Fast fastener supply helped gain fabrication work When a fabricator urgently needed to produce a prototype assembly, a UK fastener supplied M4, M5 and M6 thin sheet nuts immediately, so the contract was secured. When SP Fabrications urgently needed to produce a prototype assembly for a potential new customer, fastener supplier Northern Precision reacted immediately - with the result that SP Fabrications not only secured a valuable contract but also subsequently won additional work from the client. Brian Norton, a director at the Blackburn-based precision sheet metalworking specialist, explains: ‘The casing, a new design to accommodate beer dispensing valve cylinders, was required within 48 hours, so we obviously had to act extremely fast if we were to produce the components and deliver the prototype on schedule.’ He said: Working from supplied drawings, the set of pre-coated Plastisol 0.9mm thick panels were soon produced via our CNC punching and bending machines, but we also needed a supply of M4, M5 and M6 thin sheet nuts - and we needed them quickly.

After contacting Northern Precision, the panels were driven down to Northern Precision’s site in Doncaster where we obtained the sheet nuts and used the company’s tooling to assemble the unit.

We then delivered the prototype to the customer in Sheffield, who immediately ordered a batch of production parts.’ The casings - and similar products from 1.2mm stainless steel panels - are destined for installation in, for example, the new Wembley Stadium and at Arsenal Football Club’s new Emirates Stadium at Ashburton Grove.

‘We were very grateful to Northern Precision - the service we received was first-class and it enabled us to win these prestigious contracts.

As a result, we source all our fasteners from them,’ said Norton.

Northern Precision supplies a wide range of products to SP Fabrications, including clinch studs and bushes, blind sheet nuts and round rivet bushes, as well as tooling that eliminates time-consuming manual insertion methods.

In addition to the hydro-pneumatic KJ60 rivet nut installation tool, SP Fabrications also uses the recently-introduced Rivedrill attachment.

This easily and quickly converts a cordless and electric drill into an automatic blind rivet and blind sheet nut placement tool.

Suitable for 2.4 to 6mm blind rivets, Rivedrill simply attaches to a drill and is a low-cost alternative to hand tools.

Among a wide range of components being produced by SP Fabrications for a varied customer base across many industry sectors, the casings are currently being produced in batches of 25-off, and each casing set comprises 16 separate components that are produced by newly-installed CNC punching and bending machines at the company’s extensive site.

This high-tech equipment, which complements a CAD facility, is the latest evidence of how the 12-employee firm is: ‘Investing in its future by providing customers with right-first-time, high quality cost-effective components’, said Norton.

The company started life three years ago with secondhand sheet metalworking equipment, and the recent investment in CNC technology represented: ‘A giant leap forward in our ability to cost-effectively process small batch work for a wide variety of clients’, Norton said.

SP Fabrications’ continued growth is mirrored by its unswerving loyalty to BS EN ISO 9001:2000-accredited Northern Precision, which Norton described as: ‘Our one-stop fastener specialist.’ Northern Precision maintains a stock of 5,000 standard line items covering most applications and materials - for example, self-clinching fasteners, rivet bushes, sheet nuts, high-strength and broaching fasteners, weld nuts and studs, cage nuts and blind rivets, as well as special turned and cold-formed components to customer requirements.

It is this extensive product capability, coupled with keen prices and high-level customer service that Brian Norton says is unrivalled in the fastener supply industry: ‘And it is why we single-source from Northern Precision.’ Norton concluded: ‘We are looking to double the workforce and our turnover and profit within the next 12 months.

We have the expertise and the machines to do that, and with companies like Northern Precision working with us, we will not fail.’