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ready for
delivery
Workers at
Renishaw’s Miskin
site prepare
a shipment of
ventilator parts
25 June 2020 / www.theengineer.co.uk
e-commerce business, our automated
quoting system receives the CAD
uploads before quickly reviewing
and emailing an interactive quote
with real time pricing and design
analysis.
We have teams of Application
Engineers providing technical expertise
based on the customer’s own specifi c
requirements. They’ll work with
the client through any required and
recommended changes to the CAD
models, communicating solutions and
ensuring the successful conclusion of
the designs.
Our proprietary software then
translates the CAD models into
instructions for our high-speed
manufacturing equipment, where
video displays allow workers to see realtime
information on job queues, set-up
requirements, production, and quality
metrics.
It’s a closed-loop system that
requires less human intervention
in production, but more support from
our design analysis function. This
reduces manufacturing costs, increases
throughput and reduces customer
contact.
What key lessons has your organisation
learned from this process?
BW: This project so far has exemplifi ed
how teamwork, commitment and
fl exibility from people both inside and
outside of the organisation has enabled
us to deliver a huge project in a short
amount of time.
For a large business like Jaguar
Land Rover, industrialising the process
was a more effi cient way to make
a large volume of visors – but this
doesn’t mean that people with Additive
Manufacturing capability should
stop printing. In fact, if there are any
companies who would like to join us
in making these visors for medical
professionals, they can visit our website
and download the 3D-printed CAD
designs. We hope that by providing
these fi les for download, many more
companies will be inspired to use their
3D-printing facilities to print vital PPE
equipment for our key workers. The
ready-to-print fi les can be downloaded
here.
MS: This challenge has highlighted
the tremendous capabilities that we
have within the UK to tackle complex
engineering problems. The depth of
capability and capacity within our
aerospace and automotive sectors, the
specialist knowledge of our medical
devices sector, and the incredible
agility and technical competence of the
Formula 1 teams, have all come to the
fore.
Some weaknesses in our national
capability have also been exposed,
however, such as our almost total
dependence on overseas sources
for electronics and many specialist
components.
Perhaps the biggest success is how
UK industry has pulled together in this
time of need in a way that off ers great
hope for our industrial future.
LB: The appetite for digital
manufacturing has been growing
exponentially, but I think the
experiences many industries have had
during this period could accelerate the
adoption of these processes even more
when the economy returns to some
form of normality.
But we have learned that our
approach to manufacturing can,
with the required safety measures in
place, withstand a global pandemic
and maintain productivity. A digital
end-to-end process, as well as clear
communication to employees,
customers and supply chains, are vital
elements in this success.
Throughout this pandemic we
made sure all of our staff were on board
with our plans to stay open as a critical
supplier and this meant understanding
their views and how we could create a
working environment where they felt
safe whilst allowing them to do their
jobs.
This was achieved by holding
regular consultations and briefi ngs
with employers and implementing
processes that were jointly agreed
on.
the biggest success is how UK
industry has puilled together in this
time of need Marc Saunders, Renishaw
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