In early April a Canadian manufacturer of global navigation satellite system gave Custom Profiles Ltd – a UK supplier of aluminium extrusions, based near Bristol UK, 8 weeks to produce bespoke aluminium extruded heatsink components for their factory in Alberta, Canada.
The order of bespoke aluminium extrusions, worth over £8,000 and consisting of over 900 components, had to be produced to specific tolerance levels in the UK, quality controlled by the Canadian satellite manufacturer and then shipped within 8 weeks in order to meet a pre-committed order by the Canadian company.
The bespoke aluminium heatsink sections firstly needed to be extruded in long lengths. Then cut and machined to the close tolerance specifications. To complete the order a state-of-the-art Fanuc Robo Drill CNC miller was used.
The satellite manufacturer’s group companies in the UK had already used Custom Profiles Ltd to fulfil orders of aluminium heatsinks so Custom Profiles Ltd became the obvious choice for their Canadian group member.
Meeting the strict deadline was the crucial part of the project. The customer had already committed to build rates in Canada and therefore required the finished product within 8 weeks. Custom Profiles Ltd are used to meeting quick turnaround times however the entire consignment of aluminium extrusions could not be shipped before samples had been approved by the customer’s quality control team. Using state-of-the-art aluminium finishing facilities, Custom Profiles Ltd were able to meet the quality control specifications however the physical delay of shipping aluminium extrusions to Canada was a first for the UK company. Having only previously exported to Europe, meeting the deadline was an important step forward for Custom Profiles Ltd global exports.
Gerry Smith, Managing Director of Custom Profiles Ltd explains: “Meeting quick turnaround times is not usually an issue as we use Just-In-Time dispatch principles, however for this order we needed to start from scratch and could not ship the aluminium extruded heatsinks without the approval of the customer’s quality control team. We were confident that the product would pass their quality control specifications however the timescales to ship aluminium components to Canada was a first for us and of course, out-of-our-control. Fortunately, the shipping courier did not disappoint and were able to meet the deadline. “
You can find out more about Custom Profiles Ltd operations by visiting their website at www.custom-profiles.com. Or for more information call Gerry Smith, Managing Director on 01275 879995 or send an email to sales@custom-profiles.com