Product category:
Injection moulding
News Release from: Sandretto UK | Subject: Serie Nove S 395 injection moulder
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 18 August 2003
Specialist subby returns for 5th
injection moulder
Peterborough-based Polytech Precision Plastics has purchased its fifth Sandretto injection moulding machine in as many years.
Peterborough-based Polytech Precision Plastics has purchased its fifth Sandretto injection moulding machine in as many years The new Serie Nove S 395 tonne press will manufacture a number of products for the medical and healthcare market
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 12 May 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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'One of the principal reasons we bought Sandretto again is the company's first class service and support package,' says PPP Managing Director Jonathan Ben-David.
'The back-up systems and support provided by Sandretto UK are second to none.' Ben-David set up Polytech Precision Plastics Ltd.
in 1998 and notes that from the outset Sandretto UK showed a high degree of understanding and flexibility in helping his business develop.
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An important key to PPP's growth, says Ben-David, has been 'very tight management of financial controls.
In this business, cash flow is critical.
We know our cash flow in detail on any given day for the next six weeks.
We also know - down to the nearest 1/10th of a penny - what our moulding machines are costing us per hour." This need for reliability, consistency and extremely fine control provides another reason why PPP sourced Sandretto again.
'Year in, year out,' says Ben-David, 'we consistently achieve cycle times, for example, of ten seconds or less from our 400 tonne machine.
It is immensely valuable to be able to rely on the technology and the service to simply do its job - allowing us to spend more time in the market place with our customers.' Although Ben-David has targeted no specific industry sector, much of the current PPP work load is in the field of medical and laboratory products.
"We are required to meet stringent standards and expect to face trial periods from new customers" states Jonathan.
"In one case the trial period lasted for 18 months but we are now that customer's sole supplier".
With his wife Catherine he ploughed all his personal savings into the new project, starting with two Sandretto machines and no customers.
The business has grown at an unprecedented rate over the intervening years; the recent arrival of the Sandretto Serie Nove S 395 takes the number of injection moulding machines to nine.
PPP continues to invest in its future: The latest move from Oundle to Peterborough required some ?250,000 in capital investment.
To achieve and maintain this degree of progress when many in the industry are facing extreme pressure and competition "requires no special magic" continues Jonathan who summarises the company philosophy as: "treating customers as special people.
By listening to them we aim to help to add value to their business by practical application of new ideas and providing them with an excellent service." This explains why Polytech continues to supply mouldings to many of its earliest customers including its very first.
The company continues to attract business from a variety of industry sectors - fourteen at the last count, according to Ben-David.
PPP's nine injection moulding machines - ranging from 650kN to 3950kN locking force - occupy less than half of the moulding shop of its 1400m2 premises in Peterborough to which the company moved about a year ago.
Two further areas off the moulding shop are to be converted into to a standards room and a clean room and there is a third area designated for separate assembly.
Polytech recently joined forces with Direct Leisure Supplies, a Grantham based injection moulding company with CAD/CNC design and tool manufacturing capability.
"Now we have the ability to augment our existing services with tooling expertise, thereby keeping control of the process to assist customers with product and tooling design problems.
The aim is to remove the hassle and worry of tool fabrication and commissioning from customers." Future developments at PPP will include increasing value-added activity such as assembly and packing.
The new production site on the outskirts of Peterborough offers the opportunity to construct a specialised clean room production area housing three all-electric machines.
This will be in addition to further equipment in the existing production area which can accommodate up to nine more moulding machines.
Increased capital investment in ancillary equipment is also planned.
The workforce has expanded to over 20 with a heavy emphasis on training and commitment to quality.
The workload remains high with the plant functioning 24 hours per day and seven days per week.
Machine operators have all been trained in house and senior staff attend specialist courses two or three times a year.
Jonathan and his co-director George Brewis are constantly looking at innovations and new ideas to improve the way that Polytech serves its customers.
The company already undertakes assembly and secondary processing work to add further value and there are plans to continue the development of these services.
Adding a specialised clean room manufacturing capability is under consideration for the medium term and the long term vision is to create a European Centre of Excellence in plastic manufacturing and service.
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