Complementary in collaboration

Working on large scale projects often involves companies working collaboratively with each other and that's exactly what happened with machine tool manufacturer, Emco and storage system specialist, Polstore. The project in question involved setting up a fully functional machine shop at the Energus site in Workington, Cumbria – a new Centre of Excellence for skills training, education and business support.  A not for profit organisation, Energus provides training facilities for vocational skills training, designed to meet the needs of local and national businesses in the nuclear supply chain as well as in a wider energy and environmental context. Its facilities are used by partner organisations to provide bespoke training and education for industry, and are also available for other organisations to hire to deliver relevant training to either the nuclear or energy sectors. The University of Cumbria has established its Learning Gateway West within Energus as the first stage in its development of a campus on the Energy Coast. The Energus site is a new facility that was officially opened by the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Control in June 2009. Energus doesn't provide training in its own right, but is funded in partnership by the public and private sectors and works with education and training providers to deliver the energy and low carbon industries with the skills they need now and into the future through programmes such as the engineering apprenticeship scheme and business and engineering undergraduate courses. Nice little niche Headquartered in Salzburg, Austria, Emco is an established, high end, global machine tool manufacturer with a product range that extends from conventional lathes and milling machines, CNC turning centres and vertical machining centres through to fully automated manufacturing cells. The UK arm of the company was set up in 1996 by managing director, Jim Wilson, and four regional sales managers look after the respective areas of the country. But while Emco globally is known predominantly as a high end machine tool manufacturer supplying a range of industry sectors, the UK operation, based in Hayling Island has found its own niche as sales director, Tim Quarmby explains. “About 90% of our business is supplying to training and educational establishments such as schools, colleges and universities,” he reveals. “Our product offering encompasses not only an extensive range of manual and CNC lathes and mills, lines but also 3D printers and scanners from Z-Corporation – a US-based company as well as 3D haptic arms, Kern laser cutters and a full range of CAD/CAM and control software, including Mastercam.” The Z-Corp 3D printers have been particularly successful for us,” he adds. “The machines enable actual 3D models to be produced in plaster from CAD data so they're really taking rapid prototyping and design to another level. We're seeing the technology being used in a variety of industries – from architectural through to automotive and medical.” Different approach Education is something that's close to Jim Wilson's heart. Having worked for Emco since the 1980s, it's an area that the company traditionally has placed in high esteem. “Many companies dabble in the education sector, but few have the experience that we have and I believe this was a key factor in winning the business for the Energus project,” he says. “It takes a totally different approach – you don't simply turn up, take the order and bank the money. Often it can take months for an order to come to fruition simply because of the way the Government and educational establishments operate. Funding for a project can take considerable time to materialise so it's not for the faint hearted or cash-strapped organisations.” Mr Wilson states that another fundamental difference between the education market and industry is the people you have to deal with. “In industry,” he explains, “contact is usually made with the owner, managing director or production manager of a company and it is often possible for the sale to be made there and then or soon after. With education and government funded projects generally, it's a much more drawn out process as a number of different departments and people need to get involved before a decision is made. From our perspective, we often have to deal with many people in the duration of a project but on the positive side there is much less competition,” he adds. Train the trainer By the very nature of its business and markets, Emco has evolved into far more than simply a machine tool supplier and part of its brief with the Energus project was to work with local training provider Gen II to train its staff in the use of the new equipment and technology so that it, in turn, could train its own apprentices. Gen II employs some 85 members of staff and was formed primarily as an apprentice engineering and technology training provider to deliver high quality apprentice training to the local community. Since its formation, Gen II has developed a wide range of services in engineering and technology training for employers as well as maintaining its apprenticeship core business. Working closely with the Learning Skills Council (LSC), Gen II achieved CoVE status which covers the nuclear engineering and technology sector. Gen II started delivering the first year of its engineering apprenticeships from the Energus facility in September 2009. Shopping list On the equipment front, Emco supplied no less than 23 machines from its own product portfolio to the Energus facility which comprised: 14-off Emcomat 17-D manual lathes with DRO; an Emcomill C40 large universal milling machine with DRO; six-off FB3 milling machines with DRO; an Emco CNC Concept Mill 155 with fourth axis and; a Concept Turn 250 turning machine with C axis and live tooling. The software side encompassed an offline CNC simulation control system training suite, a Mastercam offline CAD/CAM package and a 3D SolidWorks CAD suite. Additional equipment included a Z-Corp ZPrinter 450 rapid prototyping machine; a Jones & Shipman 524 CNC surface grinder; Flott pedestal tool grinding machine; a radial drilling machine; Flott SB P30 pillar drills; Esprit D1500 plasma cutter and; a Birlik power rolling machine. The total order was worth around £1 million. As if often the way with undertakings of this size and complexity that are subject to strict completion deadlines, the project wasn't without its challenges. “The main problem was that we were literally trying to install the machines as the building was being constructed,” Mr Quarmby reveals. “The building itself was really nothing but a bare shell so there were a number of other contractors on site at the same time we were and we all had to work around each other. It was certainly different!” 

What's in store? For the storage requirements of the Energus facility, Emco called upon the services of Polstore – a family run business that started trading way back in 1963. Polstore is the exclusive UK and Ireland distributor for prestigious Italy-based manufacturer of industrial storage equipment and racking, Famepla. Adam Lucas is the UK managing director. “Our expertise lies in supplying high quality industrial, workplace and workshop storage systems,” he explains. “We provide static and mobile drawer cabinets, workbenches and workstations, machine tool cabinets, shelving, storage cupboards, lockers and CNC tool storage systems, so for us, the Energus project fitted our profile perfectly.” Polstore's brief was to supply a total of 11 hexagonal workbench systems each with a working height of 900mm, fitted with plastic laminate worktop, a power tower and six drawer cabinets housing five drawers each. Each system was fitted with lighting, electrical plug sockets, air coupling and vices – all compliant to the latest 17th Edition electrical standards. Colour matching was also a primary requirement – for uniformity, the entire workshop is colour coordinated. “We're becoming involved with this type of work more and more,” Mr Lucas affirms. “The storage equipment market is fed predominantly in the UK by distributors and whilst this is fine for standard, off the shelf equipment, it's not the ideal solution when high levels of customisation are required. The advantage with Polstore is that we can serve both markets. We can supply standard, high quality products from stock, or engineer bespoke equipment for a specific application, such as the Energus operation. In my opinion, it's our product quality, service levels and experience that sets us apart from the competition.” Mr Wilson has the final word. “Emco as a company is always happy to work with like minded, professional companies such as Polstore and we would have no hesitation in working with them again. Both companies are passionate about what they do and I know Energus are very satisfied with the work we've done. At the end of the day, customer satisfaction is the bottom line.” Emco
www.emco.co.uk Polstore
www.polstore.co.uk