North Somerset-based
Crown Manufacturing, established in the late 1990s, has evolved into a true manufacturing success story, overcoming adversity to become a business operating out of two sites and employing over 60 people. Furthermore, Coventry-based
Bystronic UK Ltd has been a supplier of choice for Crown Manufacturing almost since the beginning, supplying the sub-contractor with a variety of high-end machines to propel the company forwards.
As a leading provider of high-quality sheet metal and general metal fabrication products and services, the journey for the Weston-super-Mare manufacturer started when an engineer took a passion for Italian Lambretta scooters and took it to a multi-million-pound company. Crown Manufacturing then evolved from the production of scooter components to ‘fit outs’ for the retail industry.
Paul Read from Crown Manufacturing said: “We started out manufacturing Lambretta parts, which was a hobby and passion of our managing director Dean Harvey and it evolved into a business. Now, we manufacture for the retail industry, producing all the fixtures and fittings that are going into a store. We design and produce everything that is hung on a wall and on the mid-floor. Processing sheet metal work that is flat, we have to laser cut, fold and bend it. In some instances, parts move from folding to our welding area for fabrication work or our paint shop for finishing and subsequent assembly. Ultimately, we start with flat metal sheets and finish with a complete assembly or product.”
As the Somerset manufacturer has evolved, so has the skill set and services. The company now offers everything from design engineering to tube and flatbed laser, folding and forming, fabrication and welding, painting and powder coating, as well as joinery and panel work. To arrive at a point where the company can provide a complete solution without reliance on sub-contract vendors, Crown Manufacturing has invested heavily in both its staff and technology. Mr Read continued: “Over the years we have invested to try and bring all the services in-house.”
The ongoing investment strategy has seen Crown Manufacturing invest in fibre-laser cutting for both sheet and tube materials as well as investment in bending and forming equipment.
“Another passion of our business is the Ford Willys Jeep, and we now have a website (
www.joesmotorpool.com) that is all about the refurbishment and restoration of Ford Willys Jeeps. We produce all of the panel work, to full restoration bodies and full restoration Jeeps — from each part to the complete Jeep.”
A disaster struck the business in 2018 when a fire caught hold of the paint department, creating catastrophic damage to the business. Recalling this, Mr Read said: “On the day before my birthday in September, we had a disaster that would ruin most companies. We had a fire, a malfunction in our paint shop. One of the benefits of having great relationships with our customers was that they knew we were committed to them as a manufacturer.
“So, even with the disaster of the fire and having to reduce our staff after losing 50% of our factory — they could see that we were determined to deliver on our promises. The commitment of our customers to us was paralleled by our commitment to them. Now, with the support of our customers and suppliers, we have not only got back to where we were, we have exceeded it.”
One thing that the fire did provide, was an opportunity to review processes, workflow and production equipment. Mr Read continued: “The fire made us realise that we could work smarter with the people and suppliers that we have. Now, we have our in-house development teams with software and apps that make all the processes across the whole business run more smoothly.”
Turning to the enduring relationship with Bystronic, Mr Read said: “Sheet metalwork was always historically done in the 2-D world because it comes in flat, and we form it. By bringing this into the 3-D world, we have evolved nicely and the fire was the catalyst that brought that to light along with the new machines that we have invested in since that period — as 3-D now exists on the machines as well. We can now create 3-D models and send them through to the machines. The transfer straight from PC to machine is now a reality and something that Bystronic has supported us with.”
Since the fire, Crown Manufacturing has invested in three machines from Bystronic, and the plant list now includes an Xpert Pro 100-tonne 3m fibre laser with automation that can load up to six tonnes of steel, a 3 x Xact Smart 100-tonne 3m and an Xpert 40. This high-end plant list is complemented by CAD/CAM systems such as Autodesk Inventor; Radan, Alphacam and Bystronic’s Bysoft suite that enables Crown to seamlessly take customers through from concept and design to finished product.
The most recent acquisition that arrived in 2022 was a Bystronic ByTube 130. This machine features a fully automatic set up, bundle loading, six-axis control and high-speed and precision cutting that allows Crown Manufacturing to take on and efficiently complete high-quantity orders to a very high standard.
Mr Read said: “The tube laser takes away the dependency upon a third-party supplier that we did end up struggling with. Integrating the ByTube 130 into Crown’s arsenal of machinery has been revolutionary, as it removes bottlenecks in the manufacturing process by allowing us to schedule and prioritise tube laser work in-line with due dates and urgency.”
Mr Read concluded: “The passion for Lambretta scooters is what really started Crown Manufacturing. Our business grew from that to producing for the retail industry — and as much as the fire was a disaster, we bounced out of that to create far more productivity from being better organised. Having a new factory layout will help us to move onto the next level.”