Moving on up

Mike Richardson meets Formaplex’s business development manager, Matt Sellens to catch up on the latest developments taking place at the company.

2013 proved to be a pivotal year in the rise and rise of advanced manufacturing services specialist, Formaplex. The company became an associate member of the National Composites Centre (NCC), launched its own electric car world record attempt during the Composites Engineering Show and helped British pop artist Allen Jones create a glass-reinforced composite sculpture of supermodel Kate Moss.

Pioneering rapid engineering solutions in injection mould tooling, composite tooling and the manufacture of plastic components for the motorsport, automotive, aerospace and defence industries, Formaplex’s Hampshire-based manufacturing facilities can boast of a growing order book and diversification across market sectors. Ongoing and expanding subcontract work with many motorsport teams and premium automotive OEMs has been supplemented by high visibility programmes such as the Bloodhound SSC chassis machining and assembly and integration of composite armoured pods for the Ministry of Defence’s Foxhound Light Protected Patrol Vehicle programme.

The growth in pattern manufacturing capacity has signalled a busy period for the company, which has steadily grown to employ over 220 people, doubled its manufacturing floor space to 135,000ft², invested £3.5 million in a new facility, 5-axis CNC machinery and new large injection moulding machines and created 100 new jobs since the beginning of 2012.

But there’s no time like the present, so let’s start with what it can offer the NCC. Formaplex values this partnership in order to enhance its understanding of high pressure resin transfer moulding (HP-RTM), particularly as there are many synergies with its current work in resin transfer mould and injection mould tool design. And with new developments now being undertaken in its new composites R&D facility this fits really well. Importantly, the company feels the membership will provide the opportunity to collaborate with other companies also at the forefront of their fields of composite expertise.

“We are currently the only tooling company member of the National Composites Centre and we are supplying tooling solutions to its various ongoing projects,” begins Formaplex’s composites business development manager Matt Sellens. “Our expertise is providing plastic and composite tooling and component solutions whether that’s in RTM, infusion, prepreg or injection moulding faster than our competitors. The UK Government has invested funding in the NCC’s objective of ensuring that the country remains at the forefront of composites technology. Clearly there are synergies in what we are already doing with injection mould tooling and the requirements of HP-RTM. We’re very keen to be at the forefront of these developments and ensure that we catch the technology wave.”

Sellens points to the motorsport sector where the traditional way it has developed components is not necessarily appropriate for higher volume automotive applications.

“We are committed to focussing on composite technologies for higher volume applications with reduced production cycle times,” he continues. “Through our NCC membership and other collaborative R&D activities, our intention is to be at the forefront of the development of these tools in the UK and gain from it.”

Formaplex currently works across three sites, including its original location in Havant, where 24/7 metal machining and injection moulding takes place, its around the clock composite tooling and machining facilities in Horndean and the current location of the composites R&D facility in Cosham. This newest 50,000ft² facility now comprises large injection moulding with 1,500 and 3,500 tonne presses, metal tooling and inspection capabilities.

“Although we’ve only been located here for a matter of months we are capacity rich in this facility, so moving our relatively small composites R&D footprint from that location to Horndean enables our Cosham facility to flex and grow even more,” continues Sellens. “We’ll then have all of our composites capabilities located on the Horndean site including composite tooling and machining and the Foxhound pod machining and assembly.

“We’re relocating our composites capability to a 15,000ft² facility that will be dedicated to composites R&D and production, focusing on out-of-autoclave (OoA) processes. Our history shows that when we move into a new facility, we tend to fill it with work quickly.”

So will Formaplex ever unite all its facilities under one roof?

“It’s unlikely,” he says. “We are growing to meet all our customers’ requirements and have always tried to remain flexible and only move as the need arises. The current model suits us as it allows us to flex our capacity and capability as required without overstretching ourselves.

“We are a company on the up and are on target to deliver a £40 million turnover this year. Those customers that haven’t visited us for a while don’t often realise how big and diverse Formaplex has become and what we are fully capable of. We still treat everyone with the same personal service and have dedicated project managers for each of our customers. This works really well and no matter how big we get, this will never change.”

www.formaplex.com