Just 10 years ago, Mollart’s Resolven operation in South Wales was a highly successful one, producing some 18,000 steering rack gears a week for TRW; a year later it was one of the many casualties of the vogue for global sourcing. This left managing director Guy Mollart with an industrial mortgage to pay on a facility with virtually no work; and because it was now surrounded by empty buildings, there was no chance of selling it.
He decided to re-establish Resolven as a sub-contract machining facility, knowing full well that this would not be easy in the prevailing financial and industrial climate. He also knew that he could either take the ‘normal’ sub-contract route of going after business and then selecting the most appropriate equipment or install the most flexible high-quality equipment to attract customers with specific requirements. He opted for the latter route, which would also include hiring and developing people with the necessary skills.
Today, Mollart Engineering’s Resolven facility employs 51 people and has a turnover of about £3.5 million; the plan is to reach £6 million by the end of the year and increase staff numbers to 80.
Furthermore, with AS9100 aerospace accreditation, there will be an increasing focus on the aerospace sector, along with medical, pharmaceutical and nuclear. The company will also be maintaining its emphasis on apprentice training; currently, 10% of Mollart Group’s staff are apprentices.
However, as Resolven director Wayne Thomas confirms, building the new venture up from almost nothing to the success it is today took commitment and a lot of hard work — plus the on-going support of Mollart’s Chessington headquarters, which manufactures deep-hole drilling machines, supplies associated specialist tooling and undertakes sub-contract deep-hole drilling and machining.
“I had just finished an apprenticeship at another company when I moved to Mollart’s newly opened Resolven factory in 1998.
This was started with backing from the Welsh Development Agency to provide one of the first ‘through the fence’ just-in-time sub-contract operations to supply power-steering components and assemblies to TRW’s adjacent factory. Prior to this, TRW had been shipping tonnes of product daily to Chessington for specialist machining; at its peak, Resolven had six sliding-head machines and eight three-spindle deep-hole drilling machines producing steering-rack components for TRW.
“Come 2004, we could see ‘the writing on the wall’. A manufacturer of electric steering racks had set up in an adjacent unit, and TRW’s quantities of hydraulic racks had dropped from 18,000 a week to just 9,000. These lower volumes were not commercially viable, and production was shipped abroad.
“Early in 2005, I was plant manager and had 26 people on 24hr working. Within three months, I had gone through the redundancy process and there were just four of us left to undertake the small amount of work that was non-automotive; we sold our automotive machines to TRW in China.”
Transfer of work
Fortunately, Mollart’s Chessington headquarters was very busy with work for the oil and gas sector, and it was able to transfer a mature product — along with a Mazak Integrex advanced turning centre and machine operator — to
Resolven. “The idea was to start from scratch and move into making low-volume high-margin products — the opposite of automotive. We aimed to build a business with what we had left, which was not a lot.”
With more machines and more products being transferred from Chessington, Mr Thomas bought a CMM with the support of a subsidy from the Welsh Assembly Government, and he could see the jigsaw starting to come together. Resolven had an advanced machining capability, which included five-axis working on the Integrex, machining work for Chessington — and spare capacity that needed filling. Mr Thomas also had the opportunity to take on five skilled engineers from an aircraft refurbishment business that was closing. He took the plunge.
“This was a financial gamble, but I knew it would be almost impossible to grow the business without the appropriate skills. We had the key elements in place, but we desperately needed work to fill the available capacity.
“We had previously established a good relationship with suppliers, and by networking with tooling companies and materials stockists, we started picking up leads and some low-margin work. Growth was slow up to 2008; and while we were still being supported by Chessington, we began the move to the next level when we started supplying work to a company manufacturing equipment used in the production of micro-chips.”
This company used to have its own machine shop, which it sold when there was a significant downturn in the business, opting instead to buy the machined parts required from a sub-contractor.
However, it could not get parts to the standard required. Mr Thomas and his team spent months discussing requirements and capabilities, as well as undertaking machining trials; and while the quality requirements were extreme, Resolven was soon producing components to the required specification.
“The machining aspect was just part of the requirement; it was evident that we would need to invest in additional equipment and processes if we were to develop a long-term working relationship with this potential customer — ultrasonic cleaning, orbital welding and helium leakage checking of weld integrity for starters.
"The semiconductor company could see that we had invested heavily and were keen to win long-term business, so much so that we were allowed to take on one of its key employees, Kevin Chamberlain, who brought the necessary skills and knowledge.
“We subsequently won a contract to make some sub-assemblies; our success with these allowed us to move on to making complex assemblies worth some £9,000 each. We were soon doing five a month, which made a significant contribution; and while we had picked up other contracts, the semiconductor work really snowballed — embarrassingly so, to the extent that we had to sub-contract some easier machining until we could install more capacity.”
Persistence and hard work
Mollart Resolven ended 2008 with five customers and three machines working two shifts. Come 2009, the company began making a very modest profit; it also won a contract from a medical company.
“We had been badgering this customer for some months before winning our first order for the manufacture and assembly of filtration units for cleaning equipment. We had specifically targeted this work because it required the use of the orbital welding and cleaning processes we had developed for our semiconductor work.”
It was the development of capabilities in complex machining, specialised welding and cleaning that saw steady growth through 2009 and into 2010, with both increasing volumes and an increase in the range of work.
“We even won a contract to make parts for parachute-packing machines, but we wouldn’t have even got into discussions with the parachute manufacturer without our investment in specialised welding equipment.”
