Surface World March 2019 SW_March_2019_LR | Page 54
PRE-TREATMENT, SURFACE PREPARATION, DEGREASING & CLEANING
Costs cut, increased productivity
and new orders for Swiftool with
MecWash industrial washing system
A need to radically improve
the component cleaning
capabilities at one of the
UK’s leading precision
engineering companies
has resulted in signifi cant
savings, reduced production
times and new orders,
thanks to a new MecWash
industrial parts washing
system.
Nottinghamshire-based Swiftool Precision
Engineering Ltd is an award-winning
sub-contract manufacturing business
boasting a range of blue-chip customers
in the aerospace, nuclear, marine and
petrochemical sectors, among others.
With demanding quality standards for its high
integrity precision machined components, it
found that an existing basic spray wash and
small ultrasonic bench washing system was
not as thorough as the exacting requirements
needed to meet increasing demands from
customers.
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standards that not only we expected, but that
our clients demanded,” said Andy Carnell,
Project Manager Manager at Swiftool.
“The system was dated and, more
importantly, unable to clean to the much
smaller micron levels expected nowadays
within the sectors we work in. Manufacturing
high volumes of precision machined
components in a range of materials also
meant we needed to increase production
time without losing quality.”
Working with the company, a MecWash
MWX400 system was tested and configured,
along with trials involving MecWash’s
in-house laboratory and chemist to ensure
the right wash chemicals were designed
and matched, before the system was
commissioned.
The MecWash MWX400 system provides
ultrasonic wash and rinse, flood wash
and rinse, mist rinse, spray wash and rinse,
hot air dry and vacuum dry. All providing
exacting washing and cleaning results.
Contaminants needing to be removed from
the manufactured components included neat
oil, coolant and metal swarf.
It turned to Tewksbury-based industrial parts
washing specialist MecWash for a solution. The MWX400 system was commissioned into
the manufacturing process and in addition
to significantly enhanced levels in cleanliness,
production was also increased as a direct
result.
“Quality is what Swiftool is all about. The
existing washing system was just not cleaning
well enough. We needed to surpass the “The MecWash system is far superior to what
we had. It has saved so much time. It’s a lot
quicker, more thorough and the results are
MARCH 2019
so much better,” added Mr Carnell.
Swiftool has one of the most safety critical
environments, with verification of the absence
of foreign debris and contaminated material
being critical.
It has its own clean room certified to
Rolls Royce SABRe standard.
Mr Carnell said the cycle times for cleaning
both at the end and during process have
been improved significantly and “this has
allowed us to reduce lead times and overall
costs thus attracting more business from
our customers.”
Alan Atkinson of MecWash said: “Swiftool
works with companies that have the highest
level of cleanliness requirements. We are
talking the size of particles having to be no
larger than 5 microns. It’s vital there are no
contaminants leaving the production process.
“Our systems provide the levels of cleanliness
for such exacting results. They are designed
to clean at much higher speeds with the
same results that mean production processes
can also increase without compromise.
This saves time and increases productivity
for our clients.
And that’s through our team working
with each customer to ensure the final
commissioned system is optimised for
their needs.”
Telephone: +44 (0) 1684 271600
Email: [email protected]
Visit: www.mecwash.co.uk
twitter: @surfaceworldmag