,” Paul later explained in the company’s press release.

lower maintenance costs, ultimate durability and fungal resistance for the outdoors. Over the next 12 months SAM plans to focus on marketing and manufacturing the product for the construction business. “It’s a very exciting time for us. A lot of companies are apprehensive due to Brexit, but for us we’re predicting good news. The UK

Springfarm Architectural Mouldings Limited

Products: Leading manufacturer of MDF architectural mouldings for both the construction and DIY industries

www.samonline.co.uk

The next generation To drive the company forward as part of pioneering excellence SAM Trimax has been manufactured using Medite Triyoca Extreme, which is a revolutionary and groundbreaking panel product, that creates a durable fiberboard range with unlimited possibilities in external projects such as cladding, cladding systems, fascias, soffits and window components. Benefits includes a 50 years warranty on core materials, ten years paint warranty, dimensional stability,

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 91

Air Bearings Ltd

Smooth

running

ince the company was established as a joint venture between three partners, Air Bearings Ltd (ABL) has continued to evolve as an innovative manufacturer of air bearing solutions that are used to solve real world engineering problems. Operating as a Via Mechanics Ltd company, ABL boasts facilities in both China and Japan, in addition to its UK base. These holdings are in turn further supported by a global network of sales offices and agents. “ABL is responsible for every aspect of production, from analysis and design through to manufacture and assembly. Our extensive use of the latest software analysis tools and CNC machining centres ensures that customer’s requirements are met at every stage of the manufacturing process,” elaborates Supply Chain Director, Gary Durrant. “We specialise in the design and manufacture of air bearing spindles for use in precision manufacturing equipment within the printed circuit board (PCB), micro machining, dicing and other high-specification industries. Typical applications for our spindles are in drilling, routing, grinding, cutting and polishing of various materials such as glass, sapphire, graphite, silicon

92 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

With close of 25 years of industry experience, Air Bearings Ltd represents the UK’s leading designer of air bearings, catering to clients of all sizes across a host of applications

and carbon, used in the production of electronic, optical and composite components.” Throughout its history ABL has produced in excess of 100,000 air bearing spindles and leveraged proven specialist manufacturing expertise and an extensive global network to build a strong portfolio of clients across several industry sectors. Its main customers are machine and equipment builders located in China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, with the majority of its products subsequently exported to these regions. To ensure that it remains at the cutting-edge of manufacturing technology, ABL also employs the latest production equipment and strict quality assurance practices in all of its operations. “The main features of our technology are comprised of the very low rotational friction of air bearings, consistent stiffness and the inbuilt tendency for precise rotational accuracy. This leads to high energy transfer efficiencies, smooth machined surfaces and extreme accuracy,” Gary says. “The main alternative to air bearing spindles are ball bearing spindles. Air bearings provide low maintenance, zero static and dynamic friction, high stiffness and high repeated accuracy and can

be successfully used in high precision machining, while ball bearings tend to be used for heavy industrial machining and are often less accurate, require more regular maintenance at higher costs and increased downtime.” ABL currently has a manufacturing capability for over 200 spindles plus spare parts per month and its main technical ability is in the extremely accurate manufacture of components to around ten per cent of a micron precision. This has enabled ABL to produce solutions such as its LGS10A 12,000 rpm high precision spindle to be employed in environments that demand high accuracy in machining. Close attention to component size and geometric form are required in order to achieve this and the application of new machining methods has enabled ABL to produce spindles capable of satisfying this demanding market. LGS10A was specifically designed to meet the demands of the optical machining industry and offers exceptional rotational accuracy, which is equally suited to any high precision, machining and finishing operations. Within the field of micro-machining and PCB drilling ABL offers an extensive range of spindles

that are suitable for operations at speeds of up to 370,000 rpm. Characteristically these spindles have high stiffness and load capacity, employ liquid cooling and offer low dynamic run out. These spindles are industry proven and afford clients exceptional reliability at an affordable price. These advantages are matched by further application-specific capabilities across additional operations including dicing, drilling and routing, heavy-duty machining and bespoke solutions, meaning that ABL is able to meet the requirements of a diverse base of industrial markets. “Unlike many of our competitors, we design, manufacture and build our spindles and all corresponding spare parts in our UK facility, ensuring we are able to maintain a very high level of quality control and provide a complete service. We are involved with many customers from concept through to production and understand what manufacturing to extreme tolerances means,” Gary explains. “During 2016 we made a significant investment into the company and underwent a full remodelling of our facilities in order to achieve a seamless flow of work through the factory. This work has improved our efficiency so that we are now able to offer even better prices and lead time to our customers.” While some sectors of the manufacturing industry have endured challenging operating conditions in recent months, ABL has remained focused on all of its clients across the market and continued to progress with confidence and efficiency. Throughout the rest of 2017 and beyond, the company will continue to assist its clients in dealing with the on-going changes within the manufacturing sector, while delivering the highest levels of quality and service. “Over the last few years the PCB industry has experienced very uncertain times. An uncertainty in material requirements and rapid progression in the latest technology on the market has seen a subsequent decline in demand and has meant a slow downturn in manufacturing production.

