Industry-university partnership benefits both parties

The Otley-based company has been working with Leeds University’s Mechanical Engineering Department on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership scheme, which was funded 60 per cent by the DTI and 40 per cent by Craftsman. Graduate mechanical engineer Tim Patterson has been in charge of the initiative which has seen the introduction of a new “manufacturing cell”. Housed in the firm’s £350,000 extension, which doubled the size of the shopfloor area when it opened last year, the North Cell was brought on line after Mr Patterson helped select the machines following a detailed analysis of what gaps there were within Craftsman’s manufacturing capabilities. The next part of the process saw the 25-year-old having to justify the financial outlay to the board of directors. The company has now invested in two Puma lathes, plus a Charmilles wire erosion machine, at a total outlay of £200,000. The latter enables the precision machinery of complex shapes, allowing any 2D shape to cut in any metal. The machine can also be left running 24 hours a day adding to increased productivity. “The wire erosion machine has allowed us to reduce large sub-contract outlay for wire cutting parts, as well as taking on new jobs previously too complex for standard machines,” explained Sheffield University graduate Mr Patterson. “It has proved so successful that we are now in the process of purchasing a second one.” Another aspect of the initiative has seen the company ditch its traditional paper ticket systems in favour of bar codes. “The old paper ticket system was incredibly time consuming. Each process of a job had to be filled out manually then taken upstairs to the drawing office for someone else to enter the data on to an Excel sheet. “Now with the bar code it takes just seconds for all the information to be collated.” Every process of every job, and each person involved in it, now has a unique bar code, with the scanned information being fed straight into a computer using JobBoss Material Requirement Planning software. The collated information helps to improve job tracking and performance monitoring, as well as building up a database that can be called upon when estimating future work. Robert Johnson, Craftsman Tools’ managing director, said: “The recently completed KTP project is the third project of this kind to be completed at Craftsman Tools, and each of the projects challenge the way we are currently doing things. “Not all recommendations are implemented but many are; resulting in new methods and techniques. Each of the projects has enabled the company to develop and progress. “As a result of these projects and improvements we have increased our turnover by 40 per cent, and our export sales have grown from 25 per cent to 40 per cent.” Dr Kenny Dalgarno, who provided the University input and supervision to the project, said: "The KTP with Craftsman Tools has been a great example of how universities and industry can both gain from a two-way transfer of knowledge and experience. “Craftsman Tools is a forward looking and innovative company that has benefited from having ‘fresh eyes’ looking at how to do things, and the industrial experience gained is of great value in developing future teaching and research within the university".