After last year’s successful team effort, employees from across the Spear & Jackson group are once again preparing to take on the punishing Sheffield Half Marathon in aid of the British Heart Foundation.
Taking place on Sunday 27th March 2022, with a city centre start and finish, a huge crowd of enthusiastic supporters will cheer participants out and back for the annual race.
This year, Team S&J will see an impressive team of 10 employees from across the group take on the half marathon, with runners from Eclipse Magnetics, Bowers Group and the Corporate Office joining in.
Head of HR for the Spear & Jackson Group, and Team S&J runner, Katie Weller, said: “Last year we managed to raise an incredible amount for The Children’s Charity, and this year we’re focusing our fundraising efforts on the British Heart Foundation. The BHF has the ability to change so many lives and we’re looking forward to hitting the hills of Sheffield once again for such a fantastic cause.”
If you’d like to sponsor our incredible team of superstars, please visit our Just Giving page, here.
Robert Sorby have won The Sheffield Maker – Manufacturing Company of the Year 2021 at Sheffield Business Awards. Taking place on December 9th at Peddler Market in Kelham Island, Sheffield, the award recognises a company that demonstrates an efficient and innovative approach to manufacturing, as well as exhibiting growth, improved commercial performance, increased market share and operational effectiveness. An incredible achievement for all involved!
Robert Sorby is the World’s premier manufacturer and exporter of specialist woodworking tools and associated equipment, with a proud Sheffield heritage dating back nearly 200 years. The business employs 55 personnel selling to global stockists (B2B) and the public (B2C) through our retail facility in Doncaster. Manufacturing is through both traditional skills passed on from the early cutlery industry to hi-tech CNC technology production. Some of the highly skilled employees have been with the company for over 40 years.
Staff at the Eclipse Magnetics head office in Sheffield enjoyed a morning of high-octane fun as the F3 Cup Class Championship winning Dallara F308 rolled into town as part of the University of Wolverhampton Racing Team’s sponsor tour.
Employees from across much of the Spear & Jackson group were given the opportunity to learn more about the UWR project from key members of the racing team, as well as getting up close and personal with the trophy-winning car, with some even taking the opportunity to get into the hot seat themselves.
Eclipse Magnetics Sales Director, Dave Smith, said: “It was an absolute pleasure to have the UWR Dallara on site today, after such an incredible season for the team, it was a marvellous opportunity to have them on-site for all the staff at Eclipse, as well as the wider group, to see just what a magnificent amount of skill and sheer determination goes into building this impressive car, and how valuable to the UWR programme is for the future of motorsport.”
Eclipse Magnetics began its sponsorship of the University of Wolverhampton racing team in 2021, offering its expertise in magnetic tools to the student team.
Terry Gibson, Development Manager for University of Wolverhampton Racing said: “We value all of our sponsors and it has been a great opportunity for us to be able to get out and see a good number of those who have supported us during the season. It was a fantastic turn out at Eclipse and was a delight to introduce so many staff to our car.”
Having clinched the title during the last race of the season, Terry, alongside the team’s champion driver, Sean Kelly, embarked on a winner’s parade visiting many of the team’s sponsors during the first week of November.
Team members from companies within the Spear & Jackson Group have raised an incredible £2410.00 by running the Sheffield Half Marathon in September in aid of The Children’s Hospital Charity.
Thousands of runners took to the hills of Sheffield on the 26th of September raising money for many fantastic causes. Team S&J, including Katie Weller, Lauren Saltfleet, Tim Hollingsworth, Matt Williams and Scott Evans, all completed the mammoth race in under two hours, with an average time of 1:54:31, placing them 10th overall in the team challenge. Katie, who was also running on her birthday, finished 3rd overall of the women participating in the team challenge.
Whilst celebrating the impressive personal achievements, their incredible efforts also smashed the target set at the beginning of their fundraising campaign, raising over £150 above their original goal of £2250.
