FOCUS ON METALFORMING
Watson Gym Equipment designs and manufactures every component in-house at its Frome factory in the UK .
Watson Pro Barbells .
gyms and offer them the equipment for free for a week with an option to buy .”
While the first few years of operation were challenging , Simon soon identified a gap in the market for producing high-end specialist equipment , made bespoke to a customer ’ s requirements . This proved to be a pivotal turning point . As the company evolved , Simon ( who still designs all the products himself ) began to introduce more product lines into the Watson Gym portfolio . However , this approach was not without its own growing pains .
Simon continued : “ Our biggest challenge is the sheer diversity of our portfolio . We manufacture over 250 different products , many of which are available in different variations . To cater for this high-mix , lowvolume approach , we initially subcontracted a lot of the machining to third parties . However , retaining control of our inventory became increasingly difficult so we decided to bring all the machining in-house .”
The company ’ s first machine tool was a Mazak 250 QUICK TURN NEXUS 250-II MS turning centre , followed by a Mazak VCN-530C vertical machining centre , purchased in 2010 , which was used to machine weight stack plates and stems . It then invested in another QUICK TURN centre . However , it was not long before the VCN-530C was operating at maximum capacity , so Simon Watson invested in a further Mazak lathe with a larger second spindle .
“ What really struck me when I was doing my research was Mazak ’ s DONE-IN-ONE philosophy , where components come off the machine as a finished product . Knowing we had to rapidly change between components really appealed to me ,” outlined Simon Watson .
A strong commitment to customer service was also another key factor in Simon choosing to partner with Mazak : “ I have always placed great emphasis on customer service . It is critical to the success of my own business , so
The UK company , which was set up in rural Somerset in 1999 , has evolved to become one of the most well-known brands in the personal fitness industry
I expect the same attention to detail from my suppliers . It was very reassuring to know that Mazak had a lot of engineers on the road who could respond quickly ,” he said .
Tube laser-cutting operations
While the company was growing from strength to strength , fuelled by a burgeoning in-house machine shop , its rural location soon presented Simon with a scenario familiar to many OEMs : a shortage of skilled engineers . However , he was once more able to turn to technology to overcome this challenge .
Watson Gym Equipment invested in its first Mazak machine tool in 2010 , which was subsequently integrated with a robotic machine-tending solution to improve productivity .
He continued : “ We knew how many plates we could produce running three shifts with three people loading the machine . We gave that information to Mazak , and they came back with an automated machine-tending solution for our VCN . That meant we could produce twice as many weight plates within a 24-hour period , with the labour cost virtually taken out of it .”
However , Simon ’ s commitment to continuous production improvement led him to see another even bigger opportunity . “ I could see expensive , skilled welders doing quite menial tasks and I just thought there must be a better way ,” he said .
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