Continuous Improvement Measures
Some of you will know that we have been working with the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) on Lean Manufacturing Process. In conjunction with our MAS advisor Ian Wilson, we have set up Continuous Improvement cells within the company.
KPIs are measured taking in Health & Safety, Quality, Cost and Delivery performance. All employees are involved and regular review meetings are held.
Thread Rolling
Our threading capability has been increased with the addition of Saspi flat die and Seny round die thread rolling machines. We now have the capability to roll all grades of material up to M60 diameter.
Denison Tensile Tester
We have been very fortunate to acquire from the University of Salford a very well maintained 50 tonne tensile testing machine. It is in extremely good condition, and incorporates digital readout and graphic print capability. This machine enhances the capability of our quality department.
Offshore Europe 2009 Exhibition
Tim Garton visited the Offshore Europe 2009 Exhibition held in Aberdeen.
This international exhibition is a showcase for the Oil and Gas industries and was host to over 1400 exhibitors and 50000 visitors over 4 days.
Contact was made with some of our customers in this sector, and some interesting new prospects who are interested in our special bolt manufacturing capability.
Fastener Fair Stuttgart
Tim Garton & John Hilton are planning an overnight visit to the Fastener Fair in Stuttgart.
We are pleased to see from reading the August / September 2009 issue of Fastener Technology International magazine that our aforementioned employees made it to the Fastener Fair in 2007 – as they are in the picture above!
Quality Department Additions
To ensure that the quality of our bolts is consistently of the highest order, we are making sure that our quality checking equipment is to the latest standard. In the last month, we have purchased an Elcometer coating thickness gauge with an enhanced digital readout feature. It is important that the correct plating deposit is used as this can affect the torque features of the joint.
A Baty shadowgraph with a maximum magnification factor of 10x is used to check threadforms, angles and any dimensional measurements. It is fitted with a Quadracheck 2000 digital readout.
We are looking forward to receiving delivery of a Dennison 50 tonne tensile testing machine. More information concerning this will be available after Easter.
Fastener Fair 2008 – Coventry
Smith Bullough exhibited at the 2008 Fastener Fair in Coventry.
Our stand was well received and we had visits from both existing and potential customers.