Sheetmetal
design team will always start by applying for the vehicle mounting point data from the vehicle manufacturer. Once we have this, we have the criteria to design and manufacture a product. From here, we will design a specimen and run it through FEA at the intended loads to check the product is capable of safely fulfilling its requirements.” “When this has all been completed, we will fully check the manufacturing process through the Bystronic software. When we are happy that we can manufacture the part and that it will achieve its load requirements, we will then make a sample. We will get a vehicle to our facility and check the parameters, and we do
this for every vehicle on the road. Once we have met all our stringent manufacturing criteria, we will put the system through its type approval phase. We have a single-axis test machine, which conducts 2 million cycles and we have a Carlos test machine that is a 93-hour test – safety is paramount.” Concluding on the business, Tom says: “The company has come a long way since 1991 when it was founded. My parents set the business up in a small workshop in Atherstone, and with the continuous improvement and investment plans that we have put in place, we have become the UK’s largest towbar manufacturer, which we are extremely proud of as a family-run business. n
Machinery & Manufacturing 46
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