CNC machinist vacancy

As part of the ongoing growth at Formaplex, we are expanding our Toolmaking Department. A new 10-tonne overhead crane and a 150-tonne Bed Out press are being installed to support this growth and, as a result, we have vacancies for a day-shift and a night-shift toolmaker.

The expansion of the Toolmaking Department at our Havant site will be completed in the spring and will follow the relocation of our Composite Department to our brand new 13,000 sq. ft. facility, also in Hampshire.

Applicants must have experience of injection mould tooling or composite tooling. The successful applicants will benefit from an extremely competitive salary and a superb working environment at a pioneering rapid engineering company.

Applications to: Ben Yule, Operations Manager, Formaplex Ltd, Unit 1, Dakota Business Park, 14 Downley Road, Havant, Hampshire, or ben.yule@formaplex.com.

No agency contact required.

CNC machinist vacancy

Pioneering rapid engineering company Formaplex continues to grow. As part of our ongoing expansion, we have purchased two new DMG DMU 100 Monoblock CNC machines and, as a result, we have vacancies for a day-shift and a night-shift CNC machinist.

The new machines will arrive in the spring and we are seeking to fill the two vacancies by then. Applicants must have experience of using Heidenhain machines. Knowledge of CAM programming would be advantageous.

In addition, experience of injection-mould tooling, composite tooling or component manufacturing would be preferable, but training can be provided. The successful applicants will benefit from an extremely competitive salary and a superb working environment.

Applications to: Ben Yule, Operations Manager, Formaplex Ltd, Unit 1, Dakota Business Park,  14 Downley Road, Havant, Hampshire, or ben.yule@formaplex.com.

No agency contact required.

Subject: Merry Christmas

Ian,

Just a brief note to wish you and all of your staff at Formaplex a very Merry Christmas. Your support throughout this year has been outstanding and I thank you for that – dealing with Formaplex is a joy, how easy life would be if only the rest of British industry was the same!!

All the very best,

John

John Scott MSc MAPM
Operations Director
Force Protection Europe

“Force Protection Europe Ltd have been working with Formaplex for the last few years throughout the development of the innovative Ocelot vehicle – the first military composite-based vehicle that we are aware of.

It is known to the British Army as Foxhound and will be delivered into Afghanistan early next year. Formaplex are undoubtedly experts in their field, great to work with, and have been hugely responsive in their approach, whether that has been in terms of capital investment, staffing and working hours, or working with our other partners.”

David Hind (Managing Director Force Protection Europe)

Triumph TR2 at Spa Francorchamps

We usually talk about the injection-mould tooling and plastic components manufacture we carry out for the automotive industry, but this time we’ve got a slightly different Formaplex automotive story. This one involves a race at a very famous European motor circuit.

Formaplex took part in a six-hour race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, with our Composites Director Jon Payne one of the three drivers. In the oldest car on the grid, a bright yellow Triumph TR2, and in the only one with drum brakes, the Formaplex team was literally in a class of its own. As it turned out, they were in for quite a race.

After the team had spent a long night under the hood, the Formaplex-emblazoned Triumph was ready to go and it shot from the grid under the careful stewardship of its owner Brian White. However, before long, successive crashes, including this tasty tumble (which fortunately left only the car damaged), brought proceedings to a halt.

Jon got his turn behind the wheel after just over two hours of hard driving by Brian, but he would have to wait a while to put in some consistent laps in as he was dogged by a series of problems. Jon had to contend with a bonnet that refused to stay shut, a triple brake-pipe failure and a broken gear stick, all of which were only fixable thanks to some polite scrounging and innovative engineering.

But Jon put some uninterrupted laps in the end, even if a broken alternator meant doing some night-time driving with only the occasional use of lights! The final driver, Steve Stanton, enjoyed the same kind of luck but he got the Formaplex car home, the last to cross the line in 80th place. Despite the lack of podium finish, there were huge grins all round at the chequered flag.

A big thank you to Brian for trusting us with his car, and also to the Formaplex team whose never-say-die attitude got the car and the drivers to the finish. You can see the car and the team in action here. We’re already looking forward to next time, which might be a four-hour run at the legendary Nordschliefe Ring at Nürburgring in Germany.

