Mirka UK opened its Milton Keynes training centre in September 2018 to showcase its abrasives, surface preparation and dust extraction products available to the industry. In this in a Q&A session, Composites in Manufacturing learns more.
Specialists in abrasives for surface preparation, Mirka specialises in coated, non-woven and dust-free sanding products for surface finishing with a product range that caters for both individual operations and complete sanding systems. Its expertise in flexible abrasives and products has seen the development of its Abralon, Abranet and Autonet product lines.
Q) What kinds of demands and challenges are placed on Mirka by its composite manufacturing-related customers when it comes to repair, and how do your products help them overcome any technical hurdles?
Composite material use in manufacturing is growing year on year and Mirka is always ahead of the game with solutions and processes. The company can organise processes using different abrasives from its portfolio, which includes extraction machines. Extraction is essential linked with Abranet when sanding composite materials.
Q) Can you give me the latest update on your Milton Keynes-based training centre? How many customers have attended since the press launch event last year?
The interest from Mirka’s customers has been much higher than expected and the company has facilitated 250 customers since opening.
Q) What kind of take-up has there been for the MyMirka App and are there still good enough reasons to connect a smart phone to a sander?
Monitoring vibration on hand tools plays a big part in production. Using the Mirka MyApp, management can assign the tool to a technician and record on a daily basis, vibration levels as well as the speed of the sander, which could increase the vibration level with incorrect speed settings. The App has led to the further development of the MyMirka Dashboard. The dashboard allows you to monitor multiple tools from one piece of software.
Q) Do you have a feel and appreciation for the types of rigorous re-certifications and re-qualifications that repaired items need to undergo to re-enter service? What industries are the strictest?
Aviation has some of the strictest processes. Mirka can organise and write a process, but it needs approval from senior aviation engineers, which can often take months for approval and sometimes fail. Sometimes, it could also be due to aerospace specification stating the specific abrasive type used in the repair process.
Q) Typically, what are the most common types of repair requirements placed on you by your customers?
Smart repairs/small repairs are becoming more common based on price, so Mirka has to analyse the material and produce a system and a solution. All repairs depend on the material - it could be a design fault or damage in production.
Q) Can you provide any typical repair examples where Mirka’s products have particularly shone above and beyond those of similar competitor offerings?
A customer invited Mirka in to analyse its process, benchmarking it against a competitor’s product with the main reason being cost. This was analysed and Mirka presented its solution, removing four grits of abrasives from the customer’s process to achieve a better finished result. This resulted in a cost-saving, plus it gave the production area dust-free sanding results in a far better working environment. It was a ‘win-win’ situation for the customer.
