An innovative pump faucet and plumbing systems manufacturer has benefited from Sumitomo (SHI) Demag's hydraulic Systec range's ability to up capacity and increase efficiency.
Sumitomo
Northern Ireland firm Whale's manufacturing facility in Bangor is at the epicentre of a recent boom in business. Whale - which is approaching 75 years in the business - has experiencing significant growth of late, placing huge demands on its injection moulding machines.
Whale manufactures pump faucets, space and water heaters and plumbing systems for niche markets such as leisure marine, caravans and domestic shower drainage at its Bangor site - which is home to a Technology and Polymer Centre, including an advanced polymer injection moulding facility with 11 injection moulding machines ranging from 30 to 200 tonne models.
Michael Crosbie, Technical Moulding Manager at Whale, commented: "Previously manufactured from traditional materials, like metals, parts can now be reliably produced to very high tolerances with plastics. The added benefit is this significantly reduces the weight of components, which is vital for manufacturers of leisure vehicles and vessels. Our new products are predominantly manufactured from high quality polymers."
The wide range of component parts in 30 different polymer materials means more than 50 tool changes a week for Whale. “With all this in mind, efficiency is vital for us and we needed machines that offered best in class efficiency," said Crosbie.
Within a decade of being established in 1998, many of the facility's machines were reaching the end of their lifespan and Whale was tasked with replacing the hardware with minimal disruption.
In 2010, Whale approached Sumitomo (SHI) Demag and purchased a Systec 120 hydraulic injection moulding machine. It was to prove a successful acquisition with immediate improvements in quality, reliability and time management. The improvement in efficiency led to the installation of two further Systec models – with an additional Systec 120 being delivered in August 2014.
"We chose Sumitomo (SHI) Demag initially based on recommendations from other local companies. The firm’s injection moulding equipment has a great reputation for reliability, ease of maintenance and service back up. That is certainly our experience. At our plant we run them 24 hours a day, five days a week and with so many tool changes required, their ease of maintenance and reliability is certainly thoroughly tested by our daily requirements," Crosbie remarked.
Since the installations, all of Sumitomo (SHI) Demag’s Systec machines have run like clockwork and in terms of downtime, efficiency on machine breakdown has already improved by 20 per cent.
