Numac Go from Strength to Strength

It is often said that “quality breeds success”. This is a philosophy which drives Numac’s business, and one that is proving to be true at the moment with the focus over the last 12 months being planned growth in capacity to manage the increasing demand currently being experienced.

“Obviously we hate turning work down” says Andrew McLaren, MD at Numac “So we need to ensure that we have the capacity to deliver customer requirements at world class levels of quality.”

Through this approach of continually reviewing & developing capacity, Numac have seen staffing levels increase 45% in 2011 including the appointment of Mick Fletcher as Commercial Manager, to co-ordinate our relationships with our growing client base. Numac have also invested in 2 new state of the art Mazak machining centres (a Megaturn Nexus 900, and a Nexus 200 MY).

Through these investments, Numac continue to be perfectly positioned to meet the high expectations of their customers into 2012 and beyond.

“We are delighted with our performance over the past year, and look forward to working with a growing number of clients in the coming months. In these times when most economic news seems downbeat, it is great to be able to buck the trend. An achievement that I put down to the hard work & dedication of our staff” added Andrew.

Numac are now expanding their night shift with plans in place to run a full night shift later in the year if orders increase as anticipated through the next 12 months.

Our philosophy is simple:

“In these prolonged difficult economic times, Numac continues to succeed and invest in the latest technology and in the skills of our staff to ensure we provide our customers with the highest quality of product. With experienced staff working around the clock, customer requirements are quickly met with efficiency.”

Andrew McLaren
MD Numac Engineering Ltd

You will find more about the Nexus Magaturn here on the Numac Blog.

Numac is celebrating its 20th year of production this month; that’s two decades of high quality engineering services, with the expectation that we will continue to grow and invest in our state of the art manufacturing facility for years to come. With thoughts of Numac’s formation, we thought it would be interesting to take a look back at what happened over the past 20 years.

In 1991 we saw:

• Bryan Adams – No 1 for a record 16 weeks
• PC World opened their first store
• The end of the Cold War & the Soviet Union
• Dances with Wolves win 7 Oscars
• The dissolution of the Warsaw Pact
• The deaths of David Lean, Robert Maxwell, Dr. Seuss, Miles Davis & Freddie Mercury
• The World Wide Web launched on the 6th August

Numac Engineering in 1991

And we also saw rioting, recession and a conflict in the Middle East – which goes to show that some things never change!                                                                                                       

There has however been plenty of change in the manufacturing industry with CNC engineering making huge strides to the point where it is now the standard.

In parallel with these changes, over the past 20 years Numac has developed extensive experience in industries like oil & gas exploration & nuclear power generation, where failure is not an option.

Couple this with a focus on quality and experience in working with in exotic alloys and you can see why Numac Engineering is now one of the leading specialist engineering compnies in these fields in the North West.

Numac’s equipment has also seen significant developments over the past 20 years with continuous investment in machinery ensuring that customers always have access to the latest technologies & efficiencies afforded by new technologies.

This is exemplified by the recent installation of our latest Nexus Megaturn machining center. Installed last month, and with reduced costs, improved environmental performace and extended working parameters this is already delivering benefits to customers.

Even in this harsh economic climate, Numac is continuing to grow and invest in the newest machinery to maintain their state of the art manufacturing facility in the North West of England.

The Mazak Megaturn Nexus 900 is the new generation CNC vertical turning centre, designed efficiently for heavy-duty cutting. It’s a new, bigger machine that expands capacity and allows work on larger pieces, with more accuracy and dedication to quality. It replaces our old machine as we continue in our commitment to invest in the latest technology.

Numac is also committed to addressing environmental impact, which has always been an important area. This new tool utilizes a high efficiency lubrication system that reduces oil consumption more than 90% when compared to other systems.

Full details of the capabilities of this new machine can be found on the Mazak website.

You will also find further details of Numac’s experience on their website: www.numac.uk.com

The new machine will expand capacity, and allow us to work on project that to date would have been outside of our core capabilities.

“We always have the idea of delivering maximum quality & value to our customers” Explained Andy McLaren, MD at Numac “And it is with this in mind that we have made this latest investment. It will allow us to meet a wider range of customers requirements, and deliver a truly competitive service without compromising on quality.”

In addition to the installation of the new machine tool, Numac continue to look to the future in other areas too.  Currently training up two apprentices and running a series of continuous training programmes with more experienced staff, Numac are committed to ensuring that they have a highly skilled work force equipped to support their customers, whatever their requirements.

“In these prolonged difficult economic times, Numac continues to succeed and invest in the latest technology to ensure we deliver to our customers with the highest quality of product. With experienced staff working around the clock, customer requirements are quickly met with efficiency.”

