Hexagon opens new metrology facility for subcontractors
The brand new MEPC metrology facility has been officially opened at Silverstone Park managed by Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence.
The purpose-built, 3,000 sq ft, state-of-the-art facility has been set up within the Innovation Centre of Silverstone Park and officially opened its doors on 15th July with an event attended by an impressive array of local dignitaries and technical editors.
Roz Bird, commercial director of Silverstone Park, says: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with the team at Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence to launch this fantastic new facility, which will provide SME businesses with unique access to a wealth of support and specialist expertise.”
Roz has been instrumental in driving forward MEPC’s ambitious plans to transform the Silverstone Park brand and business proposition, which upon completion, will see over 200 companies across the high-tech sectors based on the site.
Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence general manager, Brett Green said: “Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence has been at the forefront of the motorsport sector for many, many years, helping manufacturers and engineers develop components, parts and finished vehicles. In the UK the motorsport sector is worth in excess of 10 billion pounds, the vast majority of which is centred within 100 and 150 miles radius of this location. Our interests and our own activities at Hexagon extend from 4-wheel to 2-wheel motorsports. For over 10 years we have been a technical partner to Red Bull Racing in Milton Keynes and over those years they have really helped and challenged us to improve our products, our services and our operating, and we hope to bring some of that challenge and improvement to this centre here. We have also more recently become a technical partner to the FIM World Superbike Championships and we provide valuable data all around the world.
“So really when we first considered coming to Silverstone Park, it was the motorsport connection that caught our interest. However, this has developed and together with our partners at the MEPC we have identified a huge amount of local companies, both large and small, operating in diverse sectors. What we have found is that the common denominator for all those businesses is the determination to produce at the highest quality.
“So together with our partners at the MEPC, these are the customers that we will focus on, to provide them with what we call datable information on which they can make informed decisions that improve their processes. For example, we have work going through the facility now from the aerospace sector, the defence sector and the medical sector. These are typical of the small businesses that can benefit from the services that we are providing.
“We believe that quality drives productivity.”
John Drover, sales manager for Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be launching this specialist facility within the iconic Silverstone Park and are hugely excited about the real, tangible difference this will make to not only SME and start-up businesses but to the engineering subcontractor industry as a whole.
“Our engineers and application metrology specialists are able to deliver inspection, validation and quality control of components through the use of Hexagon systems which are capable of measuring to the sub-micron level, enabling our customers to achieve high performance and accuracy each and every time. But being able to verify and validate predefined standards for accuracy, reliability and precision is something that many smaller businesses are unable to achieve due to financial restraints and restrictions.
“Through this new facility, we are opening up exclusive access to both equipment and support to enable Tier 2, 3 and 4 suppliers across the UK to achieve first-rate provable standards. By also offering dedicated training programmes, along with networking opportunities, this new facility will not only help facilitate growth and development across the SME sector, but will help raise standards industry-wide.”
Hexagon believes that start-up and SME businesses in Britain deserve the very best support and its vision is to revolutionise the future for these enterprises across the advanced engineering world. This will be achieved by providing unique access to the most cutting-edge equipment available, opportunities to network and develop relationships, with access to world-leading training and development.
For further information regarding Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence’s new Metrology Facility at Silverstone Park, contact:
Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence
Tel: 0870 446 2667
Email: silverstonemetrology@hexagon.com
www.hexagon.mi.com