Following a hugely successful year in 2011 and continuing strong growth in demand for its products, MAPAL UK, a leading supplier of cutting tools for precision machining applications, has announced a major expansion of manufacturing operations at its headquarters in Rugby. The company has already purchased additional production machinery and is currently recruiting skilled staff to operate a second shift.
In order to continue meeting the requirements of its customers for fast delivery of highly customised cutting tools, and to make provision for anticipated future business growth, MAPAL UK has made a large investment in its production plant. This includes the installation of a new state-of-the-art Vollmer CNC wire-eroding machine with a 12-station automatic loader, which is ideally suited to the production of PCD cutting tools with complex geometries.
In addition, the company is seeking to recruit additional operatives with skills in inspection, turning, milling, cutter grinding, and CNC wire-erosion. The new staff and equipment will increase MAPAL UK’s manufacturing capacity by around 25%, providing the company with much greater operational flexibility and enabling it to further improve its already excellent customer service.
MAPAL UK’s expansion coincides with another important development at the company – on 1st January 2012, Wayne Whitehouse was appointed General Manager.
Wayne has now taken over day-to-day responsibilities for running the company from John Claypole who headed up MAPAL’s UK operations for more than 18 very successful years. John will, however, continue in his role as a director of the company both to ensure a smooth transition to the new management structure, and to assist with the company’s on-going projects expansion, particularly in the aerospace sector.
