Pictured (from the left) Robert Phillpotts (sheet metal operator), Adam Heath (operations director), Cavin Green (design engineer), and Johan Persson (CIDAN technician)

Malvern Boilers Ltd is a successful manufacturer and developer of heating products, including commercial water heaters, boilers, domestic pool heaters, Micro-CHP appliances and ground-source heat pump sets — to name but a few.

For more than 30 years, the Malvern-based company has also successfully worked with both start-ups and existing OEM companies that want to outsource their manufacturing requirements, offering the ability to manufacture, assemble and test prototypes, field trial appliances or pre-production models — and organise the necessary approvals testing and certifications.

Malvern Boilers can also optimise designs for manufacture and build initial production volumes for customers eventually looking for mass production.

Adam Heath, the company’s operations director, said: “It is important for us to constantly upgrade our machinery and keep up with manufacturing developments. When we were looking to replace an older folding machine with a new one, a detailed search and selection process resulted in us ordering a CIDAN FX26 PLUS, based on the machine’s balance of simplicity and accuracy — plus the ease of tool changing offered by its COMBI beam. Our short-series production requires many tool changes and numerous tooling adjustments, so savings in these areas have a significant impact on production efficiency.

“The machine also offers a little extra in several areas, being very flexible in its application and featuring multiple points of adjustment. Moreover, the software is easy to use regarding both programming and operation, and we can accommodate future production and design requirements.”

In addition to the COMBI upper beam, the machine is also equipped with an L-shaped back gauge that can be positioned up to 3,300mm; and because of the way the machine folds, the operator does not have to follow the sheet during bending, enabling large sheets to be handled with just one operator.

Malvern Boiler’s FX26 from CIDAN Machinery UK Ltd (
cidanmachinery.com) also has the PLUS option, which automatically gives the best possible bending results regardless of material and thickness.

The machine has a maximum bending length of 2,600mm and maximum material thicknesses of 2.5mm (mild steel), 1.6mm (stainless steel) and 3.7mm (aluminium). Control is via the ProLink W CNC system.