The Children’s Hospital Charity raises money to build a better future for children who visit Sheffield Children’s Hospital. Each year over 245,000 patient visits are made to Sheffield Children’s Hospital from across South Yorkshire, the UK and the world. This includes the 200 children a day who visit the Emergency Department, the 90 patients a year who are treated on the Cancer and Leukaemia Ward, as well as the Major Trauma patients who arrive via helicopter when every second counts.
Upon receiving the donation, Senior Corporate Partnerships Assistant at The Children’s Hospital Charity, Chloe Brunton-Dunn, said: “On behalf of the patients, families, and staff at Sheffield Children’s – thank you for your kind donation of £2,410.00 recently received by The Children’s Hospital Charity from your Sheffield Half Marathon 2021 Fundraising.
Sheffield Children’s is unique in the breadth of its expertise, and your continued support allows us to support children and young people in so many different ways. Children and young people travel from all over the country, and the world, to Sheffield Children’s for treatment, making the hospital one of the nation’s best for paediatric care and home to some of the UK’s leading clinicians.
Thanks to your help, we work hard every day to provide the best possible equipment, fund ground-breaking medical advancements in research, create new facilities and provide a comfortable and engaging hospital environment.
Our supporters, patients and their families inspire us to be bolder, to be braver and to make every day count. Together, we can help Sheffield Children’s continue its vital work in paediatric care, giving children the best chance to fulfil their potential.”
We’re incredibly proud of the fantastic achievement of our Team S&J runners and offer our huge congratulations on an outstanding fundraising effort and thank you to everyone who kindly donated to such a brilliant cause.
EDM machining has taken off significantly in recent years thanks to its ability to produce highly accurate precision parts leading to predicted growth in industry value to reach over 6 billion dollars by the year 2027 with a compound annual growth rate of 9.6% from 2022-27.
However, the EDM process is notorious for its inefficiency due to secondary sparking and energy wastage. Taking the Wire EDM process as an example, wire breakage can also lead to a significant increase in lost production time due to wire re-threading and the problems that can subsequently occur.
As part of its efforts to continually improve the effectiveness of their processes, ADM Precision Tools, in conjunction with Eclipse Magnetics and Sodi-tech EDM Ltd., sought to to trial methods to improve the efficiency of its Sodick AQ600L wire erosion machine by improving cycle times and reducing downtime.
ADM Precision Tools is a UK manufacturer and supplier of precision tooling components, based in Whitefield, Manchester.
With the assistance of Sodi-Tech, a global supplier and manufacturer of EDM machines, as part of its R&D programmes in conjunction with Eclipse Magnetics, ADM Precision Tools trialled the MM20 Micromag magnetic filter from Eclipse’s filtration range to explore the benefits that the filter can bring to its Wire EDM machining and the dielectric fluid.
The Micromag can filter ferrous materials such as Mild Steel, Hardened Steels, Cast Iron, Stainless Steel, Tool Steel, High-Speed Steel and Tungsten Carbide etc. from cutting fluid, including dielectric, removing particles that are just microns in size. Because of fine-particle removal, fluids are much cleaner which, in turn, produces less secondary sparking and significantly less wire breakages, making the process much more efficient with a significant decrease in energy wastage.
Tom Cooney, Manufacturing Engineer at ADM Precision said: “We fitted the Micromag MM20 two months ago and since then have seen a vast improvement in our efficiencies. We have seen an increase in our machine cutting speeds of between 17% and up to 30%, with substantially fewer wire breakages.”
An additional benefit found due to the cleaner fluids was that there were much fewer wire breakages, making the process much more robust. As a result of the decrease in wire breakage, ADM has seen a significant increase in the cutting speed of the machine, with the trial application showing improved results by up to 30%.
As an example of the cost savings that the increased machine efficiency can produce, by taking the average between the increased speed results, 23.5%, and covert that into annual hours, that’s a saving of 2,000 hours a year. Using an example hourly cost of £100 an hour, that’s a £200,000-a-year cost saving. This means the MM20 Micromag unit would offer a return on investment in less than one week.
