A Thetford, Norfolk-based SME engineering business has reported what it says is the biggest capital investment programme in its history, together with its biggest order intake and a subsequent increase in employee numbers to meet demand.
The £600,000 capital investment by Warren Services includes a new profiling laser with a material tower and a 4 metre, 220 tonne brake press.
The equipment was sourced, after a rigorous market appraisal of the specification requirements, from Amada. The laser incorporates the latest technology including linear drives for precise and rapid movement between cut profiles. Installation of the material tower provides the potential for round the clock operation of the laser – a key requirement of the selection process, said Warren's operations director Clive Poyner.
To complement the hardware, the firm – which hit a record £2.7 million turnover in 2009 – also invested in software by means of which 3D model files can be interrogated and reverse engineered to develop flat profiles from the formed shape and then subsequently refolded using the presetting brake press software. Finall, V-factory software monitors the efficiency of the equipment in real time and reports job progress through an electronic 'visual factory'.
To demonstrate the capability of its new kit, Warren organized an Open Day on 21 January attended by local council representatives and "engineers of the future" including students from Norwich City College and the local Rosemary Musker high school.
As a ,contrast between the state of the art technology on display, Warren also arranged for a 100 year-old Charles Burrell steam engine, also built in Thetford, to be on site during the Open Day.
With a £150,000 order in place for the Ministry of Defence, £500,000 for the Home Office and £250,000 for ongoing staging projects: "The first quarter order book is currently stronger than in 2009 and now with the benefits of the laser cell coming on stream, the forecast for 2010 is looking very bright," said Poyner.
|