This year the industry is showing signs of picking up and confidence is starting to return, our main objective this year will be outsoucing non key critical parts and focusing on the value adding finishing processes,” Gary concludes. “There are always challenges and opportunities and we pride ourselves in being able to support the transfer of many manufacturing technologies in the journey from prototype developement to consistent volume manufacture.”

Air Bearings Ltd Products: Reliable air bearing solutions

www.airbearings.co.uk

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 93

THREE LETTERS. TOTAL QUALITY. NSK sets many things in motion â&#x20AC;&#x201C; for example in the machine tool industry. As a leading global manufacturer of rolling bearings and linear systems, NSK combines 100 years of success and a total quality approach.

www.nskeurope.com

NSK_Ad_Image_Machinetool_Linear_A4_E.indd 1

10.01.17 12:02

Stama

Excellence in

manufacturing As a market leader in the development of vertical machining centres and milling-turning centres for some of the world’s leading manufacturers, Stama represents an expert in the delivery of bespoke machine solutions

NSK

Far more than simply a manufacturer of linear motion components, NSK has for decades applied its know-how to complete technology development, as well as bespoke designs in line with specific customer requirements. This is evident in the products, services and customer care that it provides to STAMA. For many years, NSK’s expertise in design and manufacture of products such as ball screws and linear guides has proved central to the operation, precision and reliability of machine tools built by STAMA. Furthermore, the company’s one-to-one customer services means NSK can provide cost effective and rapid delivery of products as they are needed.

ounded by Mr. Gotthilf Stark as Stark Machines (Stama) during 1938, Stama Maschinenfabrik GmbH (Stama) is a globally recognised provider of CNC machining centres that are employed across a host of manufacturing industries. Early on in the company’s history Stama was involved in the provision of equipment for leading manufacturers Daimler-Benz and Bosch, while the company changed focus to the production of household items ranging from noodle presses to cigarette lighters and other items that were in demand in Germany at the end of the second world war. During the 1950s Stama set the foundation of the machine tool business, through the development of its patented Stama Revolver drilling heads ARBO and a series of special purpose rotary dial machines. By the 1970s the company had entered into the market for automated manufacturing through the introduction of the first Stama NC Revolver automated drilling system. This proved to be a huge success for the company and an important

milestone for the manufacturing industry, meaning that by 1973 the original Stama production facility had reached its production limit. This led the company to partially transfer manufacturing of the Revolver drilling automated system to Uhingen, near Göppingen in southern Germany. During 1980 Stama introduced its first CNC double-spindle machining centre with TWIN branding. The TWIN system would go on to represent a key product for Stama during the subsequent decades, undergoing continued development to meet the changing demands of modern manufacturing. “Stama today produces machining centres with single twin and four spindle variations, which are available with both HSK-A63 and HSK-A100 tooling. These machines feature modular design, meaning that Stama is able to deliver products that exactly fit the exact needs of its clients. Our Milling-Turning centres are also unique within the market and are available with both single and twin spindles. Milling and turning from bar stock or a single work piece are each possible, offering

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 95

Stama

a complete package manufacturing solutions,” explains Managing Director, Crispin Taylor. “We have recently introduced our MC 338 TWIN to the market, which is a heavy HSK-A100 twin spindle machine for heavy duty machining with a built in work piece changer. We are also working in collaboration with our sister company, Chiron, on the development of a new range of machines to be unveiled in the future.” Further to working to introduce new manufacturing machines into the market, Stama is also building on its rich history of innovation through the continued development of digital manufacturing processes. “We are investing a lot of man power in digitalisation, ‘Industry 4.0’ is currently being talked about everywhere and we have already developed solutions in this area. Within the Chiron Group we are presently developing our ‘Smart Line’ software and hardware packages, which set the foundation for the future digitalisation of our customers’ manufacturing processes,” Crispin reveals. “With this new technology manufacturers will be able to control and optimise the uptime of their

