Hurst Plastics says it is ‘well on course for its best year ever in composite doors’ after making a ‘significant investment’ into new machinery and additional production space to satisfy growing demand.
The Kingston-upon-Hull based company reports that it has almost doubled its dedicated floor space for composite door processing and has just taken delivery of an additional CNC machine to increase production capacity to 600 doors a week.
Hurst is one of the first companies in the industry to commission the Biesse Rover A 5-axis machining centre – an upgraded 2015 model. The Rover A is able to machine from a vertical or horizontal axis to ensure precise routing to within a millimetre, whilst minimising manual handling for Hurst’s production team. Said to be more energy efficient and quieter in operation, the new machine will speed up the processing of Hurst’s range of standard composites and composite fire doors to between seven and 10 minutes per slab. The router is linked to a sophisticated software program to accurately manage and plan throughput either on-site or remotely.
The installation of this top specification machine is part of a major investment strategy at Hurst, which is designed to enable the firm to keep pace with its future growth plans. Under the programme, Hurst has commissioned a new triple head welder to double its welding capacity, a corner cleaner, a copy router and an additional extraction unit. The company has also invested in new high bay racking to re-organise its second production facility and create extra floor space. New fabricators, warehouse operatives and apprentices have been brought in to help Hurst to stay ahead of demand, maintain lead times and assure consistently high standards in product quality.
