The upgrade of the workshop in Hemel Hempstead has seen the total floor area expanded from its original 850m2 to 1950m2. A new mezzanine level has been built above a section of the workshop to accommodate a dedicated viewing area for customers to witness product testing as well as further offices for workshop personnel and a kitchen/rest area for engineers and contractors. An external 12m x 15m covered test area has also been built, adding a valuable additional space for testing large engineered packages.
The fluctuating man hours required to handle this type of work is done using a core of 45 Atlas Copco employees with some work sub-contracted when necessary to handle peak demands. This represents approximately 20 more employees than a decade ago.
Lean and 5S
Paul Frost, manager of Atlas Copco's Systems Division in Hemel Hempstead, commented: “Our workshop is now a truly world-class facility. We have a competitive base here in Hemel Hempstead, with professional, experienced electrical and mechanical design and project management staff, plus 40 years of expertise. We are proud to be investing in this local competence centre for compressed air and gas custom packages and we can now begin to introduce Lean working principles and the 5S system.”
Large engineered assemblies can now be moved around in the workshop more easily due to the provision of two new 5-tonne cranes, trackways and controls. Other new additions include a grit blast facility, two modern spray paint booths to replace the original single unit, an electrical panel housing 415 volt main contactors for safer and faster connections for compressor testing and a 1.5 mW fin/fan water cooler and pump. Completing the additions, three calibrated air flow tubes with remote read-out facility over the company’s LAN have been installed. These will be used for customer witness testing in accordance with ISO standards.
The majority of System’s end products are modular ‘plug and play’ packaged solutions, custom built and shipped with all components, such as compressors, air treatment, dryers, filters, air receivers and control systems, on a single base frame for integration with land-based or offshore process installations.
“Each project is different because customer requirements tend to be unique for the intended environment,” explained Frost. “We have recently supplied compressor packages which must operate in a range of temperatures from -40degC to +45degC in Russia and to an oil company in the Middle East where reliable operation at +55degC is required to withstand regular sand storms.”