96 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

machines, as well as to receive advanced warning of breakdowns and service interventions. Three modules are currently available and comprised of ‘Data Line’ part of our application and service platform for production; ‘Process Line’, forming part of a turnkey CAD and simulation solution; and ‘Remote Line’, which enables us to offer customers a web-based remote teleservice.” The dedication of Stama to delivering innovative machining solutions to its clients is further demonstrated by its ability to produce bespoke manufacturing solutions, which are tailored to meet the unique requirements of its clients. This is backed by a constant commitment to maintaining the highest levels of quality, allowing customers to purchase machines with complete peace of mind that they can expect robust performance and solid aftersales support. “We operate a turnkey factory and 70 to 80 per cent of our delivered machines are built for customers through a full production process under one roof, with services including machine, tooling, fixturing and further process solutions including automation,” Crispin says. “Quality is

taken very seriously at Stama and during the past 12 months we have implemented a quality offensive to improve customer satisfaction. This is specifically focused on the overall total cost of ownership (TOC), because while it is one thing to develop the most dynamic, accurate and most cost-effective machine per part, the TOC of machines should be at its very best as well.” With a strong focus on quality that is recognised throughout the manufacturing industry, Stama has built a solid export market across several key production industries. Presently around 60 per cent of the company’s machines are supplied to clients operating within the automotive sector, where efficient process solutions are required to meet increasingly complex manufacturing requirements. Machines in this market embody equal parts strategy and model diversity, short product cycles, variable batch sizes and the highest standards of quality. Implementing the optimal solution for the production of everything from chassis, gearboxes and motors to brake system components is key to maintaining a successful manufacturing business. Stama places great emphasis on achieving the highest standards of quality, while simultaneously lowering the cost-per-unit of production through innovative design and technology. This has been achieved through a continued dedication to the development of innovative new production solutions, which will enable Stama to remain at the forefront of the machine tool industry as the manufacturing sector continues to evolve. “We are naturally very strong within our home market in Germany, but we also export 60 per cent of our machines to regions such as Asia and China. The USA has recently started to see a revival in manufacturing and we have subsequently also been able to strengthen our presence there. We are heavily engaged within the automotive industry, but we are strong in the tooling industry for hydraulic manufacturers and also sell into both the medical and aerospace industries,” Crispin concludes. “The turning mill is definitely an area in which we can and will expand. We perceive that single machines that can provide a full manufacturing process will become more important in the future, as components become more demanding in terms of tolerances and complexity.”

STAMA Maschinenfabrik GmbH

Services: Vertical machining centres, millingturning centres, automation and turnkeysolutions

www.stama.de

AFT

AFT, winning with customers via The Lean â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Streamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; At the Aikawa Fiber Technologies (AFT) Varkaus, Finland rotor and cylinder plant, everything has been different since 2013, especially the people, who are meeting customer needs like never before

or almost three years running, a new way of working has been in place, referred to as the Lean Stream project. Since then, all business issues - from profitability to sensitive problems - have become transparent and accessible for the entire team. After just a few years, performance improved steadily. More recently, it has skyrocketed. In fact, AFTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lean Stream won recognition in 2014 from Finnish industry as a model, adapting traditional industrial processes to value streams, centred on customers. Continuing improvements are ongoing. Why are customers gaining longer life and higher energy savings in pulp and paper mill screening with minimal fiber losses? Why are they consistently getting product exactly when needed? Because work in process and throughput were cut in half, while reliability of supply is consistently above 97 per cent.

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 97

Antii Kettunen, Plant Manager and Team Leader says: “It’s extremely important to listen to the employees and provide continuous training. When you take charge yourself, and are open being an innovator, your positive energy impacts others.”

According to Antii Kettunen, Plant Manager and Team Leader: “Our gains in efficiency at the Varkaus screen and rotor plant emanate from retooling our thinking around customer satisfaction. Building on Lean management techniques, which originated in Japan, Lean Stream is our invention. We use established continuous improvement methodology, but also unique practices. “Stream builds around each individual’s ability to visualise all steps of what we do - and the flow and reasons for doing them. Stream employs green lights and strategic parking places to re-define functionality of each process, delivering original equipment and spare parts. We have scorecards visibly posted so that everyone can see how we are doing.”

All hands on deck

“Our challenge was to increase the value of know-how, experience, efficiency and services,” says Kari Ikäheimonen, HR Manager at AFT Varkaus. “The magic began to happen when everyone at the factory could see the customer beside him or her at all times. Because our reason for being is customers, increasing their visibility on the shop floor has contributed in a meaningful way for us, and for them once they get products from us.”

“Our employees are capable of taking more responsibility to solve customers’ problems,” Ikäheimonen continues. “Every day there is a new product in our service unit that a customer has sent us to audit.” “You must carefully check every product with the same accuracy,” says Petri Saastamoinen from the AFT Service unit. “An employee is the best expert to determine if a customer requires repair of an old cylinder or needs a new one. Decision making happens on the shop floor, not in the office”, says Kettunen.

98 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

Back in 2013 all employees and managers at AFT Varkaus joined together to analyse the entire value chain from sales to delivery. Where is the true value for customers in connection with AFT? Where is the highest value in every aspect of each process? “Our challenge was to increase the value of know-how, experience, efficiency and services,” says Kari Ikäheimonen, HR Manager at AFT Varkaus: “We had a very capable workforce, a long tradition in manufacturing, a high degree of automation, but fell short. Incremental change was not what the doctor ordered.”

