Toomevara growth brings financial savings for Abbey Equipment

Abbey Equipment of Toomevara, Co. Tipperary moved to its current website in 2016 and has just lately added to its manufacturing capability with a further 10,000ft² of inside ground area.

Gross sales of its merchandise, particularly the tankers, proceed to take pleasure in an upward curve and with the gradual emergence of firms again into the publish Covid-19 daylight, Agriland was invited alongside to take a look on the newest addition.

New meeting corridor at Toomevara

The brand new constructing provides an additional 10% to the ground area on website, which extends to 30ac in all, though a lot of that continues to be ripe for future growth.

The additional area is turned over fully to remaining meeting somewhat than accommodating the vary of recent machine instruments which have been purchased in, to extend the effectivity and capability of the manufacturing course of.

These new gadgets have been inserted into the manufacturing line somewhat than given the model new room, however they’re larger than the gadgets changed and so have displaced different operations, together with remaining meeting, which is why it’s now situated within the new part.

Larger automation was a key driver in deciding to improve the amenities, however this was not designed to interchange workers, removed from it. Welders and assemblers are nonetheless in demand and are a valued asset of the corporate, the concept was to maneuver them to the place their abilities could possibly be higher utilised.

Lasers deliver financial savings

The 2 primary gadgets which have been introduced into the manufacturing facility are a fibre laser cutter and robotic welding cells.

Lasers have moved on significantly from the times of slicing up James Bond, and at the moment are firmly within the mainstream with the newest fibre-type cutters working significantly extra effectively than the plasma varieties they’re changing.

The fibre refers back to the optical fibre throughout the head which is used to generate the slicing beam at particular wavelengths which, in flip, relies upon upon the uncommon earth metals with which they’re doped.

The outcomes of shifting as much as this know-how are spectacular; the cuts are cleaner and the sides smoother with little or no burring. Spherical holes, that may in any other case should be drilled, are created with far higher accuracy than a plasma cutter may attain.

The mattress of the cutter can be bigger, permitting two mixer base plates to be reduce concurrently, whereas additionally it is geared up with an auto-feed system that may enable it to work as much as 15 hours with out intervention.

The corporate is delighted with how it’s performing because it provides an additional layer of high quality in addition to expediency to the manufacturing course of.

Easing into robotics

If laser slicing has been seamlessly built-in into manufacturing, robotic welding requires a for much longer and steeper studying curve.

The corporate has created a brand new function for an engineer to deliver the advantages to the fore, however it’s not going to occur in a single day.

Robotic welding is on the centre of a thousand clichés pointing to the upcoming redundancy of mere people inside manufacturing, however in actuality, robots nonetheless battle to deal with brief runs of small intricate jobs, whereas they excel in terms of longer runs or bigger straight welds.

Many of the welding continues to be executed by hand and a talented welder can nonetheless match a robotic in terms of the standard of the weld produced. The machines have but to take over at Abbey, though they’re progressing.

Elements and retail

There are three primary enterprises inside Abbey Equipment. The primary is the manufacturing of equipment at Toomevara, whereas the second, additionally primarily based on the house website, is QParts, a wholesale gross sales and distribution firm that sells to sellers and different producers solely.

In addition to the stocking of components for its personal merchandise, it carries a variety of high quality assured consumables reminiscent of plough factors, baler knives and workshop gear.

The third arm includes the 2 shops in Co. Tipperary, one at Nenagh and the opposite at Clerihan, simply to the north of Clonmel.

Naturally, the intense Orange of Abbey Equipment is to be discovered within the yards together with Massey Ferguson tractors and types reminiscent of Kverneland, Quicke and Prodig.

A household firm nonetheless

The current firm was based in 1947 by Joseph Cavanagh, though the Cavanagh household was producing farm equipment of 1 kind or one other from the late 1800s onwards.

As we speak it’s run by Clodagh Cavanagh, granddaughter of Joe, and underneath her stewardship at Toomevara, the corporate has expanded steadily and solidly, not solely adapting to the market however main it, particularly within the discipline of tanker design.

Over the past 5 to 10 years, the common-or-garden vacuum tanker has undergone monumental adjustments to the the best way by which it’s operated, and that development is about to proceed with the corporate always searching for out concepts to make them extra environment friendly.

The best impression one is left with from a go to to the the manufacturing facility is that of the air of professionalism that permeates the workplaces and manufacturing ground.

Clodagh has quietly put in place and retained a staff that’s dedicated to creating a top quality product that stands out from the group, not simply due to its color, however as a result of it implements new concepts lengthy earlier than the competitors finds itself having to following swimsuit.