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Gauging STT's Success

Specialist Tooling Technologies LLP has been in existence as the toolroom within The Pickersgill-Kaye Group since the 1960s, and was eventually established as a sister company within Pickersgill-Kaye in 1988.

Specialist Tooling Technologies run by engineers who understand and appreciate the problems encountered by engineering manufacturers. The company achieved ISO 9000 accreditation in 1993 and operates as a provider of cost-effective measurement and manufacturing solutions to high volume manufacturers within the engineering industry, including many blue chip companies.

STT has succeeded in expanding its customer base, increasing its profitability and has invested in new equipment and technology.

To further capitalise on its success, the partners have decided to move the company to, higher quality premises in Sterling Industrial Park, Glasshoughton, Castleford.

Partner Peter Lee says “The imminent move to new premises will give us a higher specification building with room for expansion and help us to further invest in new equipment and increase our manufacturing efficiency, which in turn, will enable us to give our customers more value for their money”

Specialist Toolings' line of business is, unsurprisingly, as a specialist toolmaker, with the company carrying out the design and manufacture of production tooling, gauges, electronic gauges, automatic gauges, multi-point gauging systems, hydraulic and manual work holding systems, laser measurement and optical recognition (OCR) systems, camera systems and also special purpose machines.

STT have supplied tooling and gauging solutions for a wide variety of industry sectors such as;-turbine and compressor blade gauging for aerospace, hydraulic workholding fixtures for automotive, aerosol gauges for the packaging industry and acceptance gauges for medical implant companies, delivering bespoke design solutions to companies across the UK, as well as exporting to Switzerland and the United States.

The gauging side of the company designs and manufactures manual and automatic specialist inspection and measurement equipment, including acceptance gauges, electronic multi-point gauges for machined, cast and forged turbine and compressor blades, vision and OCR systems and laser measurement systems to provide fast accurate testing of components at every stage of a clients manufacturing process. Some of these are designed as intrinsically safe measurement systems for use in hazardous areas. And has recently added datalogging software to its' portfolio.

The company’s workholding equipment includes high performance manual, hydraulic and pneumatic fixtures, for such as Chiron, Bridgeport, Heller, Yamazaki, Deckel, Haas, Machining centres, as well as Poke Yoke fixtures, which are designed to increase the productivity, accuracy and quality of its customers manufacturing processes.

The ability to apply its expertise to a wide range of projects is further demonstrated by STT through the design of special purpose machines. These can be either PLC or manually controlled products tailored to almost any assembly, machining or inspection application, either designed and manufactured to a customer’s specifications or Specialist Tooling is more than happy to assess a customers needs and propose a solution to a specific problem.

The depth of the companies experience and expertise enables STT to provide a one-stop resource centre, embracing everything from concept to completion and on to after sales support, as well as design engineering, manufacturing, technical and project management skills, backed up by a supportive customer service policy.

And in addition to its design and manufacture service, Specialist Tooling Technologies also provide a full and comprehensive range of support services, including:
- Advice and applications consultancy
- Design and development
- Project management
- Installation and commissioning
- Training
- Full CE marking and documentation
- Parts and spares
- Upgrades and enhancements
- Service and maintenance contracts

Following the company changes Specialist Tooling has been able to move into new marketplaces, Peter explains: “The main markets we have been actively developing in addition to the aerospace sector are the medical and aerosol sectors, and so far it’s going very well.

“But we’re always looking to expand our customer base further, and there are some interesting opportunities coming up in the export market. At the moment, it’s a case of waiting and seeing what happens, but there is certainly a great deal to look forward to in the near future.”

As you’d expect from a company so reliant of technology, Specialist Tooling has an excellent website which has recently been updated to enable customers to place enquires online, as well as giving potential clients the opportunity to view examples of the company’s expertise.

And alongside this, the Sp[ecialist Tooling design team have developed some exciting new software packages, which have already attracted a lot of attention in the industry. Peter says: “We have introduced a new range of inspection and data logging software which can either function with our electronic gauging systems or can be added to customers existing equipment. The simplicity of the software has created a lot of interest.”

This move into the development of data logging software is a new departure for Specialist Tooling. The company’s core product is called Easy-Log, a simple to use and cost effective system, used to record readings from measuring equipment. It has an additional statistical package which can be added as an up-grade if required, providing users with several levels of data capture that is easily learnt, easily set-up and easily used.

The Clear Count Production Monitoring System is another software system developed by STT, which enables companies to monitor machine efficiency, down-time, up-time, production counts and cycle time. It provides customers with an easy-to-use, centralized production monitoring system, installed to suit their particular process. Data is displayed in easy to read format and updated on a real time basis. Output reports can be produced either manually or automatically by production run, batch number, part number, time or date, operator or shift. On-line support via modem link is also available for updates and maintenance, and the system can be networked or linked to the customer’s existing network.

Peter continues: “This is an exciting new development for the company, and all the feedback we’ve had suggests we’ve got an excellent product on our hands in Easy-Log. As the product becomes more widely available I am sure industry in general will soon realise its potential, and from there interest will grow. It bodes well for the future, and we’re already looking at developing other software applications.”

Because of the unique and specialised nature of the products, Specialist Tooling designs and manufactures, it almost goes without saying that the workforce at the company are all highly skilled craftsmen, who manufacture STT products to a high quality standard. Their skills have been complemented by the acquisition of two new CNC machining centres and a sophisticated offline programming system, which has significantly improved Specialist Toolings’ efficiency and productivity.

Peter says: “This investment demonstrates STT's commitment to continually improving and increasing our capabilities, to provide our customers with more cost effective solutions for any project, no matter how complex.”

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Specialist Tooling Technologies Ltd
Unit 17, Sterling Industrial Park, Carr Wood Road,
Glasshoughton, Castleford, WF10 4PS, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1977 511799   Fax: +44 (0)1977 511771 or (click here to find us)

Email: sales@spectooling.com

Carefully crafted by Ian Traynor of Business Link for West Yorkshire