Erodex UK invests £1.75m in machining facility expansion

Designer and manufacturer of graphite electrodes, tooling and fixtures Erodex UK, has invested £1.75 million as part of an expansion of its machining facility.

The state-of-the-art facility, based in Darlaston West Midlands, has been established for over 35 years, enabling Erodex to machine its extensive range of graphite grades into highly complex components for a diverse range of industries.

The capabilities of the Erodex machining facility have been a key driver in the significant growth that the Erodex Group has experienced in recent years. The company believe the latest expansion programme will ensure it is best placed to capitalise on the expected economic upturn throughout 2021 and beyond.

Investment in additional factory space and new CNC machinery has seen capacity at the site increase by 40%. This was complemented by a major overhaul of the layout of the facility, creating new bespoke machining cells throughout the shopfloor to enable better workflow and reduce downtime.

“Since the mid-1980s the Erodex Group has enabled our customers to benefit from the capabilities of our machining facility, which is widely regarded as the best graphite machining facility in Europe.

“From EDM electrodes for aerospace and mould toolmaking, to a variety of complex machined components for the semiconductor, heat treatment, precious metals and glass industries, we have built up an enviable reputation for the quality machining of graphite,” commented director Steve Rolinson.

“We continually invest in the latest machining technology to achieve the highest standards of quality and to maintain our competitive edge. In addition to investing in new premises and machinery, the drive for continuous improvement has also led to us investing heavily in people, enabling us to build a highly competent team of skilled engineers. The team uses the latest software and tooling to focus on cost down initiatives on high volume product.

“The expansion will enable the company to capitalise on new opportunities and drive the long-term growth of the business,” he concludes.

The Erodex Group is based across four UK sites: Halesowen, Darlaston, Croydon and Poole, as well as a facility in North America. The complete overhaul of the company’s IT infrastructure will replace all existing and legacy systems with a new group-wide solution and further streamline processes, enabling real-time information across sites, an improved customer experience, enhanced quality control and act as the basis for several planned future improvements.

The new machinery comprises investment in large die-sink EDM, a coordinate measuring machine, as well as new milling and 5-axis capacity and the creation of new manufacturing cells.

Erodex www.erodex.com