european report
UK is first choice for Heller
FROM a UK perspective, arguably one of
the most important announcements at EMO
concerned Heller’s decision to manufacture the
new H series of horizontal machining centres at
the Redditch factory. Lord Jones, visiting EMO,
was one of the first to congratulate managing
director Geoff Lloyd on the latest good news
from Heller’s UK manufacturing operation. ‘He
was delighted to see yet more high quality
manufacturing coming into the country’ says
Lloyd. ‘We are of course delighted to be awarded
the manufacturing task, and proud of Heller
Group’s recognition of our prowess in
manufacture and customer support. We are
gearing up now for production to begin during
December, after Lord Jones officially opens the
factory extension.’
The new range complements Heller’s proven
MCi and MCH machines, already produced at
the Redditch plant; its manufacture in
the UK is in line with the Group’s
emphasis on manufacturing to the
highest quality using the most
commercially competitive production
methods. The decision reflects the UK’s
demonstrable ability to manufacture
successfully in competition with the
rest of the world. The UK plant was
selected as the manufacturing site
because, says Group chairman Berndt
Heller: ‘The H series machines, as with
all other Heller machines, are of the
highest build specification to ensure
very high accuracy and repeatability
combined with minimal cycle times
and high torque. It is proven that UK
manufacture provides the quality for which
Heller is known and the necessarily competitive
manufacturing costs. The decision to invest
again in the Redditch facility was a natural one
for the group based on the high skill level at the
plant, its ability to manufacture to very short
lead times, its economic viability and the sheer
enthusiasm of the UK employees. The H series
will be popular machines throughout the
world, especially in Europe and North America
where the high performance of the machines
will enable companies to remain commercially
competitive’.
Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham, the UK’s
Minister for Trade and Investment Promotion,
meets the Heller team during his tour of EMO
Production is due to start towards the end of
2007 with ramp up to full production during
Q1, 2008. The plant is being extended by 35% to
provide the extra manufacturing capability and
to extend the existing inspection area. An
additional service road is being built to handle
the increase in traffic. The new area will operate
similarly to current production, with machines
First class service.
All Haas engineers are equipped with Mercedes Vito vans, equipped with a huge array of first line spare parts.
The vans are fitted with computer systems giving access to web-based job information and machine history
with a link to the UK parts inventory, which stands in excess of £1,000,000.
12 MWP november 2007
being ‘pulled through’ in response to customer
demand. Says Lloyd: ‘Heller exists to provide its
customers with the machines they need, when
they need them, and to deliver second-to-none
customer support. At the UK company this
means having the machines in manufacture for
the least time possible. All activities are geared
to this philosophy internally and externally and
the extension has been designed to ensure this
will continue. The primary driver is to reduce
wasteful activity. In all aspects of our business,
we aim for visibility throughout the order,
production and delivery process in order to
make the complete process leaner and therefore
faster. This includes the design and layout of the
plant, and requires a large amount of flexibility
from the workforce and our suppliers’.
The H series is a newly developed, customerdriven
concept. Combining standardisation
with flexibility, it offers a wide range of
options so machines can be tailored
exactly to customers’ requirements. The
series combines the H 1000 and H 3000,
entry-level horizontal machining centres
designed to machine a wide range of
parts and materials in the medium
volume sector; and the H 2000 and H
4000 high performance machines which
feature excellent milling power and load
capacity for maximum volume
productivity.
While the focus of production is always
to be better, faster and more efficient, the
underlying reason for the Heller
manufacturing plant’s success is its ability
to develop and extend the skills of the
workforce. ‘The success of Heller is its people,
whether it be the receptionist answering the
phone, the skills of the engineers building the
machines, the applications engineers or the
service engineers’ says Lloyd. Five young
apprentices have just started training at Heller
this September, joining others already
progressing through the comprehensive
training programme and the many Heller
employees who have already completed it (more
than 20% of its workforce started as Heller
apprentices).
www.heller-machinetools.co.uk
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