Case study: Wittmann Battenfeld UK lends its expertise to P&D Manufacturing
P&D Manufacturing Ltd’s ethos is well-known in the UK plastics industry as being all about progress. The company – part of the Avon Group – moved into its world class manufacturing facility in Calne, Wiltshire, five years ago and has continued to invest in top-of-the-range equipment, as well as in its people.
Troy Roberts, who has been with the company for over 25 years, has recently been promoted to Operations Director for the site and now leads the manufacturing team. Troy began his career on the shop floor, working his way up by developing a formidable knowledge of injection moulding and materials along the way, together with a detailed technical understanding. All of which has helped forge the P&D Manufacturing brand.
Troy continues to build relationships with suppliers, such as Wittmann Battenfeld, with whom the company has been working for over 20 years.The Calne site celebrated its very first month of business with the successful commissioning of its first Wittmann Battenfeld SmartPower Injection Moulding Machine (IMM).
At that tim,e the new SmartPower 350-based production cell – using hot and cold runner technology – joined a P&D fleet of many other Wittmann and Wittmann Battenfeld moulding machines. This installation was then shortlisted as a finalist for the prestigious Plastics Industry Awards.
Wittmann Battenfeld UK sales engineer Adrian Walters said: “Given the history and the understanding between our two companies, it was a relatively easy decision to this year help P&D replace an ageing machine that had served them well. The solution and the upgrade came in the form of our Wittmann SmartPower35. This injection moulding machine has a much smaller footprint, a larger platen area, and – in keeping with our manufacturing mission – uses a fraction of the previous machine’s energy to run at full capacity.”
The current year sees P&D capitalising on and expanding its mix of manufacturing services. Victoria Curtis joined the company in May 2022 as Business Development Manager and has since been busy meeting customers, bringing many into the factory to see the manufacturing practice in operation and to meet the rest of the P&D team.P&D now runs a total of 22 injection moulding machines, ranging from 22T – 400T locking force and arranged on a shop floor of over 2,500 square metres.
One outstanding feature on the factory tour is P&D’s 250 square metres of dedicated mezzanine space that sits above the main production area. This area is home to the Wittmann materials handling system – made bespoke for P&D and which deploying a fleet of Wittmann Aton dryers and ancillary equipment to keep the shop floor below running smoothly.P&D operates its own in-house tool-room, offering all facets of prototype, soft and hard tooling from design to production and delivery. The company’s manufacturing services also include nylon extrusion; laser, spin, friction, and ultrasonic welding, together with insert moulding, over-moulding, and multi-component assembly.
The company is accredited to IATF16949 / ISO 9001 / ISO14001 Standards and Level 3 PPAP submissions performed for all customers.