FLI Structures sees productivity soar after machinery investment

The addition of a Costa MD 4 plate grinding machine to FLI Structures has increased the productivity by 1.5 persons per week and improved safety levels at the Gloucestershire-based company. 

Andy James, works manager at FLI Structures, recognised a shift in customer requirements and the need to include a plate grinding machine to their offering which covers the telecoms, highways, rail and energy industries. As an existing customer of Ficep - FLI Structures were working with a plate processor and a number of other machines- Andy’s first call was to Ficep sales manager Chris Berriman.

“We looked at other machines and we’ve spoken to Ficep before about plate grinding machines but at that time it didn’t seem like the right choice for us. Now, plate grinding and welding is more relevant, we started looking for another machine, we got talking to Ficep about another machine and happened to mention the plate grinding to them. They told us they have an agreement with Costa. I researched into this and found this to be a good choice for us. This machine had better options to other machines that we looked at – for example edge rounding.”

After being impressed with the extras offered by the Costa, Andy visited a UK reference site to see the machine in action. He took some samples to check the machine quality and capability, and also had an opportunity to ask detailed questions about the machine. 

The success of the demonstration quickly led to a sale and the Costa was installed and commissioned in July this year. The benefits of the machine were quickly established as Andy explains:

“Before the machine was installed, we were losing a day and a half, and one and a half men per week in terms of the time it took and labour to do what the machine does. We have one person running both machines including the plate line too as they’re next to each other so really we’ve gained a person and a half per week.”

The addition of the Costa has also improved health and safety at the company:

“We’ve always been safety conscious when it comes to angle grinders we pay attention to the risks of hand arm vibration syndrome. Utilising the Costa machine, it eliminates the risk of HAVS completely.

“I can always ring Chris for info and he’s always quick to get back to me. There’s never any problems trying to get hold of them for any information or help. Whenever we require something new we always talk to Ficep first.”

Chris Berriman, adds:

“Francis and Lewis have been a Ficep customer since 2000 and over the years have purchased 15 different machines for different applications. Andy is one of our many customers that are reaping the rewards from the Costa machine”.