While the focus of attention in British manufacturing continues to be the loss of work to off-shore locations, particularly the Far East, 600 Group remains committed to manufacturing in the UK. The Group is presently half way through a multi-million pound investment programme in its manufacturing plants designed to ensure that each is able to remain at the forefront of its market with competitively priced, high technology products. Recent investment has been concentrated at three of the Group's six UK manufacturing plants, Gamet Bearings in Colchester, Crawford Collets and Pratt Burnerd International in Halifax, and Colchester and Harrison Lathes in Heckmondwike (near Leeds).
Group Chief Executive Dr Tony Sweeten said 'We are a British company.
We are committed to British engineering and to manufacturing in Britain.
The Group has always been part of the manufacturing industry and has grown within it, root and branch.
We survive and thrive because both the Group and the individual companies within it have a commitment to remaining at the forefront of industry by constantly seeking to improve and enhance our products and fine tune them to meet the foreseeable demands of our customers.
To put that philosophy into practice we must invest not only in constant research and development and in skilled men but also in the machines, equipment, manufacturing practices and buildings.
We aim to be the best at everything we do and are actively in pursuit of that goal using all means available to us'.
Current focus of investment is at Colchester and Harrison lathes.
A new Manufacturing Director, Andy Higgins, has joined from the aerospace industry with the specific task of introducing an innovative production system designed to minimise lead times, minimise manufacturing overheads, and ensure technological innovations are easy to implement.
The new system is based primarily on a close-coupling manufacturing system, which pulls machines through the production system rather than MRP, which pushes a machine through.
Employee empowerment is a major element within the system, with the team leader in each section and the men working within it responsible for maintaining and improving the build programme as well as, predictably, build quality.
Bought-in parts, from small items such as nuts and bolts through to major machine parts like chucks and ballscrews, are controlled to ensure immediate availability while eliminating the 'stores' mindset.
Currently, the plant is being reorganised and up-graded, with completion due before Christmas.
Andy said 'This represents a substantial investment, with new plant being installed and the building itself being upgraded but perhaps the most significant investment has been in training.
When we initiated the new production system, we were committed to at least maintaining the existing workforce.
Everyone was actively involved in analysing the status quo and identifying where improvements could be made but, perhaps more importantly, in assessing skills levels and increasing them so that each employee becomes multi-skilled and able to undertake a wide range of work within the plant'.
The latest investment in Colchester and Harrison Lathes follows the œ3 million invested in new plant and equipment, up-graded machines and a new precision grinding facility last year at Crawford Collets and Pratt Burnerd International.
Coincidental with the investment at the workholding manufacturing plant was an investment of almost a million at the Gamet Bearings plant in Colchester, where new machines were installed.
Dr Sweeten said 'We have six manufacturing sites in the UK, one in Heckmondwike (for lathes), one in Colchester (for high precision bearings), three in Halifax (for workholding, fabrications and control systems) and one in Letchworth (for industrial lasers and laser marking systems).
Innovation is the key to their continuing success, and to maintain that needs investment.
Heart, mind - and wallet - we are committed to manufacturing in Britain.
We know that, thanks to the investment we are making and will continue to make in our UK plants, we can compete effectively with any other company any where in the world, can remain at the forefront of manufacturing world-wide, can prosper and thrive.
We hope that other British manufacturers will, like us, appreciate that Britain can be the powerhouse if we commit, if we strive, if we invest'.
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