CASE STUDY: HAMILTON GROUP

Hamilton Group invests in hydraulic press technology to compete globally

The Hamilton Group, one of the UK'S leading manufacturers of electrical wiring accessories, has invested in the latest hydraulic press technology of P J Hare to boost its standing in the increasingly competitive global manufacturing environment. This investment in new plant is viewed as a crucial element in enhancing both the company's export potential and in strengthening its long-term position in the home market against overseas competition. lan Hamilton, Director of Hamilton's, explained: "In recent years, as with other manufacturers, we've been under increasing competition from cheaper imports."

"Obviously we can't compete against the labour costs or overheads of our competitors in the Far East, and have no intention of lowering our quality thresholds in order to compete on price. Instead we had to find another way of staying competitive. We've achieved this with a forward thinking approach to our plant investment strategy."

Six months ago the company took delivery of Hare's latest 80-ton digital press, the 80HPD. Within this short space of time the benefits of switching to hydraulic over traditional mechanical presses have been so dramatically demonstrated that the company now intends to replace much of its existing machinery portfolio with hydraulic presses, enabling it to fight off cheap competition from overseas. It has already ordered a second Hare press.

Doubling Output

Mr Hamilton added: "Currently producing in excess of 500,000 quality components a year we anticipate more than doubling our output to over 1 million within 12 months. Our 'think smart' plant investment approach is already paying off. It's true that hydraulic presses initially cost more than their mechanical counterparts, but within a very short space of time the digital Hare press has paid for itself by yielding significant benefit through increased productivity, flexibility and tremendous reductions in downtime. Moving over to the digital hydraulic press has reduced tool change and set-up times by about 85% - a tremendous benefit when working on short or medium run jobs.”