New way of working Ikäheimonen continues: “We hit on the idea of stream efficiency. We would switch from a resource-based to a production model around customer orders, understanding and modifying the value stream from beginning to end. The magic began to happen when everyone at the factory could see the customer beside him or her at all times. Our reason for being was customers improving their operations.” Workers now work at their own stations only as long as it takes for the components being manufactured to pass on to the next stage in the process. When there is nothing more to do at their own station, the employee is free to help others with their tasks. Says Ikäheimonen: “Everyone here uses multiple skills to provide flexibility for customers. We all gain a lot this way in capability and pride.” “Multiple skills are the key for employees. You don’t stay put any longer,” comments supervisor Kari Ikonen of the Varkaus factory. “It’s a huge change compared with the old system, and it has given new understanding across the entire process. The results speak for themselves.”

AFT

According to Niko Ollikainen: “Customers are present on the shop floor at all times - because we all know them personally. We are their advocates, not just a supplier. In fact, many visit us quite often.”

Never half, sometimes less These days, no one leaves half-finished products sitting on the factory floor. That’s the opposite of added value. The objective is always to ensure an uninterrupted and faster flow of products throughout the process. Faster throughput and streamlined production also improves product quality. The lack of stress and removal of all unnecessary materials from the production premises reduces the risk of substandard quality. “One thing we need to remember is that improvements must be continuous. This revolves around trust between personnel and management. Why distinguish between employees and management when winning ideas are possible, instead of current and sometimes tired practices,” believes Kettunen. He adds: “Lean Stream thinking helps keep jobs in Finland. AFT’s strengths include the ability to radically challenge traditional thinking, employees committed to continual change and ongoing development of operational processes, staff skills and management systems.”

“There’s no top down at AFT Varkaus. I am an equal with others who share responsibility for each customer order. If I see a problem somewhere in our processes, there’s a team in place to listen, and optimise,” says welder Sini Vainio.

Embracing customer value as the vital stream of manufacturing “The Stream project proved to be a turning point. AFT Varkaus achieved remarkable results in terms of overall profitability, reliability of supply and delivery times,” says Risto Weckroth, European Sales Manager. Comments Kettunen: “Even though the marketplace is better today, internal efficiencies alone would have fallen short of what really mattered. Lean Stream is Value Stream. We shifted from maximum resource efficiency running expensive machinery at full capacity - to value stream thinking. Truly controlling production does not always mean speed. Sometimes slowing down is better, and that’s why we have ‘parking places.’ “Customer orders are now the official starting point. If an order is due to be delivered at a given time, we now determine when the laser machine and robots should run to ensure that the goods are dispatched to the customer at the right time.

Notes Niko Ollikainen: “Visual management is highlighted. Efforts to address problems promptly have intensified.”

“Lean Stream has worked for every level of worker at every step of the process. That’s why I have my office on the factory floor - to see the stream, and to respond spontaneously to others who see problems and opportunities better than me.” Orders dictate all, rather than interim stores ruled by machines. If an interim storage slot assigned to the production unit of a given product becomes full, it will not be increased; instead, the operator switches to another machine. As a result, Lean Stream production control has been brought to the shop floor in highly tangible terms.

AFT

Products: Global technology company serving the pulp and paper industry

www.aikawagroup.com

“None of us really work alone since implementing Lean Stream! My work simply followed onto the craft person before me, and the team members to follow,” notes Tanja Nykänen.

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 99

Romi Machines UK

Continuously progressing and moving

forward

Romi’s reputation in machinery production demonstrates there are no short cuts when it comes to maintaining quality

orn in 1930 in Brazil as an auto repair garage and manufacturer of agricultural machinery Romi has grown into one of the largest machine toolmakers in the world, with a particular presence in South America. In July 2008 Romi took over Sandretto’s assets in the UK, France, Spain and Holland. Following the acquisition of Sandretto SpA, Romi experienced substantial growth that resulted in the birth of Romi Machines UK in 2014. Romi manufactures, services and sells plastic injection moulding machines and CNC machine

100 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

tools. The plastic injection moulding machines have grown from 70 tonne to 1500 tonne, while the CNC machine tools are designed to use in mid and high production environments such as vertical milling machines, lathes, turning centres and injection moulding machines. Committed to keeping all of its Sandretto machines up and running with both spare parts and a growing team of qualified engineers, the company retains more than £1.2 million of stock, thus offering customers a broad range of superior

products that are manufactured to the highest of standards. With an already established reputation regarding the CNC machines, Romi has been focusing on the injection moulding machine range. The whole EN range has been updated to the V5 from 70 tonnes up to 1500 tonnes. All of the injection moulding machines are now V5 fitted with the latest controller, a CM20. It takes around 18 months from the design concept to bringing the machine to the shop floor. National Sales Manager Neil Bathard said: “The latest machine has been well received with the new controller and from that we have done well with new sales and have gained quite a few customers that are benefitting from this style of machine. We have customers like Nordell Ltd on the south coast, River Manufacturing of Sunbury on Thames, Skar Precision of Hadleigh & BSA Mouldings Ltd in Norfolk. “Last year was a good year for us, not an exceptional one as obviously the market was tight for manufacturing in general and I think for the next 12 months it will follow a similar

All images show the New EN V5 injection moulding machines with the new CM Controller.

talking about. Customers who are looking to invest will continue to do so because they have to invest in themselves to grow.” Romi Machines UK has a strong export market and is in discussions with a new agent in Poland and is looking to get involved with an exhibition in Poland in May 2017. It looks like it’s going to be an exciting year a head for Romi Machines UK.

