Bedford-based
Midas Pattern Company, a polyurethane moulding specialist, has taken delivery of a large Haas CNC machining centre which can machine parts up to 3 x 1 x 0.7m.
Midas managing director Alan Rance said: “This latest investment will add valuable capacity to our company, helping us react faster and push boundaries on scale and complexity within our niche manufacturing process. We feel proud to be one of only a handful of companies in the South of England able to invest in such an enormous machine, especially in current times.”
Midas are best known for producing very large polyurethane enclosures and housings (up to 3m in size) using the Reaction Injection Moulding (RIM) process for the scientific and medical sectors.
Trading for over 30 years and currently employing 75 people, the company has continued to operate throughout the pandemic to support its customer base.
Classed as a critical supplier, Midas joined many other UK manufacturing companies in keeping production running to protect the NHS and support the production of ventilators, laboratory test equipment, and instruments needed in the development of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Although the company exports mouldings as far afield as the USA, Singapore and China, most of its customers are based in the Oxford and Cambridge innovation arc.
Weighing over 15 tonnes and occupying over 7.2 x 2.2m of factory floor space, the new machine is one of the largest computer-controlled milling machines supplied by Norwich-based
Haas Automation Ltd.
In order to secure safe passage of the machine into its new location, the team at Midas spent many hours planning the logistics which ultimately included moving four large shipping containers, numerous skips and existing machinery in order to manoeuvre the machine into its final destination — a huge crane was required to lift and swing the machine into place.