As you may know, we have been working hard on expanding our factory to increase capacity for machinery and better provide for our customers. We have noticed an increased demand on certain products, calling for more machinery and staff. For the past 2 years we have had builders working hard on a factory extension.
Factory Extension
Since Knitwire first moved to Runcorn from Warrington about 15 years ago, we have expanded the factory by 50%, however in recent years it has become apparent that we are in need of even more space.
High demand on new and old products, and an increase in new product designs, has resulted in a further upstairs and downstairs extension. We have decided to house our highly demanded world beating 1,000°C silica gasket, which works perfectly to meet the Euro 6 standards, in the new build for our sister company Catalytic Support Systems Ltd.
By moving certain machines and cells into the new extension, we have also created free space in the original factory.
Machinery
Alongside our factory extension, we also have our engineer Spike, with Dan and Jack, our engineering apprentices, working hard on building more machines. Between our UK and South African plants, we currently have 213 knitting machines operating on a daily basis, with a further 8 machines to join them shortly.
In addition to this, we have also been working on making our cells more LEAN, by moving related machinery closer together, increasing productivity and offering improved lead times for our customers.
Our Distinctive Products department, lead by Declan and his assistant Ciaran, have given up their evenings to improve the productivity in their cell, and have seen a significant impact on customer lead times as a result.
Safety
The safety of our machines has been another strong focus for our engineers throughout the past year. Spike, Dan, Jack and our Quality Manager John, have been working extremely hard and long hours in order to ensure that all of our machines are installed with safety guards.
These safety guards will protect our workers from the rotary mechanics inside of the machine. As the knitting head spins around, we want to ensure that our staff do not get caught and injured.
We would like to give a special thank you to John, Spike, Dan and Jack who have gone above and beyond, and have given up many of their evenings to help us complete this giant task.
The future of Knitwire
It has been a tough year dealing with Covid-19 restrictions, customer factory shutdowns throughout Europe, long delays at customs caused by Brexit, and machinery health and safety concerns, but the future of Knitwire is looking bright.
Since the end of the first lockdown we have seen an increase in orders, enquiries, product demand and staff requirement.
If you are interested in making an enquiry, or speaking with us about our current vacancies, please feel free to contact us.
