When Nissan was looking for a semi-automated solution that would improve productivity and also generate a financial payback, the company turned to Altec Engineering, which excels with concepts that strike the perfect balance between man and machine.

The Altec system comprises two operational stations, linked by a roller transfer system plus a KUKA robot and Bosch Rexroth nut drivers, all of which is enclosed within perimeter safety guarding, incorporating an operator access aperture protected by a light guard.

At the first station, the cylinder head is manually loaded onto a base plate, before being located and locked into position on the fixture. A guide plate is placed onto the cylinder head, then six dowel pins are located and pressed home using a pneumatic hammer tool. Sensors located on the guide plate are used to detect that the dowels are fully inserted before the cylinder head is released.

Within the second station, the cylinder head is located on a transfer table where the operator can locate a guide plate to the cylinder head, to allow the correct placement of cam bracket and bolts. Sensors are used to ensure that the correct bracket is fitted for the variant being processed and the table then transfers the cylinder head into the guarded robot cell.

Integrated within the cell is a KUKA KR16 robot which has two torquing spindles mounted to the wrist. The robot positions the spindles over the cylinder head and the tightening operations are then initiated. The bolts are tightened in pairs and in a pre-determined sequence, to a mid-torque point to ensure seating and location before being finally tightened to the final torque requirements. The cylinder head is then returned to the operator.

Whilst this application is not particularly complex or demanding from an automation perspective, it proves that there are still areas within even the most highly automated plants where innovative ideas and concepts can bring the benefits of automation to tasks often seen as traditional manual operations. Solutions such as this reduce the number of operators required for the task in hand, freeing up valuable labour for re-deployment in other areas of production.

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Disruptive innovation, a term coined by Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, describes a process by which a product or service takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves up market, eventually displacing established competitors. This concept has been demonstrated time and time again with products such as mobile phones, computers and even motor-cars, when the development of the Ford Model T changed transportation for the masses by being affordable.

The subject of disruptive innovation has been the focus of a number of seminars and presentations in recent months by the Space Science and Oil & Gas sectors, where SME’s have been set the challenge of evaluating and implementing disruptive innovation principles. With today’s market drivers of saving costs, customers will change brand or supplier more readily than in the past, as long as the product values remain intact. Disruptive innovation therefore, or in the case of Altec, disruptive engineering, will continue to play a significant role in customer retention.

Lackenby explains: “At the heart of any disruptive innovation is a strong engineering team and engineers from all areas of Altec’s business are applying the methodology of disruptive engineering within the company’s CNC Precision Machining and Special Purpose Equipment divisions, to the benefit of our customers.”

Lackenby continues: “Disruptive engineering need not necessarily mean re-inventing what we do, and when we look closely at our existing internal processes, we have actually been implementing these principles for many years. There are a number of ideologies used by the Altec team to ensure that all opportunities for disruptive engineering have been considered and fully evaluated.

“These include ensuring that all areas of expertise within the company, from sales, design, manufacturing and management are involved in the process to discuss ideas which will lead to the optimum solution to the task at hand. Free thinking amongst engineers, even if it is outside of their core discipline, can bring a new perspective to problem solving and this is actively encouraged by Altec.”

Collaboration and team building

Added to this is an ongoing programme of collaboration and team building ensuring that all engineering disciplines within the company remain engaged, and that they each recognise the unique contribution that they bring to the disruptive engineering process.

The vision for Altec is continued excellence in design, manufacture, value for money and customer service. The outcome of some of the recent disruptive engineering projects at Altec has seen the company transfer production of certain CNC machined parts within their group of companies, to exactly match the component with the specialities, capabilities and capacity of the Group site. Altec Engineering’s Bowburn site specialises in low volume, high complexity CNC machining, and the design and build of special purpose equipment.

Medium volume production, product re-engineering and supply chain management has been located at Group company Sigma Technologies, whilst high volume CNC machining is carried out at Group company Ronco Engineering. The Group also uses disruption innovation in the form of 3D printing of conceptual models to aid evaluation of product and component design in conjunction with customers and prior to CNC machining production parts.

This strategy, developed from the disruptive engineering process, has resulted in real benefits of reduced costs and shorter lead times for Altec’s customers who operate across a diverse range of industry sectors including: oil and gas, aerospace, space science, defence, mining, construction vehicles and renewables.

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The campaign was initiated by defence technology company QinetiQ with an aim to get the UK’s public and private companies to commit to raising the number of apprentices, sponsored students and graduates on formal programmes to 5% of their total workforce within five years.

The aim of the campaign is to tackle both the chronic skills shortage and youth unemployment in Britain and help the country remain at the forefront of innovation. It also asks members to publicly report their progress in their Annual Report.

Membership of the 5% Club reinforces Altec’s already strong commitment to apprenticeship recruitment and training. Currently, an impressive 10% of the Group’s 150 strong workforce are in various stages of apprenticeship training, either in-house or with local further education colleges and universities.

