Redhill has recently invested £360k in cutting edge, state-of-the-art technology, revolutionising the powder coating and welding functions within our Midlands-based factory. Committed to a programme of continual improvement, this investment will significantly improve efficiency and productivity, while reducing our impact on the environment.
Following our earlier investment in a new Powder Coating Facility, we have extended the system beyond all recognition. Our new Powder Coating System comprises a massive overhead monorail track that runs through part of the factory, ensuring total integration between product preparation, powder application and powder curing.
Components enter the system at various points along the production line, automatically entering the bespoke new powder booth and curing oven. When the powder coating process is complete, items are automatically returned to the appropriate location for assembly, checking and despatch. The automated, intelligent system provides a purpose-built solution to our powder coating requirements, producing a higher quality, more consistent finish, faster turnaround, greater flexibility and improved safety through reduced operator intervention.
We have also invested in a Robotic Welding Cell, manned by a state-of-the-art, collaborative robotic arm manufactured by Universal Robots, designed and installed by WeldAbility.
Easy to programme, fast to deploy and safe to use, the robotic arm works within a fully automated cell, utilising a spot weld template to perform welding where required, introducing new levels of speed, flexibility and accuracy and further enhancing the quality, build and longevity of our products. Combined with the time-honoured skill, expertise and experience of our metalworkers and welders, it gives us a manufacturing capability that is second to none.
We are currently integrating the new technology into our production line, with completion due towards the end of the year. At present, we are testing various areas of manufacture to ensure a seamless transition when the new automated systems become fully operational and this may occasionally result in short periods of delay in completing orders.
As a result, we are asking customers to bear with us in the short term while the test periods are carried out. Ultimately, our new investments will result in exceptional speed and efficiency, with turnaround times among the fastest within the industry, ensuring an even faster response from order to despatch.