To find out more about Formaplex products and services, contact us on +44 (0) 2392 499276 or info@formaplex.com.

After careful consideration, we have chosen DMG to supply two new five axis machines for the Formaplex manufacturing facility in Havant. This investment will bring the number of five axis machines at Formaplex to seven.

The addition of the two DMU 100 Monoblock Universal milling machines will enhance our five axis machining capacity, with has
recently been expanded with the acquisition of two larger five axis parpas machines. The new DMG-supplied DMU machines will be used for a large proportion of our small and medium-sized project work, freeing up capacity on our larger five axis machines.

We’ve always recognised the importance of five axis machinery at Formaplex, having employed the technology on site since 2007, and this recent investment in our five axis machining division will allow us to enhance our commitment to round-the-clock manufacturing and rapid project delivery.

This expansion also marks another stage in our growth at Formaplex. Over the last six months, we’ve added a CMS Poseidon
machining centre and an SCM Morbidelli Universal 3615 three-axis router to our new second manufacturing site in Hampshire, which is focused on the production of the Foxhound light protected military patrol vehicle.

We are looking forward to the installation of the two DMU 100 Monoblock Universal milling machines and heading into 2012 with
enhanced injection-mould tooling, composite tooling and plastic moulding capacity. We’ll keep you up to date with news of our growth.

To find out more about Formaplex products and services, contact us on +44 (0) 2392 499276 or info@formaplex.com.

The Foxhound

Formaplex is growing – we’ve opened a new facility in Horndean, Hampshire, which is not far from our main state-of-the-art injection-mould and composite tooling site in Havant. We’ve expanded our operations base to support the manufacture of the MOD Foxhound project.

The Foxhound is a new light protected military patrol vehicle and we’ve been awarded a contract by Force Protection Europe to supply 200 of the blast-proof units. The Foxhound provides unprecedented levels of protection for troops facing the threat of IEDS and other forms of attack.

We have invested £1 million in the new facility, which will employ 35 staff and whose primary focus is the supply of the Foxhounds. The vehicles have been designed and developed in the UK and will replace the Snatch Land Rover. We will supply fully machined protective pods with fitted doors and armour.

The modular design enables the central protected pod to be changed to suit different missions, such as patrol, fire support or protected logistics. The vehicle is also designed for exceptional manoeuvrability, so it’s equally as effective in the tight confines of built-up urban areas as it is on difficult terrain.

The Formaplex Foxhound facility is up and running and is an excellent addition to our existing sites. It’s great to be working on the Foxhounds, which help save lives and are a very important addition to the military vehicle portfolio.

To find out more about Formaplex products and services, contact us on +44 (0) 2392 499276 or info@formaplex.com.

CNC machinist vacancy

Formaplex is a pioneering rapid engineering company, specialising in injection-mould tooling, composite tooling and the manufacture of plastic components. We provide these services to clients in the motorsport, defence, aerospace and marine industries. Our success, and theirs, is built on investing in the best people.

Formaplex currently has a vacancy for a day-shift CNC machinist. Applicants must be experienced in CNC machining of injection-mould tools using CAM programming, preferably with knowledge of RTM/Heidenhain software. The successful applicant will benefit from an extremely competitive salary, a superb working environment and being part of a team of highly motivated engineers.

Applications to: Chris Carter, Operations Director, Formaplex Ltd, Unit 1, Dakota Business Park, 14 Downley Road, Havant, Hampshire, recruitment@formaplex.com.

No agency contact required

The Ocelot and Williams F1 car Formaplex hq

The flexibility of Delcam’s PowerSHAPE CAD software has helped Formaplex, a Portsmouth-based manufacturing group specialising in high-end automotive injection moulding, machining and composite technologies, to diversify into a number of other industries.
The latest stage in this expansion has seen the company playing a key role in the development of Force Protection Europe’s Ocelot, a new light-protected patrol vehicle that provides unprecedented levels of survivability for troops facing IEDs and other threats. Formaplex has now been awarded a contract to supply 200 of the blast-proof pods that protect the crew and passengers of the vehicle, for the MoD’s Light Protected Patrol Vehicle programme. The British Army will call these vehicles, which have been designed, developed and are being manufactured in the UK, Foxhounds.