Altec Engineering CEO Alastair Waite comments: “We are delighted to be part of an organisation which recognises the benefits which formal apprentice training can bring to both individuals and the business which employs them.” Waite continues: “Apprentices make a significant contribution to our business, not only from the work they do whilst they are training, but also in the stability they provide for the company as we look to the future. Bringing our own engineers up through the ranks allows us to be completely confident that we will continue to have the necessary skills and resource to maintain growth within both our current and new market segments.”

Dr Sam Healy, Programme Director of The 5% Club said, “We’re delighted to welcome Altec to the initiative. The company’s existing efforts to invest in the next generation are greatly welcomed and together we can strive towards a brighter future for young people in Britain.”

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Altec CEO Alastair Waite said: “We were attracted by the excellent reputation of Quick Hydraulics in the market place and the expertise of the team in delivering high quality hydraulic systems and solutions. It was an obvious fit to widen the Altec Group capabilities and reach.”

Andrew Esson will continue as managing director of North Shields-based Quick, which counts SMD, Siemens, Baker Hughes and EDF Energy amongst its clients. He said: “We have been through a very challenging 12 months due particularly to the downturn in the oil and gas sector. Many of the projects we had hoped to land were either subject to delays or cancelled altogether and it was clear that we would have to restructure the business.

“I am delighted that Quick will become part of the larger Altec Engineering Group,” he continued. “I have known Alastair for many years and together we will take the business forward.”

Andrew, who has picked up awards as well as plaudits, for Quick’s growth in recent years, added: “It has not been an easy few months for staff, customers or suppliers but being part of a larger group which has the backing and support of one of the country’s largest funding providers bodes well for the future.” Quick’s Aberdeen base is being retained as part of the deal.

This is the third acquisition by Bowburn-based Altec in less than twelve months as the company continues to experience strong organic growth and make strategic acquisitions. The Quick deal follows hard on the heels of the acquisitions of Sigma Technologies based in West Yorkshire and Ronco Engineering based in Tanfield Lea. Having beaten off competition to acquire Quick, Alastair, recently named Mentor of the Year at the North East Entrepreneurial Awards, believes the deal will strengthen Altec’s offering to a wider customer base and develop new opportunities.

He said: “Altec and Quick operate in similar sectors and have many of the same customers, particularly in the oil and gas, automotive, defence, aerospace and manufacturing sectors. There were two key reasons why this deal was attractive to us. Firstly, Altec, as a designer and manufacturer of special purpose machinery, often incorporates hydraulics in our solutions and having access to ‘in-group’ expertise will be invaluable. Secondly, our five axis CNC machining capability will allow the business to enter new market areas such as the design and manufacture of bespoke hydraulic manifolds.”

Founded in 1978, Altec now employs more than 150 people and is the fastest-growing sub-contract precision engineering company in the North East. It has recently received the support of Business Growth Fund in a deal worth £6m to accelerate its growth plans, invest in people and technology and develop deeper relationships with clients who operate across multiple sectors.

Joanne Whitfield, FW Capital’s fund manager in the North East, said: “We have previously backed both Altec and Quick Hydraulics and I’m pleased that they’re now joining forces. I’m confident that Altec will continue to go from strength to strength and capitalise on many potential synergies.”

Dan Butters from Deloitte said: “We are delighted to confirm that the business of Quick has been successfully sold and jobs saved. The level of interest arising from the sale process is a testament to the quality of the business and the management team. We wish them well for the future.”

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Altec technical director Nick Batey comments: “Obtaining system partner status from KUKA reinforces our commitment to delivering production automation solutions that are built upon the best technology available and which have a solid reputation for performance and reliability.”

Ian Walker, KUKA general sales manager, says: “We are continually looking for good quality partners to help develop and grow our business in the UK and Ireland market.”

As part of the scheme KUKA provides a wide range of services to system integrators including detailed product technical support. Altec will work closely with KUKA’s experienced team who will offers a host of additional information to support Altec’s promotion and integration activities for the KUKA range of robot systems.

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Altec was founded by Ron Waite in 1978 and has expanded significantly over the past 18 months. The business successfully raised investment last year to expand its Durham site and invested in new cutting edge machine tool technology, a new specialist coatings division and our people. The past three years have seen revenues double through organic growth and the recent acquisition of Yorkshire based Sigma Technologies.

Sigma Technologies has an enviable reputation in the manufacture high quality CNC components for a variety of sectors and perfectly complements Altec’s existing capability and capacity.

The latest addition to the Altec Engineering Group, Ronco Engineering, is a precision engineering company based in Tanfield Lea, County Durham. Founded in 1992, it provides CNC manufactured parts to a wide range of customers such as Caterpillar and JCB.

