Exhibiting at this year’s Subcon in Birmingham, Redditch based precision metal parts specialist Samuel Taylor Limited (STL) is looking to explore and establish new business opportunities. Having wide ranging press and metal component assembly capability, and with over 85% of its current output being exported to regions such as the USA, the Middle East and South Asia, STL is particularly aiming to increase its market share within the UK and create relationships with other UK businesses.
According to STL’s Managing Director Alastair Gordon, “Subcon unites the best brands in engineering and therefore offers a great way to network and forge new connections. Especially in fast-paced times like these it is important to stay on top of new innovations in order to identify and establish unique business opportunities.”
At Subcon, STL will be showcasing some of its heavier stamping capability, using the 100T, 110T and 300T progression presses bought in the past couple of years to supply busbar components to the smart metering markets. With a tool bed of up to 2.5 metres STL is using its heaviest press to combine multiple operations within a single press cycle. This process includes the insertion of the strip at one end and the ejection of the finished product at the other one, fully formed with electrical contact rivets in place.
Full automation such as this allows STL to compete successfully with multi-hand operations from low wage economies. All aspects of the tool design, build and component manufacture are carried out by STL engineers and while the initial capital cost might be higher, the eventual lifetime cost of ownership is much lower.
Aiming to reduce the time it takes to test and prove new stamping tooling, STL has also invested in a new software programme for its design office at the end of last year, allowing for a strip progression to be trialled in a virtual mode before any metal is cut. Combined with other recent investments in Agie EDM tools, this allows a much more efficient use of the allocated design time for new projects and can avoid mistakes previously only visible after the tool was cut in metal.
One of STL’s strong points is also the vertical integration of as much of its investment and know-how as possible to satisfy increasing demand from design engineers and buyers to work with one supplier on as many aspects of a project as possible. Plus, with an outstanding expertise in high speed small precision metal parts and specialist rolled and bonded composite materials, STL can supply products as discreet components or integrated sub-assemblies.
In addition, as a forward-looking firm, STL is renowned for training and championing young local engineering talent. Having recently expanded its long established apprenticeship programme, the company is proud to also count three female trainees among them.