08 Dec Factory Wrap Up and a Happy New Year
What happens when engineers think too much about Christmas? Do they consider the travel options available for Santa, such as an electrified sleigh? And if so, will it have enough charge to make it around the world? Or like these chaps at the University of Manchester, consider the energy needed, and therefore the volume of carrots required, for reindeer power?
Above and beyond reindeer power, businesses will be expected to make more fundamental changes to reduce their carbon footprint as a result of COP26. At Dawson Shanahan, we’re proud of how cold forming vastly reduces material waste and machining time in manufacture and we’re here to support our customers in reaching their sustainability goals. If you are looking to see where you can make an impact, talk to us, as cold forming can reduce waste by as much as 80%.
Talking of cold forming, the factory has been busy…
Rise of the machines
They’re here! We have taken delivery of the first shipment of small, high precision lathes. These have been custom designed to meet our exacting requirements of quick loading and machining whilst working to tight tolerances.
We’ve also taken delivery of a Rotary Transfer Machine that has been refurbished by Technica in Switzerland. This is located in an area dedicated to Rotary Transfer Machines and our first machine is already in action. That’s not all… we have also ordered another Rotary Transfer Machine to manage an order of connectors.
Often, we find a customer will order relatively low volumes only for it to quickly escalate and we’ve seen that this year with one of our large US customers for whom we are producing 15,000 parts a week. It has also been the case for a local die-cast company that is increasing orders every month. We are seeing a diverse range of enquiries and orders. That’s ok, we love a good mix of orders and customers and will make as many quality components as they ask for!
As part of our ongoing strategy of investing in manufacturing assets for maximum long-term benefit, in 2021, we committed over £500,000 on machinery. If you are in the process of making plans for next year, please don’t hesitate to contact a member of the team to discuss. The Dawson Shanahan team, our machines and our factory are all set up to meet demand in 2022 and welcome orders of low or high volume.
Machine Makeover
At the start of 2020, the Nakashimada 5 die transfer heading machine was due to be refurbished. This excellent machine has been used to make everything from connectors and plasma shields to even our famous needleless injection.
However, a little-known bug disrupted the plans, so it was another 18 months before the engineer made it on-site to do the makeover and get it back in action!
You can view the latest plant list here.
You say goodbye
It is with heavy hearts that we will soon be saying goodbye to a very special member of our team. Shelagh Gill, who has looked after our customers and our team for nearly 50 years, has made the decision that it is time to retire. Please feel free to send her messages as she looks forward to putting her feet up in the new year! Email: info@dawson-shanahan.co.uk
However, before we let Shelagh leave, we wanted to interview her about her time as Quality and Inspection Manager. Read Shelagh’s Quality & Inspection Management Tips
And I’ll say hello…
We are delighted to welcome Robbie Williams to the team! No, not that Robbie Williams, but our new Quality Manager & HSE Officer. Robbie has worked in quality assurance for over 14 years. He’s already making progress, not only getting up to speed on the automotive quality system but also preparing for Industry TS1 / ISO accreditation IAF 16 audit, coming up in February.
Thanks to all our customers throughout 2021. It’s been a tough road for many industries and businesses, so from all the team, we wish you best wishes and a happy new year.