Proform, a new sheet metal subcontractor that has opened on the Wirrall, brings together the engineering expertise of two businessmen - Ian Hazlehurst and Russ Canner.
Through his own subcontracting firm Machfab Engineering, established in 2004, Mr Hazlehurst has an extensive background in traditional precision engineering. He recently joined forces with Mr Canner, a business entrepreneur, as they identified a gap in the local market for a full-service firm able to provide a full range of services including sheet metal cutting, bending, fabricating and even powder coating.
With the assistance of a regional growth fund grant, Proform has invested over £2.5 million in extensive premises and purchasing some of the highest specification machinery available on the market today. The company has committed to creating 28 jobs in its first year of business and hopes to continue to expand on this year on year.
A turnover of £1.2 million is expected in the first year of trading, which the directors hope to double by the end of the fifth year. These figures are based on Proform’s current capacity, which comprises a fibre laser cutting machine, two press brakes and a twin-head, 3D waterjet cutting machine, all supplied by Bystronic UK. The equipment is installed in a 22,000 sq ft facility in Prenton, a suburb of Birkenhead that is also home to Tranmere Rovers’ football stadium.
Additionally, the subcontractor has installed MIG and TIG welding bays and bought a nitrogen generation plant to supply the fibre laser machine and another in the future. This cutting gas, which is expensive to buy, provides a high quality cut edge. Oxygen will be used only on sheet over 6 mm thick and when cutting copper. By mid-2017, a powder coating plant will be installed to augment the wet spray painting service offered, bringing the total investment in the venture to £3.3 million.
Mr Hazlehurst said, “We polled over 30 of Machfab’s customers and found that they were spending £1.5 million on buying in laser cutting services, so we reasoned that we could win a proportion of that.”
An important facet of the company is that it offers a complete design and manufacturing service, which was the rationale for investing in laser cutting, water jetting and folding from the outset. It is also the reason for opting to buy Bystronic equipment, as it was the only manufacturer able to supply all three types of machine, which are built in Switzerland at the company’s factory in Niederönz.
An added bonus is that all equipment uses the same production planning and control software, BySoft 7. It means that programs can be generated from a CAD model to drive the three different types of Bystronic machine, so components can be transferred easily from one to another with little production downtime.
The software incorporates IGEMS, which generates toolpaths over 3D models for machining with the two CNC heads on the waterjet cutting machine. The ByJet Flex has a 6 metre by 3 metre bed, making it the only machine of its type and size in the north of England. Any material up to 30 cm thick can be cut to very high accuracy.
The ByStar Fiber laser cutting centre can cut up to 4 metres by 2 metres, rather than the normal 3 metres by 1.5 metres, and was the first machine of this size to be delivered by Bystronic into the UK market. Its 6-kW fibre laser source can cut 25 mm thick mild steel and 30 mm stainless steel and aluminium, as well as 15 mm copper and 12 mm brass.
The machine has been equipped with a ByTrans sheet handling system capable of delivering material automatically to the machine’s shuttle table and subsequently retrieving the processed sheet. Apart from eliminating arduous manual sheet handling, it has the potential to boost output considerably, as it can be stocked with up to six tonnes of material to allow unattended production overnight.