Category: productivity

Robots: the opportunities… or the risks? The application of adhesives, potting compounds, encapsulants or other liquids, fluids or pastes, is something that can often be readily automated with a dispensing robot. Manufacturers that are still performing these processes manually may be concerned about the potential risks of transforming their processes with automation. On the other […]

The benefits of robotics are compelling to many manufacturers: improved productivity, efficiency, output, quality, and flexibility. They can also improve health and safety for employees and job satisfaction. The International Federation of Robotics World Robot Report in 2021 found that the UK has a robot density of 101 robots per 10,000 employees, far below the […]

Bulk Tainer Logistics provides bespoke transport services for the shipment of bulk liquid products globally, operating a fleet of 12,000 chemical, feed, and food grade tank containers. To optimise the performance of its fleet, the company wanted to fit its tanks with smart monitoring devices that tracked the movement of the tanks and the condition […]

The benefits of robotics are compelling; improved productivity, efficiency, output, quality, and flexibility. In addition to their production benefits, they can also improve health and safety and job satisfaction for employees. However, the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) World Robot Report in 2021 found that the UK has a robot density of 101 robots per […]

The masking process at MTU Aero Engines, a leading German manufacturer of military and civil aircraft engines, used to involve tapes, silicone rings, masks and metal covers all manually fitted and applied by operators. So when production planner Thomas Kaltenecker discovered and implemented Dymax SpeedMask, a UV-curing temporary masking liquid, alongside an automated dispensing and […]

“I am the Managing Director of an electronics CEM. We are making 1,000 potted electronics assemblies per week, regularly 200 per day. This is done manually by experienced operators. Pat is my best operator, she’s been with me the longest time. Some weeks, about 2.5% of these are rejected after potting. Each one costs £50, […]

To improve the accuracy, repeatability, and manufacturing speed of their key product line Kemio™, a water testing system utilising patented single-use sensor technology, Palintest came to us. Using electrochemical sensors, the product tests the concentration of chlorine, chlorine dioxide, chlorite or peracetic acid in samples, giving a clear pass or fail mark in 60 seconds. Initially […]

“The ability to mask complex shapes in one application and cure quickly on demand has reduced work in progress, improved quality and increased throughput.” “We have managed to increase production four-fold and enjoyed faster manufacturing time, reduced labour costs, and a consistently high-quality result with no defects or wasted material.” “It has allowed us to […]

Providing light where there was once darkness, lighting assemblies have been a staple in modern vehicle manufacture for decades. For many manufacturers, the search for brighter, better-performing systems has led them away from traditional bulbs and lamps towards more complex arrays of LED emitters, with lifespans in the 1000’s of hours. Keeping these assemblies protected […]

When gas sensor manufacturer DD-Scientific wanted to improve the accuracy, repeatability, and productivity of an epoxy sealing process, they asked us. DD-Scientific now benefits from robot-mounted preeflow® eco-DUO precision metering, mixing and dispensing systems, which save the company 23 days of staff time per year, while maintaining the high-quality the company’s products demand. DD-Scientific’s sensors […]

Process speed and simplicity are just two of the many productivity benefits that light curing adhesives and coatings bring to the table. If this is a new process for you, or you are setting up production on a new product, then you will want to figure out how to get it working reliably and repeatably. […]

When you are experiencing poor productivity from an adhesives process, the first step to resolving the issue is to identify why — there are several common pain points, including speed, quality and waste. If you identify that a material is holding you back, what can you do to reach your productivity potential? Compared with mechanical […]

We’re on a mission to help UK manufacturers squeeze more productivity out of their bonding and materials application processes. While it is not usually difficult to figure out the investment justification on the equipment that we offer, there also isn’t a high upfront cost for improving your dispensing process from a manual one to one […]

A number of the products that we offer are described as being highly accurate, precise and/or repeatable. We believe that these criteria are important to a process where consistent, high quality output is required, and they have a big impact on productivity through reduction of material waste, quality-based rejects, and rework. But what exactly do […]

We launched the What is your productivity potential? campaign to help manufacturers improve your productivity and become more competitive on a global scale. It highlights the ways that assembly companies can simplify processes, improve output and reduce waste. Currently, in Spring 2020, manufacturing companies are facing different kinds of challenges. Some are frantic, assembling ventilators, […]

The UK’s manufacturing industry needs to be far more productive and therefore competitive than it is today. Solving the productivity puzzle may assume more importance as we emerge from the current pandemic crisis, with the essential task of ramping back up the manufacturing economy looming. In a few weeks, a month or two… we must […]

We will be giving a seminar at Engineering Solutions Live, Thursday 12th March, entitled Achieve Your Productivity Potential with UV Light Curing Adhesives, and we’d like to invite you to come along. Manufacturing in the UK is strong, but productivity remains a concern. Adhesives, coatings and protective materials which cure with light can offer significant […]

Recently, when discussing the choice or specification of an adhesive (or coating or sealant), we said that “Simple statements rarely match complex reality.” There is a plethora of materials and a seemingly infinite number of assembly applications, and matching them up optimally requires a real understanding of a complex scenario, in which not every factor […]

