Martin Cairncross Engineering Ltd

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by Martin Cairncross Engineering Ltd's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from Martin Cairncross Engineering Ltd is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett

Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles

www.mcairncross.co.uk

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

56 | MARTIN CAIRNCROSS ENGINEERING LTD

Martin Cairncross, founder and

managing director

Fingertip touch pneumatic

scraping system

Martin Cairncross Engineering supplies equipment to

attach to coating machines in the metal decorating

industry to over 120 countries. Founded 40 years ago by

Martin and Linda Cairncross, the company has responded to the

sharp contraction in the UK market by developing export markets

– these now account for some 80 per cent of turnover. Its key

selling point is to offer longer-lasting components at cheaper

cost than available from original equipmentmanufacturers.

During the past decade, government regulation has forced aggressive coatings

on the industry, culminating in new challenges to the life of the existing tools and

equipment, reducing their “life expectancy” to hours rather than days.

Our challenge, therefore, is to develop robust solutions using state-of-the-art

AutoCAD design equipment and to manufacture using the latest computer

numerically-controlled machinery.

It has taken several years of research and development until we found the solution –

the fingertip touch pneumatic scraping system. This led to a patented solution which

would keep the can-making lines running for 48 to 72 hours with five-minute

breaks as opposed to stopping about every seven hours with a one-hour break. The

system also has a unique feature of extending scraper blade life by a factor of four,

and the extra-hard-duty scraper cylinder has an increased lifespan of 20 years.

We launched our new product to the industry at international trade shows in

Germany. These are ideal environments to meet and greet future clients and

personally offer reassurance about our products.

FACTS ABOUT

MARTIN CAIRNCROSS

ENGINEERING LTD

»Founder and managing

director: Martin Cairncross

»Established in 1966

»Based in Caldicot,

Monmouthshire

»Services: Component

manufacture

»No. of employees: 6

»2016/17 turnover increased by

70 per cent

»Sales to 120 counties

»www.mcairncross.co.uk

Martin Cairncross

Engineering Ltd

57MARTIN CAIRNCROSS ENGINEERING LTD |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2018

Given our success at these trade shows

I would strongly recommend attending

with an overhead projector to show

videos. International trade shows

attract businessmen from around

the world and we are very keen to

capitalise on these opportunities. The

ability to handle the product makes

them feel comfortable with the

potential. We decided to apply for the

innovation award at the first outing

and we were delighted to win silver at

the Essen trade fair. This was a strong

recommendation and reassuring for

the clients to see the possible merits of

the new system.

Demand for the equipment pushed

sales up 70 per cent over the 2016/17

financial year and initial installations

took place in the UK and France

followed by the Czech Republic, Israel,

Dubai, Netherlands, Belgium and

Turkey. In recent times the largest

can maker in the world, based in the

USA, heard about our system and sent

a fact-finding party over to assess its

potential. They liked what they saw

and asked us to design a bespoke

system to meet the requirements

of their machines. Our design was

accepted and orders were placed

to run in several of their plants in

theUSA.

The can-making teams agree that the

time taken for expected stoppages

is now only a fraction of what it

was previously, increasing weekly

production by 15 per cent or gaining

one day during a seven-day-a-week

production. This massive increase in

output offers a payback time of a

couple of months.

Future

We see our future as designing more

efficient systems working with new

can-making equipment which will be

capable of increasing production in

the challenging areas that are often

avoided. This is the essence of our

fingertip touch scraping system.

Detecting mist on

cylinder

Increasing weekly

production by

15per cent or

gaining one day

during a seven-

day-a-week

production – this

massive increase

in output offers a

payback time of

a couple of

months

“

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

58 | MARTIN CAIRNCROSS ENGINEERING LTD

Our whole culture is to apply

innovative ideas in a pragmatic

approach, using our knowledge gained

over 40 years within the can-making

industry combined with our dedicated

workforce. This sends out a clear

message to our clients that nothing

is too much trouble and we are more

than willing to meet their demands at

short notice.

