ENGINEERING


Boxfordmoves into a high tech multi-million pound, purpose built factory


INJANUARY 2012,Boxford moved fromits old factory, which it had occupied for the last 70 years, into its new 50,000 sq. ft.purpose-built facility.The building stands proudly in an elevated positionwithin its own site, close to the centre of Elland and about amile fromthe M62motorway. It is in an ideal locationwith easy access to themotorway network. Managing director, Paul


Barraclough, a former design and technology teacher, told Technology-in-Education: “Our old factorywas a converted, 160-years-old former cottonmill, inefficient froman energy, logistics and maintenance standpoint. In making the decision to build a newfacility,we decided thatwe needed a high tech building befitting the high tech products thatwemake and sell to educational establishments both in the UK andworldwide.” Themove straddled the


Christmas/NewYear break, having been delayed at the 11th hour due to Boxford receiving a sizeable, short delivery export order. Instantly noticeable in the


newfacility is the absence of light switches, even on the factory floor,with lights switching on and off and dimming automatically. In the sheet-metal fabrication area, no fumes are extracted externally. Instead, vacuum tubes at the head of the welding torches remove the fumes at source to an internal systemand return the air to atmosphere. Similarly, the spray booth fumes are treated internally and the air recycled. The presence of trailing


cables and air-lines, etc. on the factory floor has been virtually eliminated by having all the services delivered from above. In the assembly area, eachworkplace has a ‘bank’ of services just above head height, suspended from unimposing thinmetal rods.


Unique In the educational


Boxford’s computer-controlled vertical storage towerswhich


almost reach the ceiling of the manufacturing area of the new factory.


CAD/CAMmarket, Boxford is quite unique in still manufacturing its own components for thewide range of CAM/CNC equipment that it sells. Having that capability allows the company to be in control of its own destiny, able to maintain tight control on quality and react to production priority changes immediately. Perhapsmost important to Boxford’s customers is that if they don’t have spare parts in stock for


Technology & Science in EducationNo.188 January/February 2012 1


near-obsoletemodels, they canmanufacture them. The traditional horizontal


storage racking has been replaced by the latest computer controlled vertical storage system, contained in the 10metre tall ‘twin towers’ that extend almost to roof level. The systemis connected via the network to the production control systemand contains a total of 354 trays, each capable of holding 250kg of components,which are delivered to the access door whenever a part number is called. A spotlight points at a specific location on a tray at the time of ‘picking’ or ‘placing’, to instruct the storekeeper, thus maintaining a ‘first-in, first-out’ system.


School’s software Whilst components are


made in small batches, machines are assembled to order, due to the varying specifications of eachmodel required by each customer.


The front entrance to Boxford’s new50,000 sq.ft. factory.


Furthermore, at the time of final inspection,whereby all machines undergo cutting trials, all the unique tool-length offsets and datum information for all the machines are burnt into a school’s software, providing the ability for themachine to be fully functional ‘straight out of the box’when delivered to the school. This allows students to create high quality accurate components quickly and hopefully stimulates their interest in pursuing a STEM-related career.


Colour coded Whereas the construction


of the oldmill createdmany separateworking areas, the newfactory sees all the manufacturing disciplines under one roof and sharing a large, single space. Given the company’s links to education, consideration has been given tomaking the factory floor ‘visitor friendly’, with clearlymarked,


Continued on page 33


Boxford’s CNC high precision componentmanufacturingmachines installed in the newfacility.


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