Andrew McLaren

MD Numac Engineering Ltd

Click here to learn more about Numac’s commitment to quality

We are always happy to discuss how we may be able to assist,

So contact us on +44-(0)161 338 2125

For many of the industries in which Numac specialise, including petrochemical and oil and Gas, the emphasis on safety and accident prevention has never been greater with increased public scrutiny, stepped-up industrial safety regulations, and more stringent OSHA oversight and fines.  This means that positive material identification (PMI) in alloys used in components throughout the physical plant is no longer a choice, but a necessity.  Simply relying on spot testing of parts and subassemblies is too risky and totally unacceptable.  Today’s best practices include 100% positive material testing of all critical materials.

Historically, Numac have bought in this facility as and when it was needed to fulfil a contract. However, as part of their commitment to quality, they have taken the decision to invest in the technology, and bring the PMI process in house, allowing Numac to offer PMI on all projects, irrespective of contract conditions.

In future Numac will handle PMI using the XRF XL2. Produced by Niton (Market Leaders in PMI Technology) the XRF XL2 use  x-ray fluorescence to confirm the chemical makeup of any material through a simple process of “point & Shoot”.

“For many years we have offered this facility when it was demanded by the client, but we now feel that offering it as standard on all our projects is an obvious next step in our continued focus on quality” Explains Andy McLaren, MD at Numac Engineering. “This is a significant investment for us, but it means that we will have greater control over the analysis process, and will be able to offer it to all our clients as standard”.

“Working with exotic materials in high stress environments like those in the petrochemical and  oil & gas industries requires continual focus on quality. This is why Numac maintains a continued commitment to investment in the lastest state of the art tools and process management systems.”

Andrew McLaren

MD Numac Engineering Ltd

Mark Cooper

Nobody can ignore the impact on the economy over the past 18 months, but despite this Numac is now bucking the trend. We’re back to a pre-recession workload, being busier than ever and continually growing. Furthermore, we have expanded our capacity with a new regular night shift.

In difficult economic times successful companies focus on their core strengths, using resources to develop systems & processes to maximise competitiveness. Over the past 18 months we have done just this, in particular focusing on the areas of quality & environmental governance through our continued commitment to the ISO 9001 standard, and a renewed emphasis on the ISO14001 environmental standard.

In order to re-enforce this commitment and to focus on our environmental performance, we are delighted to welcome our new Quality, Heath and Safety Environmental Manager, Mark Cooper.

Mark has been a committed engineer throughout his career. Having started as an apprentice, he has worked his way through the ranks at some world class manufacturing organisations including the likes of British Aerospace, culminating in his achieving his DBA.

“We are delighted to welcome Mark on board” commented Andrew McLaren , MD at Numac Engineering. “The skills & experience that he brings to the organisation will ensure our ongoing commitment to delivering quality. He will also bring new disciplines to the organisation in the area of environmental governance.”

With significant involvement in environmentally sensitive areas like Petrochemical & Nuclear industries, minimising our impact on the environment is key to our continued success. To this end, and with Mark’s assistance we are aiming to achieve the ISO14001 Environmental certification in 2011.

Numac Expand Production & Invest in New Capacity

Even in what is seen as a difficult time for UK manufacturing, Numac are investing to maintain their efficient state of the art manufacturing facility in the North West of England.

As part of this programme, Numac have recently invested over £100K on a new state of the art Y axis mill turn machine.

The Mazak Nexus 250 MY was installed & commissioned earlier this year, increasing capacity and reducing bottlenecks in their already world class machine shop.

Coupled with other efficiency boosting processes such as offline programming and automated tool management, the new tool (which combines both milling and turning processes into one procedure) reduces setup times further improving flexibility and efficiency and reducing lead times.

Full details of the capabilities of this new machine can be found on the Mazak website.

You will also find further details of Numac’s experience on their website: www.numac.uk.com

The new machine will help to fulfil requirements of  existing clients including Dresser Valves & Weir Group as well as freeing up capacity for new projects.

“We always have the idea of delivering maximum quality & value to our customers” Explained Andy, “And it is with this in mind that we have made this latest investment. It will allow us to be more reactive to customer requirements, and deliver a truly competitive service without compromising on quality.”

In addition to the installation of the new machine tool, Numac have also recently expanded their capacity by introducing a night shift to cater for recent increased demand for their services.

“In difficult economic times, focus must be on delivering customer requirements efficiently, right first time. These recent investments in both staff and capacity will help us to continue to deliver”

Andrew McLaren
MD Numac Engineering Ltd

From their base in The Northwest of England, Numac Engineering Deliver high quality engineered components all over the Globe.

One current project sees Numac as part of a Global Tier 1 Supplier team working with ExxonMobile and GE Oil & Gas on the Kizomba Satellites Oil Field off the coast of Africa, one of the world’s leading oil fields.

The components supplied by Numac are being used in critical applications throughout the development, and as such quality is crucial, and vital to the health & safety of the development.

