DIE MANUFACTURING TEAM HAS THE TOOLS FOR THE JOB !

The Stampings Die Manufacturing Centre celebrated a major milestone last week as they revealed the first two blanking dies manufactured by the Halewood toolroom, to Executive Manufacturing Director Grant McPherson.

Blanking dies are used to make the shaped pieces out of the steel sheets, which takes place at the start of the stamping process, during new car production. Following a £1.7m investment from UK Manufacturing, a state of the art 5 axis machine has been installed so Halewood can manufacture press tools on-site, for the first time in its 58 year history.

 

And last week the team showcased the first blanking die tools fully produced from raw castings made in-house at Halewood – which will be used to make parts for future vehicles. Insourcing the blanking dies drives efficiency by saving time and money – with these two dies taking a month less to deliver from design to completion and saving up to £500,000 compared to ordering from an external supplier. The team will now work to deliver a total of 12 blanking dies by the end of August.

Halewood’s Stampings Manager, Niall Ford, said: “Grant showed huge confidence in us through the investment in the Die Manufacturing Centre, not just in our plant but our people, who are building these tools with their own hands. So, it was fantastic to be able to physically show him what the team has achieved already, and these fantastic first tools made in-house by our toolmakers, apprentices and machinists. This is just the beginning – our longer term vision is to manufacture full die sets at Halewood – so watch this space!”