 |
|
EHN Archives home page |
|
Executive Report: Tooled up in Telford Phil Mist, EHN’s Power Tools Specialist, visits Makita’s expanding European manufacturing operation, and reports on the company’s latest products and initiatives. Makita
manufactures
1.7
million
power
tools
at
its
Telford
factory
each
year,
90%
of
which
are
exported,
with
60%
going
to
Europe
and
30%
to
the
rest
of
the
world.
Established
in
1991,
the
facility
originally
concentrated
on
producing
relatively
uncomplicated
power
tools
that
lent
themselves
Computer controlled machinery Considerable use is made of high-specification computer controlled machinery and machine tools. In addition, there has been a substantial investment in measuring and checking equipment to ensure that the finished products meet Makita’s exacting standards. As with other power tool manufacturers worldwide, most tools produced at Telford roll off long production lines after having been subjected to constant checking, undertaken by machinery as well as quality control personnel. This approach may have resulted in a somewhat restricted range of tools being made, but it has provided plenty time for the workforce to become highly skilled. Now, in a major step forward, Makita has established several small manufacturing ‘cells’ in the factory so that specialist tools can be produced by specific teams of workers. The initial list of machines produced using this system includes a slide compound mitre saw and three new rotary demolition hammers. The latter certainly look interesting from a hire industry perspective. All three have a maximum drilling capacity of 40mm and fall into the 7kg category, a key market segment in hire. These new SDS Max hammers are quite sophisticated, and two of them incorporate Makita’s AVT anti-vibration system, giving tri-axial HAV measurements of 6.5m/s2 when working in hammer-only mode, and 7.5m/s2 when drilling. Each model has a 1,100watt motor and provides a single energy blow of 9.5J. During the factory visit, delegates were introduced (and in some cases re-introduced) to a number of machines that were announced at the Executive Hire Show in February, albeit in a rather low-key fashion. Eleven products were on view, including an easy-start chainsaw available in three versions, a water pump, a petrol powered brushcutter, a scraper, two SDS Plus hammer drills (one of which is a cordless tool powered by Lithium-Ion batteries), a 45mm-capacity SDS Max rotary hammer drill, a 125mm-diameter angle grinder, and a router. With the inroads made during 2007 by its 2kg hammers and by its 18V Lithium-Ion powered cordless machines (the latter are now said to represent almost 25% of the UK company’s turnover), Makita reports that it achieved an overall growth rate of nearly 30% during the year and, indeed, has averaged 12% growth year-on-year during the last decade. This success has been due in no small part to an emphasis placed by the company’s senior management on constant innovation, product development and trying to determine exactly what tools and features the various markets in the UK require. Vibration management system Makita
has
also
introduced
Toolminder,
a
system
designed
for
the
effective
management
of
several
Health
&
Safety
risks
in
the
workplace.
Originally
intended
for
the
measurement
of
vibration
exposure
only,
it
has
now
been
developed
further.
Working
alongside
Earlsmere,
a
specialist
provider
of
vibration
and
noise
monitoring
methods
and
information
solutions,
the
tool
manufacturer
has
devised
a
measuring
and
recording
system
that
not
only
informs
contractors,
employers,
operators
and
hire
companies
of
just
how
much
HAV
or
whole
body
vibration
each
user
has
been
subjected
In order to use Toolminder, a measuring tag is fitted to each machine, which then monitors each employee’s exposure. The information collected can be downloaded onto a PC, and reports can be produced in order to ensure each operator is working within permitted limits. Information tags can be produced in-house, or by Earlsmere, and these supply all essential information in an easily readable fashion for any employer or tool user. Toolminder does not make the problems of dust, noise and vibration disappear, but it does offer a way of helping to manage them. • T
01908
211678 Executive Hire News › Archives › May 2008 › Executive Report › Tooled up in Telford
|