The Ocelot has a modular design which enables different pods to be swapped out to equip the vehicles for different missions, such as patrol, fire support or protected logistics. The vehicle is also designed for exceptional manoeuvrability, so it is equally effective in the tight confines of built-up urban areas and for tactical manoeuvre on difficult terrain typically found on current operations in Afghanistan.

Formaplex’s crucial contribution is highlighted by the fact that one of the composite pods delivered for testing has survived no less than nine blast tests designed to replicate the impact of explosive devices encountered in war zones such as Afghanistan. The company has invested significant resources in its manufacturing capability for defence applications, including post-machining and repair solutions for field-damaged protective pods.

Ian Wilson, who began his career as an engineering apprentice and now has thirty years of machining and design experience, originally co-founded Formaplex in 2001 to offer machining services to Formula One, Le Mans and other motorsport teams. “We provided a next-day service that was pretty much unheard of in those days,” remembered Mr. Wilson, who is now Projects Director.

“The rapid delivery and a reputation for accuracy provided regular work from the motorsport teams. Even so, the company needed to find other work to compliment the hectic F1 season and provide a more consistent workload, so we moved into prototyping by means of rapid injection mould tooling and then into low volume production tooling, mainly for high-end automotive and specialist vehicles,” said Mr. Wilson. “We have invested in a moulding facility and can offer the ultimate one-stop shop for our customers. We have integrated our mythology and philosophy of our rapid-response F1 service into these other areas to win more business. Our current customer base now extends into Europe.”

“We first added PowerSHAPE when we progressed from offering only machining services,” stated Mr. Wilson. “All the best designers interviewed were using PowerSHAPE so it was an obvious choice to make. The software has always met our requirements for speed and accuracy so we’ve never felt any need to try anything else. It helps us to complete complex projects in a fraction of the time that it would take a traditional toolmaker.”

Formaplex now uses six seats of PowerSHAPE. In addition to the speed, the flexibility of the software is a great benefit to the company. It is used for some product design but mainly for patterns, jigs, fixtures, composite lay-up tools and moulds of all types, including injection, RTM and RIM.

Formaplex used PowerSHAPE for its key role in the development of Ocelot

“The other factor in our success is the quality of the staff that we have been able to bring in as the company has expanded,” explained Mr. Wilson. “A downturn in manufacturing over the past few years has forced the closure of several manufacturing companies in the region so we have been able to recruit some very skilled and experienced people, mostly already known to us. We expect to take on another twenty-five to thirty people in the next six months to enable us to complete the current newly-developed projects, including Ocelot.”

The Ocelot project is testament to the skills of the staff who are able to adapt quickly to new methods of manufacture, enabling Formaplex to rapidly build the business “Becoming involved in such an exciting programme is a big milestone in our company’s development,” he added. “We are very proud that our technology will potentially be saving lives and protecting troops from injury. The publicity around the project has generated a lot of interest in Formaplex and its services, which we are confident we will turn into extra business.”

The Ocelots have been designed, developed and are now being manufactured in the UK, including the protective pods at the Formaplex site in Hampshire. The vehicles will be used by the British Army, which has renamed them Foxhounds, and will replace the Snatch Land Rover.

The Ocelot has a modular design, which enables the central protected pod to be changed to suit different missions, such as patrol, fire support or protected logistics. The vehicle is also designed for exceptional manoeuvrability, so it’s equally as effective in the tight confines of built-up urban areas as it is on the difficult terrain typically found on current operations in Afghanistan.

The Formaplex team has worked hard helping develop manufacturing processes for Ocelot creating a vehicle that boasts the highest possible level of protection for crew and passengers. One of the pods delivered for testing survived no less than nine blast tests designed to replicate the impact of the explosive devices encountered in war zones.

It has been great to help develop the Ocelot and, as you might imagine, the whole team is thrilled that we’ve won the Survivability Pod manufacturing contract. It’s an important step for us in the expansion of our defence applications and manufacturing activity.

To find out more about Formaplex products and services, contact us on +44 (0) 2392 499276 or info@formaplex.com.