Improving Productivity by Increasing Output When we think about how to increase the productivity of an organisation, we often immediately jump to how to raise output. How can we make more of that widget, or a better version of the widget, within the constraints of our production space or other limited resources? Maybe the market […]

Our customers are doing amazing things, so we’d like to highlight some of their achievements and perhaps provide you with a bit of inspiration for ways to improve your productivity while achieving a great return on investment. Here’s a snapshot of some of our recent case studies: ShotScope has been able to quadruple production of […]

We have a wide experience of integrating dispensing, curing and surface preparation equipment with our robots. Combining one or more of these processes onto one platform can deliver production efficiency and productivity – often at realistic cost which can payback very quickly. This two minute video explains the benefits we have delivered to customers over […]

From the iPad version of today’s The Times: More than half the world’s workplace tasks will be carried out by a machine within the next seven years but the relentless rise of the robots will create more jobs than it will destroy, research has found. A study by the World Economic Forum suggests that 52 […]

We know that light curing adhesives can improve productivity. This infographic from our partners Dymax highlights efficiencies that can be gained when a UV light cure systems technology is looked at holistically as an integral part of a full production process, leading to an average 30% savings in overall process costs. The benefits include: Minimised […]

The application of adhesives, potting compounds or encapsulants, sealants, FIP gaskets, temporary masking or lubricants (or other liquids, fluids or pastes – in summary, “a material”) is something which is readily automated with a dispensing robot. If you are doing this manually now, then you could be missing out on productivity benefits, including consistency, speed […]

In today’s The Times, in an article about the Northampton Saints rugby team, it was revealed that this season’s string of poor results for the Saints has impacted on the local manufacturing industry. Dylan Hartley, the club captain, revealed that productivity falls in the town’s Carlsberg factory and at Church’s shoes, another of the club’s leading […]

Make sure you read the latest issue of FAST magazine, where on page 42 you can catch up on our thoughts about manufacturing productivity in the UK, and how we are helping our customers bridge the productivity gap. We recommend taking out a free subscription, if you don’t already have one.

Economic productivity fell in the first three months of this year, the first decline since late 2015, according the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today. The figures suggest a continuation of the “productivity puzzle”, the ONS said. The puzzle refers to the flatlining of productivity since 2010, which is unprecedented in the post-war era and is […]

The much discussed “productivity puzzle” continues to haunt the UK economy. Whilst the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that manufacturing productivity in the last quarter of 2016 grew by 1.7% on the previous quarter, overall growth still lags behind the curve. Nevertheless, UK manufacturers recognise the need to enhance their […]

Dymax Speedmask® 9-20479-B-Rev-A UV/light cure temporary masking agent is specifically designed to meet the needs of the electronics industry, where its fast cure and simple removal will improve productivity in printed circuit board assembly.  It is formulated for the protection of pcb connectors and other components, either during the soldering process, or during conformal coating. […]

Today I was made aware of this interview on the BBC News, given by friend Mike Wilson, President of the British Automation and Robot Association (BARA). It takes place during the CBI  Conference in London last November, and Mike is asked to comment on Theresa May’s pledge to invest £2bn a year in an effort to […]

Light curing adhesives offer many design and manufacturing benefits spanning a wide range of industrial applications. These adhesives cure in seconds, forming high-strength, environmentally resistant bonds whilst maximising productivity. General and specific formulations are available for bonding plastics, metal, glass and other substrates. These adhesives can be applied by hand, or by semi or fully automated […]

We offer a small-footprint benchtop robot that enables cost-effective automation of any dispensing operation. The Fisnar F4200N robot features a true three-axis design, and can be interfaced with any of our dispensing equipment. This makes it ideal for form-in-place gaskets, adhesives, coatings, potting, filling and shielding in the lab or on the line. Programming is straightforward, […]

On Thursday (21 April) this week, the FAST Exhibition opens its doors at The Concorde Conference Centre in Manchester. The FAST Exhibition has been created to provide you with a single location to meet fastening experts and discover the answers to your design problems. We are giving a seminar entitled Enhancing Productivity with Light Curing Adhesives and […]

We offer a series of technical seminars to our customers in the technology manufacturing sector. The seminars focus on adhesives, protective materials and the associated application and curing equipment. The goal is to help design, production and quality engineers understand both the fundamentals and the cutting edge possibilities of the technologies, enabling you to deliver performance advances […]

The newsletter from the Chief Economist of RBS landed in our in-box this morning. I quote: The UK’s labour market recovery has been impressive but the same cannot be said for productivity. Output per hour in the UK was 18 percentage points below the average for the rest of the major G7 advanced economies in […]

The engineering and fitting of effective sealing has often been a rather unproductive and at times unsatisfactory business, frequently involving moulded or pre-punched gaskets, time-consuming installation of strip profiles or long waiting times while injected foams cure on stacked shelves. We have announced the new Dymax GA-201 UV cure FIP gasket material which in large measure […]