Data at the heart of SME manufacturing growth plans

Playdale, a play equipment manufacturer based in Ulverston, is fixing sensors to a traditional drill to capture real-time performance and predictive maintenance data which will be analysed to understand the savings from improved efficiencies, reduced down-time, tooling-spend and maintenance costs. It will then be replicated across its other legacy equipment such as saws and presses.

Paul Mallinson, Technical and Operations Director, said: “This project will pave the way for the integration of the remainder of our work production cells, in addition to the creation of totally digital workflow from initial enquiries through to delivery, installation, customer acceptance and on-going support. It’s an exciting time for Playdale.”

Plastic Card Services (PCS), based in Macclesfield, invested in a bespoke solution that can read a card, check against a data file in real time, and then encode it, while a new software solution interrogates its customer’s database for the personalised data for the card and organise print jobs for the day.

The investment resulted in a new contract worth £500,000 each year for the next three years and an 8% increase in turnover, as well as additional enquiries for similar contracts.

Adam Unsworth, Managing Director, said: “Quite simply, without funding through Made Smarter for the new equipment, PCS would not have been able to win the contract. The increase in turnover is huge for us. It’s a game-changer for our company.”

T&R Precision, an engineering company operating in the aerospace sector based in Foulridge, invested in a bespoke solution to fully automate a machining system by applying new software and hardware solutions to a 5-axis CNC machine. It is integrated with the quality control department, provides real time oversight to the management team and allows every order to be tracked and integrated into the supply chain.

The solution reduces the manufacturing process from 90 hours to 18, increases productivity levels and is forecast to increase revenue by 33% over the next three years.

Tim Maddison, managing director, said: "A unique, ‘future state’ manufacturing method will provide us with a significant competitive advantage over our principal customer’s in-house manufacturing processes. It will reduce the number of operations, machines and manpower required to manufacture the components, providing a step change in our productivity and efficiencies. The investment and support of Made Smarter will create stability for the company and workforce and give us the confidence to invest in the future.”