A long-established manufacturer of carbon-fibre ‘pre-preg’ components for Formula One and motor-sport teams, Oxfordshire-based Brick Kiln Composites makes many of the parts used by several leaders in these fields, with components ranging from electrical trays to aerodynamic aids that direct air past the vehicle.

The company currently produces thousands of different components a year using three autoclaves, a pair of five-axis Haas machining centres and a Bridgeport three-axis machine — plus a Hexagon CMM that is used for final dimensional checking of machined bores and surfaces.

General manager Ronnie Dean says: “Generally, we take a pattern and manufacture a mould tool from it. We then mould the components and cure them in the autoclaves; afterwards, they are machined, trimmed and assembled.

“The uncured ‘pre-preg’ carbon fibre is regarded as perfect for the motor-sport industry’s lightweight components; it is easy to handle and can be cut and laid precisely into moulds, making it ideal for the complex parts that are becoming increasingly more widespread in this industry.

"Moreover, the ease and accuracy with which the material can be ‘templated’ and cut significantly reduce waste, compared to other manufacturing methods.”

While Brick Kiln recently delivered around 600 components in eight weeks, it rarely produces batches of more than five — and lead times are particularly demanding.

Mr Dean says: “We can schedule a component for our weekend shift because the client said it was wanted by Tuesday, but they may come to us on Thursday and say they need it by Saturday morning.”

The company is using the Javelin production control system from Vero Software (www.javelin-mrp.com) to provide full traceability, a snapshot of the business and automatic error-free invoicing.

“Our Javelin journey begins after a quote has been accepted, with the Sales Order module — linked to Crystal Reports — giving me a snapshot of what the business is doing at any one time. Sales Order controls the progress of work through the entire process, with a full set of monitoring and tracking routines ensuring complete visibility of work in progress.

"This gives full traceability on who manufactured what and what materials were used. We have the complete material history; everything about every component is on the Javelin database, so we can go back and look at the date of manufacture, how it was manufactured, and what material went into it.”

When deliveries are booked into the stores, batch numbers of all certified material (such as their ‘pre-preg’ sheets) are recorded in the Goods Received Note module through the Materials Control function.

Meanwhile, Shop Floor Data Capture (SFDC) terminals operate in five areas — the clean room, inspection, trim shop, machine shop and kit-cutting room. “This is extremely important to our traceability.

"We make a number of Class A components, so we need to know who made them and when. As soon as we need to find something, we can trace it extremely quickly with Javelin.”

Another big advantage for Brick Kiln is the ease with which Javelin raises invoices and delivery notices. “Invoices are sent from the group’s head office in Wantage.

"These used to be typed out by hand; now they are generated automatically in Javelin, which means that invoices are error-free and the operation is much faster.

It is impossible to get an invoice or delivery note wrong; and if a customer queries a delivery, we can supply information showing exactly when they accepted it.”

In conclusion, Mr Dean says the efficiencies made by Javelin’s financial functionality are just as important to his role as general manager as the SFDC is to the manufacturing side.

“I can ensure that we are meeting targets, and I also have financial control — by knowing what we’re invoicing now compared to previous years, what orders are outstanding, and their values.

"I have full confidence that we’re delivering what we say we will, on time, and invoicing correctly for it.”