Romi Machines UK pattern because of everything that is in the world news at the moment with regards to Brexit. We are still strong and continue to grow. The aim of Romi Machines UK is to make the Romi brand well known within UK and Europe,” Neil added. Romi Machines UK is continuously progressing and moving forward. The company has recently launched a version five of the injection-moulding machine called the ENV5 range. This means the machine comes with a new controller and a 20-inch bigger screen. The range has increased to 1500 tonne, but Romi Machines UK is looking at the possibility of advancing it to 2000 - 2500 tonnes. The bigger machines are arriving on to the shop floor now. The software has been upgraded and improved making operator usage very easy to understand and follow. Neil was keen to point out that the software was upgraded in-house: “Everything manufactured by Romi is produced by the company. We have three cast iron foundries. So everything that is blue on the machine is made within the foundry. As we build our own milling and cutting machines all the patterns are cut and milled within Romi and made to European standard, on full CE approved machinery.” Looking into the future Romi Machines UK would like to improve energy consumption on all its machines. Neil said: “Working in partnership with Siemens our machines are even more energy efficient. They’ve been approved by the latest Euromaps 60.1 classification for energy consumption. Most of the machines within the Romi range have now got a 9+ certificate on. “The market is positive, immediately after Christmas enquiries were slow to start, but it’s

now starting to pick up again. I think people are going to be conscious about what money they are going to be spending and just keeping an eye on what the government and the world are

Products: Manufacture of plastic injection & machine tools

www.romiuk.com

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 101

Diamond Box

Best in

packaging

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

ounded in 2007 by husband and wife team Kavi and Rani Jundu, Diamond Box has developed into one of the fastest growing and now one of the UK’s largest independently owned single site cardboard manufacturers in the UK. Kavi saw a gap in the market for a high quality, independent manufacturer of cardboard packaging, particularly for the fast moving consumer goods (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 provides high quality products with

102 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

short lead times, at competitive rates, and with consistency and reliability. Diamond Box provides consultancy, design and manufacturing services. Its sales team has extensive experience assisting customers in developing solutions. From simple cartons to complex packaging, the team can advise on the most economical solutions to meet exact specifications and quality requirements. If clients also require design assistance, Diamond Box is there to produce high quality drawings. Its design process matches the 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 die cutting to complex multipoint cases with self seal tape. Diamond Box continually invests into the latest manufacturing technology such as CaseAce, an online quoting system, which enables customers to compose their own quotes and retrieve their own prices. The products are then 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 in a shorter lead-time. 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 fourcolour 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 in West Bromwich was the recipient of a substantial investment, with the arrival of a Five-Colour Bobst High Quality Printer to help the company to break into new markets including the high quality post-print and value added market. A Latitude Case Maker was also commissioned later that year. This delivered a 50 per cent increase in case making capacity, and 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. Alongside the significant investments into its facilities, 2013 was a special year for Diamond Box, as its business achievements were acknowledged with several major 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 services as well as having a committed workforce. Two further awards soon followed. At the Black Country Asian Business Association (BCABA) Awards Diamond Box was crowned Business of the Year and the CEO was awarded Business Person of the Year for his contribution 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 and thus is unequivocally dominating its corner of the market. Diamond Box emerged victorious among 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.” There seems to be no stopping the company. Diamond Box plans to double in size to 200 staff and make acquisitions over the next five years. A large £3 million investment project that the team are working on is for a new innovative state-ofthe-art line to enable the team to print on both sides of the boxes simultaneously, which could lead to more complex types of jobs. 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 £21 million and holding the position of the largest independently owned cardboard box manufacturing business in the Midlands, and one of the largest single site sheet plants in the country. 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. Total sales have increased by 28.9 per cent in the last year, well above the industry average of 9.2 per cent.

“

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

Diamond Box

Products: Independent manufacturer and supplier of corrugated packaging

www.diamond-box.co.uk

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 103

Goodridge Ltd.