Together, Altec, Ronco and Sigma employ around 140 people the majority of whom are experienced and skilled engineers, toolmakers and design staff. Our investment coupled with the recent acquisitions of Sigma and Ronco provides our customers a greater level of service and enhances our offering.

Investment in people has been key to Altec’s success and the company has an enviable reputation in the training of apprentices, with eleven apprentices currently in training with three new starters in September. This was recognised when one of the apprentices was awarded ‘Apprentice of the Year’ last year.

New senior management appointments

In order to meet the demands of a larger Group and complement the skills and experience of the existing senior management, Altec has made a number of new Board appointments; David Bailey, former vice president of Parker Hannifin Europe, has been appointed as non-executive chairman, Simon McIntosh who has considerable experience in Corporate Finance joins as Group Financial Director and Barry Jackson joins the board of the company on behalf of BGF.

The Altec Group has ambitious plans to scale-up its business through accelerating its organic growth plans following the expansion and investment into its Durham site last year; the delivery of new value-added services such as specialist coatings and through further strategic acquisitions.

Alastair Waite, Altec Engineering said: “Altec was successful in obtaining funding from FW Capital last year which enabled us to grow the business to the stage where BGF could support us further. BGF’s investment has already helped us to move forward with our growth plans through the acquisition of Ronco – a solid business that shares our ethos around engineering quality and building long-standing relationships with customers. We were delighted to receive the backing of BGF to give us the confidence to deliver on our ambitious growth plans.”

Richard Taylor, BGF said: “Altec has a great team delivering excellent results. Alastair has a track record in executing buy and build strategies and has a pipeline of opportunities that, with our investment, will help the business scale quickly.”

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In addition to increasing the area available for production and machine building, this new facility also provides the opportunity to house dedicated training facilities, highlighting the emphasis, which Altec places in the recruitment and training of Engineering Apprentices. The company currently has a total of 11 apprentices at various stages of training, with a further 3 due to join the company in August of this year. Also two apprentices who have just completed their training are staying on, one as a Toolmaker and the other as QA Inspector.

This latest investment follows Altec’s strategic acquisition of Shipley based Sigma Technologies, announced recently. Sigma Technologies adds a new dimension to the Groups activities – that of high volume CNC component manufacture for a wide variety of clients. Altec was attracted by Sigma’s approach to providing innovative solutions to clients needs including; stock build programmes, inventory control, KanBan solutions, Kitting, Sub-assembly and integrated MRP.

Altec Engineering Group now employs over 100 people and delivers into key strategic sectors such as automotive, oil and gas, aerospace, defence, medical, mining and manufacturing. The Group is developing deeper relationships with clients operating in each of these sectors and is planning to continue its growth strategy by investment in organic as well as acquisitive growth, with further announcements expected soon.

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Altec was attracted by Sigma’s approach to providing innovative solutions to clients needs including; stock build programmes, inventory control, KanBan solutions, Kitting, Sub-assembly and integrated MRP. This approach has resulted in long term and mutually beneficial client relationships.

Sigma’s General Manager Andrew Millington explains “Customer / supplier relationships will always flourish when there is a “can do” approach, and this has certainly been the case with Sigma and our customers. Our capability to provide a more comprehensive solution, coupled with much reduced lead times, has not only allowed our customer to shorten their supply chain but enabled them to reduce stock levels and generate tangible savings.”

Altec Engineering Managing Director David Steel commented “Sigma will be a valuable asset to the Altec Engineering group of companies. Their innovative approach to managing the supply chain on behalf of customers, coupled with Altec’s capabilities in high precision manufacturing and special purpose machine design and build, gives Altec a significant competitive advantage.”

For Sigma, the acquisition by Altec comes at a time when significant new investment was needed, when additional capacity and capability was required to meet client needs and when investment in highly skilled personnel and apprenticeships were high on the agenda.

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The Altec system is designed to automatically dispense adhesive onto a rubber “Bumper Strip” which in turn is assembled to one of the main plastic mouldings which make up the outer body housing of the Automower robotic lawn mower.

The gluing cell operates in a semi-automated manner, with an operator priming the system with the rubber strip and main moulding. The two parts are secured in precision-machined profile nests, with the plastic moulding held in the upper half of the fixture and the rubber strip in the lower part.

A Fanuc LR mate 6-axis robot is used to manipulate an adhesive dispensing nozzle around the profile of the rubber strip, ensuring consistency in the quantity of adhesive and repeatable positioning of the adhesive profile on the part. With the gluing operation completed, the lower half of the fixture is automatically raised to attach the rubber strip to the main moulding and the fixture remains closed for a short time to allow the adhesive to cure. The fixture then opens, allowing the operator to remove the finished assembly.

The stand-alone cell is built upon a robust steel fabricated base frame and controlled using a PLC based system. Double guard doors are used to protect the operator during the robot cycle.

The system is now in full production proving that even robots need robots within a manufacturing environment.

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