£200k HELPS FACTORY HIT MULTIPLE TARGETS
Precise power ... Robin Brooks monitors the new compressor
Simba’s Woodbridge Road, Sleaford factory is meeting a range of significant targets – in terms of the number of machines produced; the quality of working environment for employees and its environmental performance.
A £200,000 refurbishment programme has improved the productive efficiency of the plant while reducing its power requirements significantly.
This is the latest stage of an on-going programme of improvements the company has enacted over the past few years to improve the productive efficiency of the plant, and which will continue in future.
Key to meeting the production and environmental targets is a new £35,000 compressor that provides all the compressed air the plant needs while using much less power than its three predecessors.
It’s installation followed a survey of the factory’s energy efficiency by The Carbon Trust, which has enabled the company to rectify several problems. As well as the new compressor, Simba has also installed double glazed windows throughout the premises, which is helping reduce heating costs.
The new compressor replaces three separate machines and is projected to achieve payback in electricity savings alone inside three years. It powers the shot-blasting facility; paint line and all power tools used in the final assembly hall.
It is also helping the factory achieve optimum throughput, says Colin Adams, Simba’s Operations Director:
“It is more efficient and better controlled than its predecessors. It detects how much air we need – something that changes regularly throughout the day - and only takes the energy it needs to provide the requisite airflow.
“It retains a reservoir of compressed air at all times, so ‘start up’ at the beginning of production is much quicker. Compressed air used to account for 40% of our total electricity bill. We expect to cut that significantly”.
Production Manager Mick Cormack says the new compressor is already proving highly effective in ensuring constant supplies of air:
“We are also using a new type of paint to finish our equipment, which offers better quality coverage and finish, as well as ensuring the machines are produced in an environmentally benign way as possible”. In addition to the improvements in the factory, the plant also features a new canteen, rest room and shower/washing facilities: “They are much more comfortable than their predecessors, and we will be installing new personal lockers soon”.
Outside the factory, large areas of the yard have been concreted and new storage racking installed, while car-parking areas have also been landscaped and tarmaced. Colin says the refurbishment programme aims to ensure Simba is in prime shape to benefit from any economic upturn:
“We want this investment to benefit the company’s staff and provide them with a comfortable workplace. During the economic downturn the company’s directors took a conscious decision to retain all skilled employees to ensure we continue to meet the highest quality standards and are able to react to the expected upturn in business in 2010”.