Official opening of Goodridge at the Dart Building

Performance

first

With close to five decades of industry experience, Goodridge represents the world’s leading producer of high-performance fluid transfer systems across several demanding industry sectors

he history of Goodridge Ltd. dates back to 1971 when Stuart Goodridge founded the company in Totnes, Devon following his return from a successful racing career in Canada. During subsequent years the business has grown into the world’s leading manufacturer of highperformance fluid transfer systems for clients operating within the OEM, automotive, defence, motorcycle, motorsport and specialist industrial sectors. “Goodridge started as a manufacturer of motorsport components, focusing on brake lines in particular. During this time we started to

use a PTFE lined hose because the material is lightweight and effectively lasts forever,” explains CEO, Jon Hourihan. “This allowed us to move into providing aftermarket support during the 1970s, working primarily with motorcycles for their brake-lines, and the company remained within the motorsports and high-performance aftermarket until the 1990s. At this time, we moved into road cars, working with several key companies including McLaren (for the F1 road car) and Jaguar (for the XJ220), providing brakes and solutions for fluid transfer around the suspension and engine. We also increasingly began to

expand into the OEM side of the industry to provide products in larger volumes and between 2002 and 2014 we supplied 100 per cent of Jaguar’s brake hoses.” In December 2013 it was announced that Rubicon Grovepoint Industries LLP had completed the purchase of Goodridge. In the months following the acquisition, uniting the UK division under a single roof was a high priority for the business, with Rubicon investing some £3 million into Goodridge over the course of the last three years. During July 2016 Goodridge’s UK operations were merged at the Dart Building, located at the Exeter Business Park, Above: Manufacturing at the Dart Building and above right: the new stores

104 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

Goodridge’s first workshop, Totnes

bringing 148 of the group’s 370 staff together at a single site. “Rubicon has a strategy of looking for manufacturing and industrial companies that are ready to move into the next phase of their development,” Jon details. “It was certainly the right time for Goodridge when the ownership change took place and the deal has benefited the company greatly. Rubicon has the very good attribute of asking difficult questions that challenge in terms of forward forecasting, market intelligence and holding a ‘right to exist’ philosophy. This has enabled Goodridge to continue to grow with Rubicon acting as an informed counsel, who are always happy to invest after the presentation of a logical business case.” Further to its UK operations, during the course of its history Goodridge has established a global network of sites within regions including France, Germany, Spain, Holland, Mexico and the US. With the financial backing of Rubicon, the company announced in January 2017 that it had further extended its global operation through the creation of a Japanese subsidiary close to Tokyo. Building on a period of 28 years of successful business activity in the country via a key distributor, the formation of Goodridge Japan is intended to expand the group’s successful relationships with automotive and motorcycle OEMs, as well as top-tier motorsport teams within the Asia Pacific region. Goodridge Japan will build on the work of its long-term sales managers, Taka Nakada and Shige Sudo who take the helm of the new business unit. The team is tasked with expanding the company’s business interests within both the OEM and motorsport sectors. “The decision to create Goodridge Japan underlines both the success of our business over the past three decades and the untapped potential in the area. Our geographical positioning will open up new opportunities for Goodridge to service both existing and new customers and provide improved technical support to those clients,” Jon comments. “I am delighted that Nakada and Sudo have joined to lead Goodridge Japan, as having people you can trust to run a unit

10,000 kilometres away is critical to the business. I look forward to working with them and also with anticipation to the planned exciting developments for Goodridge Japan during 2017.” The global presence of Goodridge presents a key strength of the business, which enables it to interact directly with its clients to rapidly deliver high-performance transfer systems. With its existing global facilities and the continued support of its Rubicon parent, Goodridge is in an enviable position to take advantage of new activities within both new and current markets. “The strategy of having a global network of local subsidiaries has proven to be highly beneficial to us. It is clear that customers are aware that a local presence allows us to provide quicker and more proactive support, which is something we are very interested in maintaining, and

expanding. We have never chosen to operate through sales offices and prefer to have a local manufacturing capacity to ensure that we are able to supply directly. Having the ability to speak with customers in their own language and to deliver to them within 24 hours, as well as to being able to forecast the supply of over a million parts per year is a huge advantage,” Jon concludes. “During the coming years we will be focused on growing our business opportunities across several similar markets. Within the performance and motorsport side of the business for example, the World Rally Championships (WRC) and the TRC International Series represent an interesting platform for future growth. Goodridge is an exciting, dynamic and risk averse company with opportunities to grow within the UK, EU, US, Mexico and Asia and, if the market conditions are right, we will also consider further incorporations within new regions.”

Goodridge Ltd.