By the end of 2010, Mollart Resolven had 14 staff and had installed a further three Mazak Integrex multi-tasking machines, two Haas machining centres, two Weiler long-bed CNC lathes and two CNC turning centres. The company had also taken on more work from Mollart in Chessington — hence the Weiler lathes — thereby allowing its parent to take on new work.
The period 2010-2011 was highly successful; and with parts getting larger, the company was outgrowing its inspection capabilities. This prompted the building of a new inspection department — together with a cleaning and packing facility — and the purchase of a new CMM with a 4m bed.
Mollart Resolven also expanded its ‘conventional’ fabricating capabilities to satisfy the increasing demand for welded assemblies, such as ‘landing platforms’ for stealth boats (these are dropped from aircraft and descend on parachutes, to sink once the boat they carry has been launched).
Complexity and cleanlinessSince 2012, Mollart Resolven’s investment in equipment and in raising its capabilities has been relentless. For example, in 2013 the company installed a ‘clean-room’ conforming to ISO 7 standards, which allows it to undertake medical work — both piece parts and assemblies — to Class 1000.
A recent project involved the manufacture of heart pumps for medical trials. All the parts for this diaphragm pump are ‘micro-machined’ from titanium; moreover, most are highly complex and require simultaneous five-axis machining.
All parts for the pump are polished to the highest possible level (there must not be any ‘entrapments’) and assembled in the ‘clean-room’. The pumps are powered externally.
Last year, Mollart Engineering won a re-shoring contract to bring work back from China. This was for the manufacture and ‘clean-room’ assembly of X-ray heads for a metrology company.
Each head comprises some 45 machined parts, many produced to exceptionally tight tolerances, as well as electronic components.
Mr Thomas says: “This project was a milestone for us due to its complexity; and significant in the customer’s decision to appoint us was its in-depth assessment of our facilities and capabilities. It was impressed with the levels of quality we achieve — plus our track record in meeting delivery schedules.”
At the heart of the X-ray head is an aluminium housing that requires five-axis machining to achieve the required tolerances for size and geometry.
These parts are machined on a Mazak VTC-800/30 SR travelling-column machining centre. Representing an investment of some £400,000, this machine was initially bought to machine chambers for a semiconductor customer (these chambers form the ‘heart’ of this customer’s machines).
At its peak, the production of X-ray heads comprised some 25% of Mollart Engineering’s turnover, although this percentage has dropped as work for the semiconductor business has continued to grow. “This was a rather uneasy situation, as we don’t want to be too reliant on any one customer; a maximum of 20% of turnover is our aim.”
Another recent — and challenging — project completed by the company was a batch of kits comprising seven machined components for the marine defence industry in France.
Two of the key parts — a complex thin-wall housing and a mounting plate (see picture on opposite page) — were machined from billets of 6082 aluminium on Mollart’s Mazak Integrex machines; the cycle times were 3 and 2.5hr respectively.
“Considerable development work was required to produce these prototype parts, and this necessitated close co-operation with the customer. However, the flexibility of our Integrex machines is such that we were able to incorporate changes as the customer progressed with its development programme.
"The housing involved removing more than 90% of the original billet and achieving tolerances of 0.02mm on certain dimensions, 0.05mm TIR on concentricity and surface finishes of 0.4Ra.”
Building for the future
Talking of the future, Mr Thomas says that while contracts can be won, machines bought and factories extended (a 9,000ft2 extension has just been completed to accommodate future expansion), these would be somewhat meaningless if skilled staff are not available.
Hence Mollart Engineering’s focus on apprentices. There are now 12 apprentices at Resolven and four at Chessington; moreover, three of those training at Resolven are from other engineering companies in the area.
“We have built and developed what we consider to be ideal training facilities, so it makes sense to utilise them to the full — and benefit industry as a whole.
Currently, four of the apprentices are in their third year, three in their second year and five in their first year; two of these apprentices are training in electro-mechanical work so that they can undertake electrical sub-assembly work and panel build for coolant systems.
"The apprentices have their own training room with CAD/CAM systems; they also have their own area in the machine shop, along with CNC mills and lathes. We have even bought them a Mazak Nexus lathe with driven tooling, to enhance their skills in single-hit machining that combines turning and milling. We also have a dedicated apprentice trainer; and while we currently have only one female apprentice, who currently works in inspection, we are looking to recruit more.”
Apprentices spend one day a week at college and four at work. For those undertaking machining, the first six months are devoted to disciplines that include health and safety, programming, machine setting and tooling. After six months they will be programming and machining real components and contributing to the business.
“We have an extremely well structured and disciplined training programme; and because we monitor our apprentices’ progress extremely closely, we know immediately if there are any disciplines that an individual needs additional help with.”
Coolant systems for Mollart’s deep-hole drilling machines
Mollart Resolven’s welding and fabrication capabilities meant that it had the opportunity in 2013 to manufacture coolant/filtration units for the deep-hole drilling machines that Mollart builds at Chessington (the manufacture of these coolant units had previously been sub-contracted). The first unit was a resounding success and saved the company some 50%; and with a need to produce at least 20 units a year, the company needed a bigger manufacturing unit within six months.
Mollart Resolven managed to acquire a three-year lease on an adjacent 10,000ft2 factory unit. The company also took on two designers and another two welders; and to keep as much work as possible in-house, it bought a plasma cutter and is currently looking at buying a press brake and a powder coating line.
Furthermore, the company has developed — and is in series production with — its own high-pressure programmable coolant unit — HiCool — which can be retrofitted to any machining centre to give 70-bar coolant pressure for deep-hole drilling operations.
With its design and fabricating capabilities, Mollart Engineering is also producing engineered coolant systems to customer specification.