Speaking of the efficiency of the Micromag MM20, Tom said: “It takes a couple of minutes to take the magnet out, clean it into a swarf bin, and then reassemble, so it’s easy and there isn’t and consumable parts to replace. All-in-all, it proves that the Micromag units have given us a great improvement, and I’m sure would be a great investment for any EDM machining process.”
Due to the magnetic flux circuit geometry of the MM20 Micromag, it ensures a controlled build-up of contamination meaning the filter can never block. Due to this, there isn’t any significant increase in backpressure, therefore poses no risk to the integrity of the machine and pumps offering complete assurance to those looking to protect their EDM investment.
Jim Lewis, Sodi-Tech Sales Manager, was equally impressed by the results of the Micromag installation: “At Sodi-Tech EDM we sell and support Sodick EDM machines across the UK, to precision operations and whilst our machines are high specification, one of the big questions we are always asked is how can I improve my machine efficiency by improving cycle times and reducing downtime.”
“As part of our R&D programmes in conjunction with Eclipse, ADM trialled the MM20 Micromag magnetic filter from Eclipse Magnetics. Because the Micromag removes super-fine ferrous particles, it means that fluids are much cleaner and due to the cleaner fluid, you get less secondary sparking making the process much more efficient.”
To find out more about how Eclipse Magnetics filtration equipment can boost the EDM process, visit www.eclipsemagnetics.com, or contact the team at info@eclipsemagnetics.com.
Bowers Group is delighted to announce the launch of its brand-new digital external micrometer, the Bowers DigiMic. Brand new for 2021, with a large screen and immediate confirmation of results, the DigiMic offers quick, simple, and highly accurate measurement of both thickness and outside diameters.
Extending the core range of Bowers-branded products, DigiMic is ergonomically crafted for comfort, efficiency, and ease of use. Its robust design ensures functionality in any setting, from clean calibration laboratories to the harshest of environments.
Deputy Managing Director for Bowers Group, Martin Hawkins, said: “The DigiMic is an exciting addition to our range of Bowers-branded products. Having been meticulously designed and manufactured at our facility in Bradford, it is a truly versatile tool that will offer fast, accurate measurement across a wide range of settings. We are delighted to now be able to offer this magnificent piece of equipment to the market, and we’re looking forward to the interest that it will undoubtedly attract over the coming months.”
Boasting an accuracy of 2 μm max permissible error and 2 μm max error range, DigiMic comes with an IP67 rating and is Industry 4.0 ready with IoT integrated Bluetooth. Simple and easy to use, with its electronics driven by just three buttons, DigiMic can immediately connect with other Bowers and Sylvac IoT devices to enable easy sharing of data around the factory floor or with other devices and software systems utilising the data feed.
Creating measurement reports is quick and easy, and when used in conjunction with the Sylcom data collection software from Sylvac, you have the option to include a wide array of data allowing employees, departments and products to be linked better than ever before.
This initial launch is for the measurement range of 0 – 25mm, however incremental sizes up to 100mm will be available with sets in the near future.
To find out more information regarding the brand-new DigiMig, contact sales@bowersgroup.co.uk today.
Spear & Jackson has launched a brand-new magnetic domestic heating system filter, the BoilerMagXC.
Competitively priced, the compact filter incorporates “Dual Flow” technology to pack a lot of performance into a compact space. Endorsed by the world-renowned Spear & Jackson brand, BoilerMagXC customers can rely on the same brand values of quality and reliability.
The BoilerMagXC’s patented “Dual-Flow” technology means system water is exposed to the magnetic core twice on a single pass, allowing for the length of the extraction chamber to be minimised whilst retaining extremely high levels of iron oxide extraction.
Featuring simple “in-line” installation, the BoilerMagXC comes complete with high-quality isolation valves. With its neat, retail-friendly packaging, this attractively priced domestic system filter promises to be a fast-moving item.
