Production site gets makeover
Busy engineering firm Thompson has refurbished its assembly hall as part of the latest phase of a substantial investment programme during its 50th anniversary year.
The friction welding machine manufacturer has updated the 7,000 sq ft premises in response to strong demand for its equipment from overseas component makers.
Thompson's engineering team is currently building a number of machines at the Halesowen-based facility for customers in China and the USA where they will be used to join vehicle parts.
The firm, which marked the 50th anniversary of its first-ever friction weld with a special party earlier this year, has also produced what Thompson believes is the world's largest direct drive friction welding machine.
The 400t model – 100 tonnes more powerful than its previous biggest model – has been installed at Caterpillar's US plant in South Carolina.
Thompson has also added new features to its range of machines for welding components including drill pipes, piston rods and truck axles.
It recently saw one of its machines installed at a French factory by hydraulic cylinder manufacturer Sahgev.
The Gevigney-based company is using the equipment to join a range of chromed bar piston rods. The refurbished PR Series machine is equipped with a number of special features including a single tool, twin axis flash removal device, two jaw chuck and quick change non-marking tooling.
It is part of Sahgev's latest investment in the plant, which produces more than 300,000 cylinders a year for customers including Claas and John Deere. The company employs 200 people and has an annual turnover of 27 million euros.
"This machine will help us diversify and win more business from customers in the construction machine market," said Pierre-Antoine Quivogne, Sahgev's sales and marketing manager.
Thompson also provided a sub-contract friction welding service to Sahgev in the run-up to the machine's delivery.
Thompson, which employs around 90 people at its base in Hereward Rise, can trace its roots back to the historic John Thompson boiler making business, which was established in Highfields, Bilston, in the 1830s.
Looking to the future, the company will be bidding for more new business when it exhibits at the Aero Engineering Show at Birmingham's NEC from November 12-13 and North America's largest metal forming and welding show, Fabtech, from November 18-21.