The critical nature of quality to the health & safety of the development led ExxonMobil and GE Oil & Gas to convene a supplier seminar entitled “Nobody Gets Hurt”.

At this event, attended by Andy McLaren of Numac Engineering, all suppliers were asked to sign a commitment to “Integrity, Supplier Quality and Teamwork” and to a “Right First Time” approach.

“It was a pleasure to attend this event”, says Andy McLaren, “Right First Time is at the heart of our Philosophy, and drives everything that we do. So making this commitment to ExxonMobil and GE Oil & Gas was something we are happy to do.”

The meeting focused on the link between Quality & Health & Safety, two areas in which we have an outstanding record within the Numac organisation.

“We have made major investments in both state of the art machinery and in training & development throughout the organisation, and I firmly believe this is the key reason for our success in these areas.” Explained Andy.

Andrew McLaren
MD Numac Engineering Ltd

The Issue

Using world class engineering skills to deliver top quality components for clients is central to the culture at Numac Engineering. One result of this is that they have an ever increasing tooling database. Selection of the correct tool for any given job is essential.

Historically, cutting tools were stored in “bins” and it was up to the machinist to select the correct tool for any given job.

As part of their “Lean” manufacturing initiative significant opportunities for improvements in both quality & efficiency were identified in this area.

The Solution

Andrew McLaren managing director of Numac Engineering recalls “The driver for the project was addressing inefficiencies identified as part of our Lean Programme. We were keen to make improvements, but were only willing to take action if we could be sure it would also positively reinforce our quality first culture”.

Following extensive research into best practice, the result was a significant investment in a Venda 365 automated tool management system, and the development of systematic tool management procedures. The system, which delivers the correct cutting tool for a specific task based on a barcode system, has enabled Numac to reduce costs and increase efficiency, whilst at the same time consolidating their already enviable reputation for quality.

The Benefits

“Another great aspect of this project was that it was chosen by machinists on the shop floor following a “Lean” Workshop. We are always keen to ensure that our management processes fully involve employees from all areas of the organisation, so it was gratifying to be able to implement a project, driven by the shop floor, that moved us forward in areas of efficiency & quality,” adds McLaren.

“Given that many of our products are used in harsh environments on critical applications where failure can be catastrophic, quality has to be second to none. Furthermore, the fact that Numac often manufacture using expensive, exotic alloys means it is essential that we get it right first time as mistakes can be very costly.

“Our investment in the automated tool delivery system has ensured that we can continue to deliver high quality components to our customers at very competitive prices.”

Using world class engineering skills to deliver top quality components for clients is central to the culture at Numac Engineering.

Numac also focus on developing a lean and flexible manufacturing process, and for one customer this allowed them to cut costs by outsourcing the uncertainties in their supply chain.

The customer (a major player in the hydraulics industry) needed to be able to guarantee the supply of components without the need to tool up internally for every eventuality. They also needed to do this without any compromise to the quality and efficiency of their supply chain.

Offering the customer the facility to buy a fixed number of hours on NUMAC Machines, rather than the more normal sub contract arrangement to supply a number of components at a fixed unit price, delivered this flexibility. Guaranteeing capacity as and when it was needed.

So how does it work?

On a weekly basis the customer buys a set number of hours from Numac.

On a daily basis, Numac visits the customer to collect any required work. This is then processed within 48hrs and returned to the customer.

It’s that simple!

The benefit to the customer

The result is that the customer knows that any components needing machining will be available as finished items within 48 hrs, irrespective of their own internal capacity.

Furthermore the number of hours required can be forecast & bought as needed at short notice.

 “Although this in not the way we have worked in the past, it meets the customers needs better than traditional sub contract arrangements, and thus we are happy to oblige” explained Andy McLaren at Numac. “Our skill is in delivering high quality components efficiently & cost effectively. We are happy to apply this skill in the manner most suited to an individual customer requirement.”

As a hi-tech engineering company, Numac are continually striving to enhance their levels of quality & efficiency.

Given that many of our products are used in harsh environments on critical applications where failure can be catastrophic, our quality has to be second to none.

Maintaining this quality, and still being able to offer a competitive service, means that our production management must be state of the art.

With this in mind, we have now invested in an upgraded production planning system from Tricorn.

Because the new system handles the process from enquiry to delivery, it offers significant benefits throughout the process:

• Faster quotations, reducing the decision time on component sourcing
• Accurate costings from client CAD, drawing direct from production history
• Streamlined production & administration, reducing lead times & costs
• Integration across the organisation from quotation to invoicing, reducing duplicated effort & improving availability of information through the company.

The result is significantly enhanced process management, further enhancing quality, and reducing lead times & improving cost effectiveness.

“This significant investment will allow Numac to continue to grow, whilst at the same time maintaining its unrivalled quality, and continuing to enhance the value that it adds to our customers processes”

Andrew McLaren

MD Numac Engineering Ltd