Clitheroe acquires freehold of Lancashire facility

Clitheroe Light Engineering has purchased the freehold of formerly rented premises on the Upbrooks Industrial Estate in Clitheroe, Lancashire.

Following the acquisition, the floor area was expanded by a fifth, the additional 200m2 unit accommodating an extension to the company's flexible manufacturing system (FMS).

The Fastems FMS, originally installed at the end of 2006, has been doubled in size to 34m and now comprises 72 storage positions for machine pallets.

The existing Doosan and two Mori Seiki horizontal machining centres that are linked to the system will be joined by two more half-metre-cube HMCs with 50-taper spindles, currently on order and due to be installed in early 2009.

Chris Wilkinson, a director of the subcontractor, said: 'Our success over the last few years has been largely down to automating our prismatic machining, not just in the FMS but also by installing twin-pallet HMCs and a seven-pallet horizontal machining cell.

A large part of Clitheroe Light's business has traditionally been in the supply of hydraulic and pneumatic components to multinational companies.

Diversification is planned into the aerospace and defence sectors, however, in view of the subcontractor's proximity to many tier 1 and 2 suppliers in Lancashire and neighbouring counties.

The company already holds ISO9001:2000 approval for its quality management systems and is working towards aerospace-specific accreditations.

A number of twin-spindle, multi-axis CNC mill-turning centres, some with Y-axis turret movement, have been purchased in recent years to add one-hit machining capability to the manufacture of complex rotational parts.

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