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1st October 2006, 6:00
Fabricators weld workflow with 'First-Base'
Blackburn based sheet metal fabricators SP Fabrications called in the Digital Development Unit to help improve efficiency and business control.
Based in New Wellington Street, Mill Hill SP Fabrications was formed in 2002 by father and son Stuart and Sean Procter. Stuart has been involved in running sheet metal companies for the last 30 years and Sean has 18 years experience as a sheet metal designer. Their core business is the fabrication of metal enclosures for drink dispensers, metal frames for point of sale material and general fabrication work. They have built up an impressive list of key accounts
Turnover has doubled in the last 12 months; growth which has been achieved primarily through substantial investment in new CNC punching and folding machines and Tig welding equipment. They use a 3-D CAD/CAM system for product engineering with machining programmes downloaded directly to the machine.
Currently, the business management systems is based on a mixture of Manual Registers and various forms and documents, formatted to suit the particular system flow of the company. The flow of work through the design and manufacturing stages has evolved over a period of time and is very effective in ensuring that orders are completed to agreed delivery dates. It does, however, involve significant data transcription, much of it hand written, with the need for much cross checking to avoid error. Following consultation with Digital Development Unit Innovation Technology and Support Advisors, company directors have decided to install a new integrated business management system which will facilitate better control of the business and help improve the efficiency of estimating and order processing. First Base supplied by ML System Services as their preferred choice. This development is seen as an essential part of the business growth strategy.
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