Products: Fluid transfer systems

www.goodridge.com

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 105

Novart Oy

Grand

designs

Through an ongoing focus on innovation and investment in automation, Novart Oy has maintained a solid reputation in the kitchens, bathroom furniture and storage systems market for more than 70 years

ovart Oy’s history began in 1945, when Villahde Equipments Ltd produced kitchen cabinets for its Finnish customer base. Such work continued for over a decade, before the company, now named Nastola, started to deliver large-scale kitchen modules to Finnish homes. Further developments took place in the 1960s and 1970s, as the company’s factory in Forssa began the industrial manufacture of kitchen furniture and a further production plant was acquired in Nastola. Following these developments, strong growth was enjoyed throughout the business, with Novart Oy, which combined the brands Puolimakta furniture factories, Parma furniture, Vilka-Kaluste Oy and Oy Puuleima, being established in 1989. In the 1990s, the core production of kitchen furniture was concentrated in Forssa and Nastola; however, by 1998, the company became part of the Swedish Nobia Group, with production solely taking place in Nastola by the

106 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

2000s. As part of Nobia, the leading kitchen furniture manufacturer in Europe and one of the largest in the world, Novart Oy has three brands, A la Carte, Petra and the Keittiömaailma kitchen design and supplier service. The A la Carte brand offers rigid kitchens that are sold throughout Finland and Russia; these kitchens create the world in accordance with the customer’s taste, are always stylish and offer superior quality. With its slogan ‘beauty from the inside’ Novart Oy designs every kitchen within the A la Carte range with two things in mind, perfect functions and a great look; it also believes that it is always better if the kitchen exudes the personality of the user. Whether customers want glossy Moderato or Circolo, a unique version of the traditional wide door frame, Novart Oy can deliver the kitchen of its customers’ dreams by not only focusing on the outside of the kitchen, but also inside. Indeed, with silently opening doors, corner units, shallow and deep self-stick closing drawers, drawer units and shelf lights, Novart Oy believes the closer

they look at what is in the kitchen, the more satisfied the customer will feel. Other options include a stage-shelf unit that can be placed either on the wall or on a table; a wall cabinet that descends the cupboard via the pressing of a button and a sound unit that can be integrated elegantly between cupboards. The Petra brand, meanwhile, is comprised of a collection of kitchens that are practical, cost-effective and make life easier for the user. Offering easy access whether the customer is cooking a large festive dinner or a basic breakfast, Petra kitchens merge appearance and functionality while also staying true to their Finnish roots when it comes to design. New arrivals in the Petra range include a folding basket mechanism, which ensures all items in the cupboard are not only kept in order, but also accessed without effort thanks to the folding mechanism bringing the items within easy reach. Other recent developments include a Clapperboard with closet space, a table and

This way of operating has proven fruitful for the company, as it continues to successfully meet the needs of customers, particularly those in the booming business-to-business market. Indeed, the Finnish kitchen market is presently strong in this arena as building licenses continue to be granted and projects begin. For those seeking fullyinstalled kitchens in their new properties, Novart Oy can deliver a solution for this requirement with ease thanks to its cutting edge facility that is strong in all services and can thus provide a turnkey solution. Indeed, Novart Oy is a company that can do everything from producing the kitchen to full installation thanks to its own expert installation personnel. On top of continuously delivering high quality customer service and cutting edge solutions, the company also makes frequent investments in automation to further increase efficiency. This trend is certain to continue as building work

continues and demand remains high for superior kitchens that can be installed in an efficient and effective manner. As Novart Oy remains committed to sustaining a full order book in the professional market, the future looks positive for the company as it continues to be a reliable partner to its customers. Despite its success, Novart Oy is keen to continue enhancing operations to maintain a high level of speed without sacrificing quality through production automation enhancement and boosting efficiencies throughout the facility.

Novart Oy

Products: Kitchens, bathroom furniture and storage systems

www.novart.fi

closet to offer more desk space and a multifunctional wall system. Making 100 customer deliveries each day to Finnish homes, Novart Oy continues to be in demand thanks to innovative developments and a focus on customer satisfaction. Indeed, the company believes it is important to create a cordial experience as well as innovative solutions and, by delivering on both of these key values, Novart Oy can ensure customers are not only happy working with the company but will also enjoy its products in their home for many years. On top of maintaining customer-centric operations, Novart Oy also focuses on minimising the environmental impact of the entire life cycle of its products by using a production process that is characterised by the efficient use of materials and energy. Indeed, the company uses its own production methods, materials and packaging and its environmental management systems meet the requirements of the ISO 14001 standard.

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 107

Morgan Innovation and Technology (Morgan IAT)

Quality

care

Pulseflow DF MC2

Passionate about innovative developments that are certain to make a difference in the world of tomorrow, Morgan Innovation and Technology has gained a solid reputation as a quality focused company that cares

