Technical
Different gauges of steel are held in a selection of carousels
From bare metal and components
One of the major surprises for many visitors to our manufacturing facility in Ipswich is that we actually make most of the components that go into our mowers. The numerous factory tours we undertake every year provides the opportunity to see all types of mowing equipment, built from the ground up - not assembled from bought-in components as many people expect.
Raw materials and shaping
Raw materials, mainly comprising sheet steel, solid steel bar, square and round steel tubing are the main elements in the chassis of our machines, and it is here that the build process really begins. Different gauges of sheet steel are held in a selection of carousels, which automatically feed into laser or flame cutting machines depending on the type of component being manufactured.
These cut the sheet steel into various shapes with a computer program used to ensure that we maximise the layout of each sheet and produce as little waste as possible. Any waste material is then sent for recycling.
Once we have the component in its ‘flat’ form, we need to bend it to its correct shape, so the next part of the journey is on to the brake presses, where the flat component is bent to the required shape.
Flame or laser cutters are used depending on the component being manufactured
These heavy duty machine tools use a selection of dies to form predetermined bends in the work-piece.
Machining components
Obviously, there are many other components in a modern day mower apart from sheet steel, bar and tube. We buy in many components in their raw state; these could be aluminium alloy or steel, depending on the function they will perform, but all would be to our exacting specifications in order that we can control the quality of the finished product.
Raw castings require numerous actions to turn them into the finished entity. Using a range of CNC (computer-controlled) machines, we skim surfaces, drill holes, bore large orifices, tap holes and thread bar and stud. These machine tools are very sophisticated; for instance, if a machine is drilling a hole and the drill bit goes dull, the machine will sense a change in the resistance of the drill bit. This indicates that it is not cutting efficiently, so it will put the process on hold while it automatically changes the drill bit and the operation will resume.
Welding
This is a typical process in any major manufacturing operation, and we are no different. As a reader of Pitchcare, you probably assume that this is a fully
automated process, using robot welders. In fact, we have two robots, introduced in the last three years, and the rest of the welding is undertaken by a team of highly skilled individuals using traditional welding techniques.
A selection of jigs are used to correctly set up the items that need to be welded together, to ensure the utmost accuracy. Some of our mowers have very fine tolerances, so it is vitally important that the pieces fit together correctly as they move through the production process.
Painting
Visitors to the factory are always fascinated by our Paint Shop. The first thing they see is an overhead conveyor belt with hundreds of different items hung on wire hooks and moving slowly around the perimeter of the paint booth. These can vary from the smallest bracket to a complete mower chassis.
This conveyor belt moves the items around the outside to the first stage, which is the pre-wash. Here, the item moves through a series of chemical and water baths to remove every item of dirt, grease or other contaminant that may affect the finished paint quality.
Once the cleaning process is complete, it continues to the actual painting stage. Our automatic paint process is electrostatic, which means the powder
Steel plate on its journey to the laser cutter
Components are bent to shape in a brake press
CNC machines will skim, drill and bore APRIL/MAY 2013 PC 127
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