Evolving from a small blacksmiths to a 1.5 acre site, John Thorburn& Sons Ltd has grown beyond recognition during its 70-year history. The family-run business that specialises in the construction, agriculture and commercial steel-working sectors has always invested in the latest technology to underpin its continuous growth. This investment strategy has now seen the Scottish company acquire a plasma-cutting machine from Kerf Developments.
To manufacture the numerous components that constitute a complete steel building structure, Duns-based John Thorburn& Sons relied upon its guillotine, punching, steel-working and fabricating equipment until the arrival of a Kerf RUR2500 plasma-cutting machine with UltraSharp technology.
“We recognised that our method of cropping, punching and drilling plates was cumbersome, time consuming and slowing down our throughput,” explains managing director John Thorburn. “All our jobs had to be handled and reworked on a variety of different machines to arrive at a finished part. Additionally, we had to stock a large range of steel bar widths and thicknesses, and this was taking a lot of floor space. Kerf has instantly eliminated all of these issues.”
The Berwickshire-based business specified the RUR2500 with a 6 x 2m bed, so it could use the nesting facility on the Kerf machine to cut up to 50 stanchion base plates in a single set-up.
The stanchion base plates that are required in considerable batches for the assembly of agricultural buildings were previously cut from 400 x 20 mm thick steel bar that was 6400 mm long. By purchasing 4 m x 2 m x 20 mm thick plates instead of bar, the company instantly reduced material costs by over 30%.
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