Delta Rubber brings gasket-cutting in house as business continues to grow

Delta Rubber has purchased a new cutting machine in order to bring gasket manufacturing in-house – a move described as “a natural development of the business and key to future development.”

Founded in Dorset in 2008, Delta Rubber has steadily expanded into a £1million-turnover company with expansive premises and seven employees.

As a specialist in producing parts for industrial sealing purposes, the business has customers in a vast range of industries including marine, automotive, construction, electronics and renewable energy – making parts for products ranging from bird tables to supercars.

“A key part of our success is that we know exactly what we're doing: the whole team has the technical knowledge to understand customers' problems," said Jon Fisher, Director, Delta Rubber. “A large part of what we do is problem-solving.”

Formerly, Delta Rubber was outsourcing most of the production of rubber gaskets, a core part of its product line, to a local company with a digital cutting table. Digital cutting technology is markedly more versatile than traditional gasket cutting presses, as it enables prototypes to be made quickly and easily, whether the client requires one, 50, or more, in a range of sizes. Additionally, the table's tooling can be changed easily to accommodate new materials.

However, Delta Rubber was spending “significant sums of money” on outsourcing the work, Fisher explained. Bringing the work in-house also increases the speed of turnaround: “These days the pressure of industry means everyone wants their work the same day. We decided to invest in our own equipment to increase that speed of response.”

The company approached precision cutting systems supplier, Zünd UK, and purchased a reconditioned ex-demo model Zünd S3 M800.

It was installed at Delta Rubber in September and “is going extremely well”, said Fisher, adding that “its precision is very impressive”. Currently, it is being used for making mould-gaskets for wind turbine blades.

The Zünd S3 cutting table has a modular design to allow for changes to its size and function to be made at any time. It can reportedly process a wide variety of materials up to 25mm thick, is fast, compact and low-maintenance, and offers superior performance at the highest safety levels.

“The Zünd S3 is an ideal machine for a business like Delta Rubber that caters for such a wide range of customers and industries," said Peter Giddings, Sales Director, Zünd Plotting Systems (UK) Ltd. "It is simple to run, maintain and update and we expect Delta Rubber to see an increase in production speeds too.”

Fisher concluded stating that the new Zünd S3 is “paying for itself” as the business continues to grow. He added:  “Bringing gasket-making in-house is a natural development of the business and key to future development.

“We may well look at other markets in the future and possibly invest in a larger Zünd machine.”

Videos showing Delta Rubber's Zünd S3 in action can be found on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7R1YkMjBDDhukk6XNCStRw