NC ENGINEERING INSTALLS THE 1,000TH CITIZEN IN THE UK AT COLBREE PRECISION

The 1,000th Citizen CNC sliding head turn/mill centre installed in the UK has been commissioned by NC Engineering of Watford at Pitstone, Leighton Buzzard, the new 18,000 ft2 home of precision subcontractor Colbree Precision, part of the Colbree Engineering Group.

The machine, a top of the range Citizen M32-V, was part of a package of three machines worth £500,000 ordered by the company from NC Engineering to replace existing Citizen machines damaged in the destruction of its factory following the Buncefield fuel terminal explosion at Hemel Hempstead on 11 December 2005.

Such was the extent of the blast damage - Colbree Precision was sited 150 m from the perimeter fence of the fuel terminal - that while the Citizens were moved from their floor mountings, the main building frame of the factory was twisted, the roof lifted off, concrete brick party walls were breached, and all ceilings, windows and partition walls were scattered around the building.

The two Citizen M32-Vs and one L20-VIII machines were the first of all the replacement machines to be installed at Colbree Precision’s new premises. Says Geoff Bryant, managing director of NC Engineering: “We were expecting to hit our 1,000th machine installation milestone around the MACH exhibition but an increase in orders, towards the end of 2005 and early this year which included Colbree Precision, meant plans were brought forward. So we were naturally pleased when the Colbree Precision crate was opened to show the Citizen note of congratulations on the M32. After the problems the company faced in the aftermath of the explosion, we feel it’s a fitting tribute to the whole team.”

Indeed, Colbree Precision’s 40-strong workforce under technical director Steven Bree and General Manager Rob Clark demonstrated their total commitment to the business, and with the new facility now sited some 13 miles away from Buncefield, the workforce and customer base remains fully intact. Says Steve Bree: “It was really the spirit of the London Blitz relived. We managed to retrieve our server so all data was unaffected and by 9.30 on 14 December we had temporary office accommodation up and running at local premises in nearby Apsley. I could not believe the help we had even from competitors, as well as customers and equipment suppliers. And I’d like to pay tribute to the workforce who volunteered to work 24 hour shifts throughout their Christmas holidays to keep us on track.”

Within a week, subcontracting competitor DW Precision Engineering of Wembley had put on a nightshift so Colbree could use its machines and a team of Colbree employees were based there to set machines and run production.

“ At Emerald Engineering of Hitchin,” continues Steve Bree, “a Citizen M32 was dedicated to us and two of our setters set and ran the machine and we were able to reschedule our work around Emerald’s production. Emerald also put on a nightshift for us and initiated weekend working to help.”

“ Schroff (UK) of Hemel Hempstead, that is one of our customers, let us put a small team in for six weeks to use its Trumpf machines for our sheetmetal production, and we were also able to set up production in the Trumpf showroom at Luton between customer demonstrations,” he says.

Rob Clark adds: “Although there was the possibility, but not a guarantee, of spending £1.5 million on new equipment, most suppliers rallied around to help. NC Engineering loaned us a Citizen L20 VIII from its showroom and forward ordered the three new machines against a verbal request from us. In fact, these were the first machines up and running in the new factory.”

He then followed on to describe how customers were very supportive and did everything they could to help. “Orders were rescheduled, they gave us the OK to outsource supply when needed and they took completed parts early; including parts we were able to salvage from the blast and that met their quality specifications,” he says.

Within days, Colbree was able to set up production (of sorts) in two farmyard barns and was able to start assembly work from machinery recovered from the wreckage.

On 14 December, Colbree found its new premises at Pitstone, best described as an empty shell and as Steve Bree reflects: “Everything was happening so fast it was a blur. We moved in on 22 January even before contracts were exchanged and started fitting out, installing power, gas and water, and arranging for machines to be installed. The NC Engineering team installed and commissioned the Citizen machines during a very cold spell.” He says: “It was so cold, we spent over £500 in two months on gas for blow heaters.”

Now almost back on an even keel, Colbree Precision is operating two shifts 7-4 pm and 9-7 am with selected unmanned running depending on the components. There were eight machines at the previous site; there are now six. “But productivity is far greater due to the latest developments on these models and in particular the ability to use single cycle operations has made such a difference to our business,” says Steve Bree.

And as Rob Clark describes: “Many of our parts are very complex and are produced in batches of just one-off up to one million for customers in the aerospace, Ministry of Defence, medical, oil and telecoms sectors. The variety of materials covers plastics to nimonics, inconel, tungsten and stainless steels which demand high levels of machining and tooling knowledge.”

Colbree’s ability to keep its workforce and their skills intact following such a disaster is proving to be a very valuable asset and is now generating more work from existing customers while other clients are using Colbree to manage their stock against minimum/maximum levels. Says Rob Clark: “As we have reinvested in top of the range equipment, we can deliver on time and to the quality levels demanded. On smaller batches, say up to 5,000 or 10,000 we are finding we are very competitive against the likes of China and Eastern Europe without the problems of shipping or long forward orders. This is now bringing work to us that would have been shipped overseas.”

Colbree Precision was originally set up in March 1985 as a sheet metal contract shop. The company progressively developed to include turning, milling and detailed presswork and assembly as well as complete project management. In 1988, CNC technology was installed and in 1997 company-wide computerisation for production management was set up.

In recent years, Supplier of the Year awards have been won from several of the UK’s leading manufacturers that Colbree supply and, as proof of the commitment, these customers were more than willing to help when the problems of 11 December erupted.