UK engineering firm HV Wooding has recently invested more than £500k in a new cutting system to address current high demand and target new opportunities.
The new Trumpf TruLaser 3030 will immediately be put to work in producing thin gauge laminations and busbars for use in electric cars, lorries, buses and commercial vehicles.
It will enable the firm to cut below 0.5mm thickness and to a better than 50 micron tolerance.
HV Wooding has experienced a strong ten months, with turnover up £600,000 since the UK emerged from lockdown. The firm’s current laser operates 24 hours a day, hence the requirement for an additional system to satisfy current demand.
'Customers are changing designs of rotors and stators to increase performance,’ said Paul Allen, sales director at HV Wooding. ‘This investment gives us the ideal solution to offer quick turnaround prototypes without the cost of wire cutting.’
He continued: 'The maximum sheet thickness we can cut on the new machine is 20mm for mild steel, 15mm for stainless steel/aluminium and 6mm for copper and brass. This enhances our current equipment that allows us to cut up to 8mm copper and brass. Over £200,000 of orders have already been placed, with the potential to add another £800,000 between now and the end of 2022.'
Since the start of the year, the firm has created 16 new jobs to help cope with the increase in demand, and is hoping to tap into the increasing desire for local sourcing from clients in the automotive, aerospace and power generation sector.
The new Trumpf TruLaser 3030 will produce thin gauge laminations and busbars for use in electric cars, lorries, buses and commercial vehicles. (Image: H V Wooding)
‘We have and will continually invest in equipment to help us be the best in our field,’ Allen remarked. ’In addition to the new laser, we have also added a new Bruderer BSTA 25h press, a Trimos height gauge and the InspectVision inspection system. These investments, alongside our personal development plan for all staff, are key to our strategic plan of remaining world leaders in the subcontract manufacture of metal components.'
The firm is also part of the Faraday Battery Challenge, working with the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and the University of Sheffield to develop an improved insulation solution enhancing the quality of the busbars it is producing. Supported by Innovate UK, the project focuses on investigating and developing alternative coating methods that will improve the performance and integrity of the critical components, which carry high-current power between different parts of an electrical system.