NEWS FROM WESTIN DRIVES

It is a pleasure to report that Westin Drives was named Service Centre of the Year in the annual awards of the Association of Electrical and Mechanical Trades.

Our Service Manager, Michael Limb, above centre, received a plaque and certificate at a gala dinner in Coventry. A video of event highlights can be seen below.

The awards showcase the best achievements from the electrical and mechanical trades sector in a global celebration of business and professional excellence.

The AEMT citation said: "After a circa £1m investment in the facilities, incorporating a 20 tonne lifting capacity, state-of the-art CNC machinery and a technical training room, Westin Drives now provides its customers with a broad range of services from its Huddersfield-based service centre. 

"The company is set-up well for the future of its industry. It is investing in recruiting and training apprentices, as it sees this as a vital requirement in filling the skills gap the industry is experiencing."

Michael said: “We were thrilled and delighted to receive the award from the AEMT. It was a great pleasure to be recognised for the effort we have expended in establishing our new facility. 

"Everyone here has played a part in achieving this honour. We are the beneficiaries of considerable investment which has been used to equip our workshop and build a team of highly skilled engineers to support our customers. 

"In doing this, we have devoted particular attention to promoting apprenticeships with the intention of acquiring and developing the skills we need for the future.”

When a major retail chain discovered the geared motors on machines in their distribution warehouses had become obsolete they turned to Westin Drives for a solution. 

The original unit was a bevel geared motor fitted with a motor-mounted inverter. The customer needed the new units to occupy the same space as the original, with the same critical mounting dimensions and the performance and durability of the originals.

Technical manager Fraser Lynch evaluated the full system in order to offer a realistic solution. The task was complicated by the fact that the customer needed to be able to retrofit motor-mounted inverters from old units, due to profibus issues.

The solution was to use the new Lenze g500 range of bevel-geared motors, which had the option of the same output flange diameter and shaft dimensions.

This had additional benefits, such as being able to use a smaller power motor (0.75kW rather than 1.1kW on the original) helping to reduce the energy consumed.

The advantages of using this type of gearbox are:

• Highly efficient right-angle gearbox with a compact design for space-optimised assembly.
• Standardised shaft and flange dimensions for easy machine integration.
• Low backlash and high torsional stiffness guarantee precise results during positioning.
• Improved gearbox cooling due to compact flange design.

‘Rightsizing’ the unit for the application means the unit operates at optimum efficiency and minimises damage in the event of a seizure on the machine. To future-proof the motor-mounted inverters, the solution can be easily retrofitted with the updated model. 
​
After an exhaustive trial the customer was delighted and placed an order for an initial 25 units.

We are delighted to announce that we are finalists in two categories of the annual awards run by the Association of Electrical and Mechanical Trades.

The awards showcase the best achievements from the electrical and mechanical trades sector in a global celebration of business and professional excellence.

Our workshop supervisor, Steve Ormondroyd, has been nominated for the Rising Star Award. This recognises junior employees who have made a significant contribution to a company and/or the industry. 
​
Steve, below, started at Westin Drives as an apprentice motor technician. He now supervises the electro-mechanical repairs team and workshop quality procedures and practices. 

Meanwhile Westin Drives has been nominated as Service Centre of the Year.

This award goes to any service centre that has achieved recognition for services to industry in areas such as technical expertise and advice, environmental considerations, ingenuity, market penetration and growth, and on-time delivery and service.

The winners will be announced on November 29 at a gala dinner in Coventry.

The machining capability at Westin Drives has been enhanced by the arrival of a CNC lathe. With a little help from our team, it was delivered to our precision engineering department.

The benefits to customers of this sophisticated machine include:

• Exceptional accuracy
• Consistency
• Faster turnaround of jobs
• Lower production costs
• Increased volume
• Greater flexibility in manufacture

The provision of CAD software on the lathe allows our engineers to design bespoke components for customers or to import their files in DXF format. After the completion of a job, files can be stored for repeat work.

