SUBCONTRACTING NEWS

Celebrating excellence in manufacturing

Subcon has announced the winners of the inaugural Subcon Manufacturing Solutions Show
Awards. The awards celebrate and recognise outstanding achievements in the
manufacturing industry. Subcon sales manager Ben Watkins says: “This is just one of the
many initiatives we introduced to Subcon this year. Thank you to our judges for giving up
their time and expertise, and congratulations to our nominees and winners.”
Among numerous stand-out awards was UK Manufacturing Partner of the Year. The judges
declared WEC Group as the winner for the company’s significant investments in UK
manufacturing in recent months. WEC Group is planning to build Europe’s largest
subcontract heavy machining and nuclear fabrication facility in Blackburn.
More information www.subconshow.co.uk

Coatings firm achieves 25% turnover increase

Burscough-based IRS Surfacing Technologies has achieved 25% year-on-year growth in turnover from 2021 to 2023. Despite a challenging period for the manufacturing sector, current projections for 2024 are estimated to outstrip those of 2023 for IRS.

For the six months leading up to the end of November 2023, the specialist coatings business accelerated growth by achieving a 44% increase in turnover compared with the same period last year. This lays the foundations for a strong financial future, forecast at £1.4m for 2024.

Specialising in ceramic, stainless steel, thermal and bronze coatings, as well as overlay technology, the family-run business reports that demand for its services continued to grow during the pandemic. The business was able to make a £30,000 investment in improving its welfare facilities for staff, as well as installing a new office in February 2022 to bolster its customer-facing relations and attract more business. 

Since 2021, IRS has increased its monthly revenue through organic growth and is currently on-boarding an average of four new customers a month. The coatings company also recently launched a new website, which forms part of a wider marketing plan to expand its regional platform to a larger customer base.

IRS was founded in 1989 by John Berry, the late father of the current owner, Rob Berry, who says: “At IRS, we pride ourselves on quality, and I truly believe that’s why the business continues to do so well. It’s not just quality in our products, but in everything from our staff to service, through to after service. As a business owner, seeing an uptick in financial performance is always good news, and it’s a trajectory we want to retain.”

More information www.irsltd.co.uk

HyperMILL sparks productivity gains

With a growing machine shop boasting over 40 machine tools, subcontractor Future Advanced Manufacture (FutureAM) soon found its existing CADCAM system lacking capability in several areas. The Cheltenham-based business subsequently turned to Open Mind Technologies and its hyperMILL CADCAM system.

The shop floor at FutureAM has a diverse mix of machine tools that include three- and five-axis machining centres, and multi-axis turning technology from brands such as Doosan, Mazak, DMG Mori, XYZ, Colchester, Hardinge, Correa and many more.

Oliver Allen, head of R&D at FutureAM, says: “With our previous CADCAM supplier, five-axis machining was more a bolt on to their CAD system whereas with hyperMILL, the five-axis suite is incorporated in the system and Open Mind provide full support. Our previous supplier could not offer that.”

And there are many more benefits, as Justin Talboys-Cotton, a sales manager at Open Mind Technologies, reveals: “Previously, FutureAM had no graphical simulation and they were running programs to the best of their knowledge on the machines. By adopting hyperMILL Virtual Machining, the company now has a full digital twin of the machines running NC code simulation. It doesn’t stop there: FutureAM have also invested in the Optimizer module, which will automatically work out the best and most optimal solution to fit the required tool path within the machine envelope. With their previous supplier, the business was limited to just milling only. HyperMILL has now also given this customer turning capability – all in one supply.”

Adds Allen: “Now that everyone here is using hyperMILL, it’s very apparent that our productivity levels are increasing and efficiency is improving, with the company subsequently making more money.”

For more information www.openmind-tech.com

William Mitchell seals Ford Q1 Award

A critical automotive supplier has secured one of the industry’s leading awards for quality and performance. William Mitchell, which is part of the Rical Group, has been recognised with the Ford Q1 award, marking the 20th year it has been supplying fine-blanked components to the carmaker’s plants in the UK, Germany, South Africa, Argentina, India, Turkey and the US.

The certification was presented to the management team and staff at the Black Country firm’s factory in Smethwick last week. It is only given to companies who demonstrate excellence beyond the ISO/TS standard in five key areas: capable systems, continuous improvement, on-time delivery and quality, superior manufacturing processes, and customer satisfaction.

For more information www.ricalgroup.com

Record growth for ANT Industries

ANT Industries, a precision engineering firm headquartered in Atherstone, Warwickshire, is celebrating a year of unprecedented success and growth by announcing new orders in excess of £30m for the next three years. The company machines components for aerospace and gas turbine engines that include engine rings, casings and prismatic parts for customers such as Eaton Aerospace, Rolls Royce and ITP.

Central to success at ANT Industries is its investment in cutting-edge machinery. Over the past 18 months the company has invested heavily in new CNC machines that include a Haas UMC 1000SS five-axis machining centre and an Anca FX5 Linear tool and cutter grinder. Additional investments will arrive in Q2 2024 through The Engineering Technology Group.

For more information www.antindustries.com