Westbridge Furniture originally contacted Daltons Wadkin to assess the working process at one of its four UK production sites. A specialist in solid wood and panel processing technology, Daltons Wadkin soon identified solutions to bottlenecks within key areas including crosscutting and panel sizing.
The first installation at Westbridge Furniture included a Salvador SuperPush S200 automatic optimising crosscut saw with tilt-return outfeed station, replacing four manually operated radial arm saws.
Combined with an Altendorf F45 panel saw with CNC rip fence, what once were bottlenecks quickly become shining examples of efficiency with a reduction in labour, decreased waste, and an increase in productivity and improved accuracy.
“Typically we find that a Salvador SuperPush S200 will replace up to four or five manual crosscutting operations, reducing labour from five skilled operators to one or two flexible operators. The savings in labour alone return the investment within six months,” comments Andy Walsh, sales director at Daltons Wadkin.
Westbridge Furniture operates principally out of the UK with sites occupying in excess of 400,000ft2, employing just over 900 people who manufacture and service over 7500 pieces of upholstery per week. In addition, it employs over 100 people in its dedicated cut-and-sew factory in Romania.
“Flexibility was a key point for Westbridge,” comments Andy. “Boasting made-to-order manufacturing capabilities for their full product range exceeding 109,000 different options, the machinery needed to be quick to program, and adaptable to ever-changing production demands.”
The success of the first Westbridge Salvador installation was quickly repeated across the other two manufacturing sites with a total of three SuperPush S200 saws installed and a number of Altendorf F45 panel saws.
“The Westbridge story is testament to what a Salvador can do for customers using manual crosscutting methods, or older generations of automatic saws,” says Alex Dalton, Daltons Wadkin director.
“Anyone who thinks they may be missing out should contact us for a working demonstration at our extensive showroom facilities in Nottingham, or to arrange a visit to an existing Salvador customer in a relevant industry.”
He concludes: “As the long standing main distributors for Salvador in the UK and Ireland we have established ourselves as crosscutting experts with extensive experience in industries manufacturing a range of products including sofas and beds, garden buildings, pallets, packing cases, timber-framed buildings, as well as high production saw mills."