National Sales Manager for BoilerMag, Craig Worth, said: “We’re excited to launch the brand new BoilerMagXC, it’s the ideal filter for those looking for system protection in restricted spaces at an attractive price. We identified a gap in our range by listening to our customers and installers, responding accordingly with a product we believe will add value to merchants as well as being popular amongst installers. The response to date has been overwhelming”.
The brand-new filter can be fitted on either vertical or horizontal pipework, it features a non-block magnetic circuit and satisfies a requirement of BS7593:2019. Servicing can be done in a matter of minutes, by simply removing the core cover and rinsing.
BoilerMagXC extends the established BoilerMag system treatment range further, offering more choice for domestic installations. The full range includes the high-performance BoilerMag Domestic, treatment chemicals, scale reducers and heating system filters for industrial and commercial properties.
To find out more about the BoilerMagXC, or BoilerMag’s other products, visit www.boilermag.com or call the team on 0114 225 0624
Eclipse Magnetics is delighted to announce it has joined the GTMA (Gauge and Tool Makers Association) which provides engineering supply chain solutions to business services, as well as technology transfer and industry networks for companies throughout the engineering supply chain.
GTMA is a UK-based trade association representing leading companies in precision engineering, rapid product development, toolmaking, tooling technologies, metrology and other critical manufacturing related products and services.
Sales Director at Eclipse Magnetics, Dave Smith, said: “It’s a fantastic opportunity for us as a company to move forward in the post-pandemic world supporting manufacturers across the UK alongside GTMA. With over 75 years’ experience being a representative body for the UK Gauge, Toolmaking and Precision Machining industries, GTMA provide an essential link within the supply chain. I’m looking forward to working closely with the association and I’m positive that our partnership will prove to be successful.”
Expected to be the world’s third-largest automotive market in terms of volume by 2026, India’s automotive industry currently manufactures around 26 million motor vehicles per year, with around 4.7 million of which are exported around the globe.
As the industry continues to grow, manufacturers are now pro-actively searching for innovative ways to improve the quality and efficiency of parts and end products.
Kleenoil Filtration India Pvt Ltd., a leading supplier of industrial oil and coolant filters in the Indian Sub-Continent, supply Eclipse Magnetics’ Micromag filters to many of India’s biggest manufacturers, including Sansera Engineering Ltd. and Hero Motocorp.
Kleenoil installed an Eclipse Magnetics’ Micromag high-performance filtration system inline before the machine’s pump to minimise the number of ferrous particles contacting the grinding wheel. Containing a high-intensity magnetic circuit, the Micromag filter removes a high-proportion of ferrous contamination, including the finest of particles, without the need to regularly replace consumable media filters, or having adverse effects on fluid properties.
Following the installation, Sansera was able to maintain its production volume whilst also seeing a significant extension in the overall life of grinding wheels, boosting the tool life efficiency by 250%. The Micromag also vastly improved reject rates. The cleaner fluids enabled better contact between the grinding wheel and the part, which enhanced the surface finish consistency with improved Ra values. The number of parts failing quality inspection fell by 90%, resulting in significant monthly savings in scrappage or rework.
The combined benefits of longer grinding wheel life and fewer rejects enabled Sansera to recover its investment costs in just 7 months of the Micromag Installation.
Bowers Group is delighted to announce a series of changes to its UK sales team, including the appointment of Ryan Kingswell as UK Sales Manager and Patrick Curry as Technical Product Manager. In addition, South East Sales Manager, Stephen Maughan, will take on the additional responsibility of National Accounts Manager, and Central East Sales Manager, Dan Beaulieu, will become the Ireland Country Manager as part of his extended role.
Deputy Managing Director, Martin Hawkins, said: “As we move forward as a business, I’m pleased to announce the promotion of four members of our UK sales team. It’s great to see the team progress into new roles and responsibilities; a true testament to their dedication, knowledge, and success.”
