EuroWire January 2017

News Corporate

£250,000 investment in the latest technology

WILLIAM Hughes, a specialist manufacturer of springs and bent wire components for the global automotive and aerospace industries, has invested more than £250,000 in a high technology twin robot welding cell. The new welding cell was supplied by Bauromat with Fanuc robots, all installed at William Hughes’ new UK headquarters in Stalbridge, Dorset. The unit features advanced weld monitoring and recording ensuring that the highest standards of quality and consistency are maintained for its customers. “We have been very successful in winning significant new business from our automotive customers and this has meant that we needed to increase our production capacity for our welded seat frame assemblies,” said Emma Burgon, engineering director. “The Fanuc twin robot welding cell was the obvious choice as we already have a number of Fanuc machines within our organisation and are familiar with their programming and operation. “The twin robot version more than halves the time required for the welding process and this has provided a significant increase in our manufacturing capacity.” The welding cell is in operation 24 hours a day during the working week and is currently being used for the bulk manufacture of seat frame backs for an SUV. This particular assembly has 56 welds and uses 25 wires.

▲ ▲ The twin robot welding cell

The Fire Retardant Additives (FRA) business unit, part of the Huber Engineered Materials division of J M Huber Corporation (Huber), has announced a 10 per cent capacity expansion of its Martinal® fine precipitated alumina trihydrate production at its newly acquired Martinswerk Plant in Bergheim, Germany. The additional capacity is projected for completion by the third quarter of 2017. This addition follows a 20 per cent capacity expansion in precipitated alumina trihydrate just completed at Huber’s Bauxite, Arkansas, facility in the United States. The investment by Huber in additional capacity in Bergheim commenced only seven months after the February acquisition of Martinswerk GmbH, including the joint venture interest in Magnifin Magnesiaprodukte GmbH & Co KG. Huber is a global leader in the production of fine precipitated alumina trihydrate and magnesium hydroxide, both non-halogenated fire retardants. Its FRA business unit has four manufacturing sites in North America and two in Europe. J M Huber Corp – USA Website : www.huber.com As well as the improved quality and consistency of the finished product provided by the twin robot cell, the welding process is much quicker, enabling parts to be produced in just 1 minute 40 seconds compared with 3 minutes 45 seconds previously. Furthermore, to ensure throughput speed is maximised, the weld jigs are all designed by William Hughes engineers using the latest CAD software and manufactured using CNC milling machines. This recent investment in the latest manufacturing technology continues William Hughes’ programme of continued growth which includes the opening in October 2014 of a new 87,000ft 2 factory at its UK base in Stalbridge. The company also continues to invest in the growth of its manufacturing facility in Bulgaria, which is servicing the needs of its European customers. William Hughes Ltd – UK Website : www.wmhughes.co.uk Capacity expansion for Huber

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January 2017