108 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

ounded in 1987, Morgan Innovation and Technology (Morgan IAT) began with a specific focus on Howard Clarke’s innovative design capabilities; initially specialising in the development of medical products, the company began a partnership with a GP in the late 1980s, which resulted in the launch of its first lesion generator. Successfully sold to the NHS in 1991, the company’s product resulted in more advanced machines for the fledgling pain market throughout the 1990s. As the treatment of pain has since become an integral part of any health system, the Neurotherm range of radio-frequency lesion generators for pain relief continues to be the company’s flagship range. Today commanding more than 50 per cent of the world market, Morgan IAT’s range is manufactured in the UK at the company’s site in Hampshire. “We sold the rights to the radiofrequency lesion generators a number of years ago, however, because we are experts in this field we continue to manufacture the equipment before it is sold around the world by a major American firm, Abbott, which

is the latest company to acquire it,” explains Nigel Clarke, CEO of Morgan Innovation and Technology. “Because our major market is America, a significant proportion of our turnover is export; we have always had a strong link with the American market, selling our product to customers, which they, in turn, sell globally. We have never had a problem exporting and are trying to open up more markets with the devices we are developing. However, it would also be nice to help our local UK market over the coming years,” says Nigel. Having gained an enviable presence in the US, Morgan IAT was awarded its second Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade in April 2016. Winning the UK’s highest accolade for business success twice, thanks to turnover growth from £1.8 million in 2010 to nearly £5 million in 2015, Morgan IAT aims to continue its trend of growth through a collaborative approach to business and an ongoing focus on R&D. Indeed, over the years Morgan IAT has

Test Engineer testing a Neurotherm 2000 iX

collaborated with a number of universities and medical schools to develop new ideas and concepts. By partnering with medical distribution companies, Morgan IAT has developed exciting and innovative new products such as the Menostat for endometrial ablation, an alternative to the hysterectomy operation, as well as a low-cost Diathermy machine for the treatment of cervical cancer. Additionally, the company has worked with companies such as Schering Plough and Coopers Blinds where large test machines for asthma inhaler production lines, asthma inhaler assembly machines and control systems for smoke curtain safety systems have been designed and developed. Well-equipped to handle the many complex challenges of manufacturing high quality equipment, from beginning to end, at its modern facility in Hampshire, the award-winning company is currently working on a number of innovative projects. These include a user trial in Denmark due to start later this year on a patented concept, Salurate, which tests for pre-eclampsia and involves analysis of salivary uric acid; it is a cheap, simple and non-invasive test. In a small pilot study of approximately 130 volunteers, and a multi-centered clinical trial the test proved to be high in accuracy while also delivering significantly earlier detection in comparison to current methods of indication. Key to this focus on innovation is Morgan IAT’s strategic decision to invest up to 20 per cent of turnover into R&D and ideas, as Nigel notes: “This commitment to investment began with the premise of getting a device to market within five years that would make a difference to society, with these ideas coming from either ourselves or other individuals who required investment. Through working in this way we helped to bring Pulseflow Technologies’ diabetic footwear, PulseflowDF to market and they have been selling this product since 2016.” Seeking a

Morgan Innovations

Livewire Electronic Components Limited

Livewire congratulates Morgan Innovation and Technology Limited on their 30th anniversary. Livewire is proud to supply Morgan’s with a wide range of capacitors, connectors, displays, inductors, relays, resistors and semiconductors for their medical products. Livewire has a large network of suppliers with the products to assist with Morgan’s future projects. Livewire looks forward to offering continued technical support during this exciting time, working with Morgan’s design, purchasing and production staff, backed up with ISO 9001 approval. Congratulations.

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com 109

Morgan Innovation and Technology (Morgan IAT) Howard Clarke of Morgan IAT demonstrating Salurate to HRH The Princess Royal

company to design and manufacture footwear to aid in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers, Pulseflow Technologies had approached Morgan IAT with an initial concept and prototype. With the work taken on by Morgan IATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s R&D department, the PulseflowDF was further developed and refined for manufacturing. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Two years prior to getting PulseflowDF to market, our turnover was around 95 per cent export. However, with new products coming out such as Salurate we will continue to export as much as we can. We would like to establish products in our home market too. We are in talks to run Salurate trials in Africa and China, which is fantastic as this product will be a huge benefit to third-world countries as well as developed countries. Additionally, we are developing a Haptics glove for sensory rehabilitation that we believe has huge potential in the UK to help stroke survivors. We believe this glove will save a huge amount of money and help stroke survivors through rehabilitation while also improving their quality of life.â&#x20AC;? highlights Nigel. As Morgan IAT continues to grow, the company is keen to not lose the values and ethos that have made it so successful. Moving forward, Morgan IAT will expand strategically and steadily while consistently ensuring its customers benefit from high quality, innovative products that make a difference.

Morgan Innovation and Technology (Morgan IAT)

Products: Design, manufacture and build medical and commercial equipment

https://morgan-iat.co.uk/

110 www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

BEST PRACTICES FOR INDUSTRY LEADERS

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com

today

EUROPE

MANUFACTURING

www.manufacturing-today-europe.com Editor: Libbie Hammond libbie@schofieldpublishing.co.uk Sales manager: Joe Woolsgrove jwoolsgrove@schofieldpublishing.co.uk

Schofield Publishing Limited Unit 10, Cringleford Business Centre, Intwood Road, Cringleford, Norwich, NR4 6AU, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1603 274130 Fax: +44 (0) 1603 274131