Are you concerned about the practicalities of re-opening or continuing to trade safely after lockdown? If you’re feeling bewildered about the dates, the regulations, and the potential impact that everything will have on your business, you’re not alone.

Like most people in the UK, we breathed a sigh of relief last week. Although most restrictions are still in place, the atmosphere has changed. Businesses are becoming more optimistic and forward-looking, and are springing into action again across the country. It’s great to see. 

During a tough time for many businesses – ourselves included – it’s often the little things that help us see the bigger picture and sustain our optimism about the future.

Some of you may recall the new Pinacho STH 400 flatbed CNC lathe we announced on our blog back at the end of January? (Just three months past but it seems so much longer ago now!)

Well, the good news is we have recently had the brand-new Pinacho installed and calibrated at our workshop by the T W Ward CNC team. Despite us expecting delays due to the lockdown, the STH 400 Horizontal Turning Centre was delivered on schedule and assembled on site while maintaining full social distancing practices! It’s a great achievement for the T W Ward CNC team and we are extremely proud of our new investment.

There are some occasions in life when you need absolute confidence in the equipment around you. Whether you’re boarding an aircraft for a sunshine destination or being wheeled into an operating theatre in hospital, the equipment you rely on needs to be nothing short of excellent in every respect. In the aerospace industry, tubes, which are generally used in airframes, engines and instrumentation, must be sturdy yet light and able to withstand the most challenging of conditions. In medicine, tubes must offer the utmost reliability, ready to support the most complex of medical procedures without causing additional risks to patient safety.

Trepanning is a machining technique for drilling large diameter holes in materials, particularly where there is a requirement to retain the solid core or when tolerances are not particularly tied up.

Outsourcing – already a familiar concept in IT and payroll – became a popular option in manufacturing following the 2008/9 recession, and the trend has persisted since, with many engineering companies recognising that outsourcing can bridge the skills gap as well as keeping costs low, improving turnaround times and boosting profit margins.

Honing is the precision machining process in which a very fine surface on a workpiece is produced using an abrasive tool. High quality honing of hydraulic cylinders is essential, as the effective operation of the pistons depends on the cylinder having a very fine surface finish, which can also prevent premature wear of moving components. Honing also creates a secure seal around a hydraulic cylinder, providing extended life and preventing costly leaks.

Many of us take a mental inventory of the year just gone as we count down the minutes to the New Year, and at Hone All we are lucky to have had numerous favourite moments to choose from last year.

We are very much looking forward to our first major event of 2020 – the Make UK National Manufacturing Conference on 25th February.

Make UK: The Manufacturer’s Organisation, is the country’s leading professional group for manufacturers and their supply chain partners. The National Conference brings together thought leaders, policymakers and industry representatives for a day of seminars, networking opportunities, talks and training events.

Shortly before Christmas, we were delighted to be awarded the Best Sub Contract Machining Award, as part of SME News Magazine’s 2019 Energy & Power Awards.