It also means that a particular design can be manufactured tens, hundreds or thousands of times – and each finished product will be identical. 

Our machine shop supervisor said: "We are pleased that this new extension of our capability offers significant benefits to established and potential customers."

​When a 57-tooth triplex sprocket failed on a conveyor belt at a Yorkshire quarry, the company turned to the precision engineering department at Westin Drives for a solution.

The worn sprocket was no longer obtainable so our machine shop supervisor Matt Phillips, right, set about making a new component from scratch. Manufacturing bespoke components is one of our specialities.

Detailed calculations were made to establish the optimum curve of the 57 teeth to ensure their durability. The triplex sprocket was then turned on a  lathe before being cut on a CNC milling machine in a project that took three days from start to finish.

To give our customers the best electric motor rewind service, Westin Drives has invested in a portable, 12kV surge tester. 

This sophisticated device is employed to diagnose problems with motor windings that arrive for repair at our Huddersfield Service Centre. It is also used for the final check on all finished jobs before they are returned to the customer.

Surge tests are vital because they are capable of revealing turn-to-turn insulation weaknesses. Such weaknesses, found at voltages above the operating potential of the device under test, can be signs of the impending failure of a motor. Surge tests are also used to find shorts and other faults in windings and coils.

An added benefit is that it can be taken on site for the swift diagnosis of a problem or trending the condition of a winding over time as part of a predictive maintenance plan.

In addition, the surge tester generates a comprehensive report on the state of each tested winding, which is then provided to the customer.

​We are delighted to announced that Westin Drives has achieved the British Standards ISO 9001: 2015 certification.

This is an internationally recognised benchmark for quality within an organisation.

The accreditation ensures suppliers and customers can have confidence in knowing that our company consistently meets the high standards set out by the International Organisation for Standardisation.

In short, it means:

• We put our customers first, making sure we consistently meet their needs. 
• We work in a more efficient way, as our processes are aligned and understood by everyone in the business.
• We meet the necessary statutory and regulatory requirements.

Service Manager Michael Limb, above, says: "This is good news for everyone because it will help us to continually improve our operations and enhance customer satisfaction.”

The refurbishment of Grove Works, the 19th century former textile mill in which Westin Drives is based, has won a design award.

Huddersfield Civic Society said that the five-storey, stone-built mill was undergoing ‘a remarkable transformation to create a productive working unit’ .

At a ceremony in Huddersfield Town Hall, a plaque to mark the award was given to John Eastwood, chairman of the Westin Group, and Ivan Moorhouse, who led the refurbishment project.

The judges described Grove Works as a distinctive structure along an otherwise nondescript section of St Andrew’s Road. 'Great effort and costs have gone into removing unsightly outbuildings, dealing with an extensive sump of below surface water and creating a functional modern extension,’ they said.

‘Stonework, windows and doors have been refurbished providing a much-improved entrance. These improvements constitute phase one of a programme that will take many years to fully realise but demonstrate the value of retaining and improving buildings for productive use and employment.’

The mill housed part of the spinner and weaver, T and H Blamires, for nearly 100 years until the business was wound up in 1961. It was subsequently occupied by a yarn spinner, Z Hinchliffe, until that firm moved its operation elsewhere.

A fault on a textile mill machine has led to improved efficiency for a West Yorkshire company.

​An engineer from Westin Drives was called out to the mill because of a problem with the drive system of a warping machine. 

​Its 45 year-old, oil-filled, variable-speed drive had ground to a halt during busy production.

The unit was removed for repair but our electrical engineer Barrie Harkness suggested an upgrade to the customer – which was accepted.

It was pointed out that this would enable production speed to be increased, so a target value of 50% additional output was established.

Using a WEG inverter, WEG motor and Motovario gearbox from stock, the machine was up and running in record time, with new sprockets replacing the worn originals.

The project also proved worthwhile for saving energy, as the old system ran continuously whether the machine was actually producing or not.

The new system retrofit only runs when required and at an optimum speed to match requirements.