Future innovation for quality

conformity

Five years of research and

development and several thousand

pounds developing electronics

produced a “mist detection unit”

which allows the can maker to

improve the quality of their product

and reduce wastage. This system

helps the operator locate sheet

contamination the instant it occurs.

On detection, the unit stops the sheets

being fed into the machine, thus

saving thousands of sheets fromruin.

The device also has the ability to

send a message to the print office

showing the time and printing line and

number of sheets which have been

contaminated, or a text message to the

supervisor’s mobile phone.

Consistent export orders

repair and return

The range of our services includes

the servicing and refurbishment of

associated components working

with our equipment. Each year we

import/refurbish/export thousands of

components which are designed to

wear and be periodically resharpened.

Our revolutionary resharpening

technique extends the life of the

scraping edge. The finished components

are checked and certificated on our

quality control system, which replicates

the customer’s production line. This

ensures zero time-wasting when the

component is put into production. It

outperforms our competitors’ service in

many countries, culminating in weekly

batches of components arriving from a

radius of several thousand miles away.

Martin Cairncross Engineering Ltd is

taking a leading role in the development

of sheet preparation with aggressive

can coatings. Fortunately, the industry

supports us in our endeavours and is

very interested when our new products

become available. This reinforces the

ethos of our company that the value of

a business is the people who produce

consistently good products.

Demand for the

equipment

pushed sales up

70 per cent

over the

2016/17

financial year,

and initial

installations

took place in

the UK and

France followed

by the Czech

Republic, Israel,

Dubai, USA,

Netherlands,

Belgium and

Turkey

“

Mobile sending mist

detection message

Extra-hard-duty scraper

cylinder and blade

www.mcairncross.co.uk

This article was sponsored by Martin Cairncross Engineering Ltd. The Parliamentary Review is wholly funded by the representatives who write for it. The publication in which this article originally appeared contained the following foreword from Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng.

Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng

This year’s Parliamentary Review reflects on a tumultuous and extraordinary year, globally and nationally. As well as being an MP, I am a keen student of history, and I am conscious that 2020 would mark the end of an era. It will be remembered as the year in which we concluded Brexit negotiations and finally left the European Union. Above all, it will be remembered as the year of Covid-19.

In our fight against the pandemic, I am delighted that our vaccination programme is beginning to turn the tide – and I pay tribute to the British businesses, scientists and all those who have helped us to achieve this. But the virus has dealt enormous damage, and we now have a duty to rebuild our economy.

We must ensure that businesses are protected. We have made more than £350 billion available to that end, with grants, business rates relief and our furlough scheme supporting more than 11 million people and jobs in every corner of the country, maintaining livelihoods while easing the pressure on employers. The next step is to work with business to build back better and greener, putting the net zero carbon challenge at the heart of our recovery. This is a complex undertaking, but one which I hope will be recognised as a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Through the prime minister’s ten point plan for a green industrial revolution, we can level up every region of the UK, supporting 250,000 green jobs while we accelerate our progress towards net zero carbon emissions.

With our commitment to raise R&D spending to 2.4% of GDP and the creation of the Advanced Research & Invention Agency, we are empowering our fantastic researchers to take on groundbreaking research, delivering funding with flexibility and speed. With this approach, innovators will be able to work with our traditional industrial heartlands to explore new technologies, and design and manufacture the products on which the future will be built – ready for export around the globe.

And I believe trade will flourish. We are a leading nation in the fight against climate change. As the host of COP26 this year, we have an incredible opportunity to market our low-carbon products and expertise. Our departure from the EU gives us the chance to be a champion of truly global free trade; we have already signed trade deals with more than 60 countries around the world.

As we turn the page and leave 2020 behind, I am excited about the new chapter which Britain is now writing for itself, and for the opportunities which lie ahead of us.

Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng
Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy