Sustainable production of Grab-O-Matic drum handling equipment

At St Clare Engineering we use high quality steel to manufacture our drum handling forklift truck attachments. But what happens to the off-cuts? In this blog we look at how we make best use of every spare piece of metal, then ensure that anything we cannot use is handled safely and sent for recycling. Raw materials delivered in standard lengths We try to order exactly what we need to manufacture our range of drum lifting equipment, but our raw materials are delivered in standard lengths. So, if we need 3.5m of stainless steel bar to build our Grab-O-Matic single drum handler, the rest of the 4m bar will be cut off. But it does not go into the scrap bin yet! All our raw materials are carefully sorted at our Eastleigh workshop, where different shapes and sizes are stored in sections on steel racks. So, for example, there are sections for round bar, flat plate or box sections, which means that it is easy to find the right location to store any off-cuts. Reusing raw materials We only ever use the right quality of raw material for a part, so we know that the finished product will be of a consistently high standard. Often, we can make a number of smaller parts from off-cuts: for example we recently used some spare 50mm x 12mm flat rolled steel to make the packers under a frame, which used the same material cut into 138mm sections. Safe scrap bins When we manufacture smaller parts, we check to see what small lengths we already have in stock, and make good use of this spare raw material. Only when spare metals are no longer of a useful length will the off-cuts finally be consigned to the scrap bins. We keep four scrap bins on the premises so that there is always one close to hand or next to a saw. We also have a separate bin for non-ferrous metals and swarf, and also for scrap springs that have been removed from our gripping heads and replaced with new during a service or repair. Recycling scrap metal A few times a year we will take the scrap bins to the local metal recycling establishment, where they sort and prepare our non-ferrous and ferrous waste metals for recycling. We take care to follow all the safety guidelines, including high visibility clothing, hard hats, goggles and gloves, and it can be an interesting trip for members of our team to see where the small quantity of waste metal is taken for recycling. Environmentally friendly production from St Clare Engineering We always strive to minimise our impact on the environment, from recycling paper to using up every last piece of manufactured steel. We are proud that through careful, personal control of our forklift truck drum handling attachments, we can deliver sustainable production that benefits the planet. Please get in touch if you want to support sustainable British manufacturing, using the details below: Andy Bow – St Clare Engineering Ltd Tel: 02380 643402 Fax: 02380 642189 Email: sales@stclare-engineering.co.uk Web: www.stclare-engineering.co.uk