Alpha Manufacturing will offer fine-finished Stainless-Steel sheet metal fabrication services for the first time in their history, following major investment to diversify their offering.
A dedicated stainless facility has been designed to house production, which will be segregated from all other production areas to avoid contamination.
At the beginning of 2019, Alpha recognised the opportunity to diversify into stainless product manufacture with demand for stainless components increasing in recent times. A major enquiry from within the food production sector eventually gave Alpha the impetus to green-light a substantial investment into dedicated stainless steel fabrication equipment.
Due to the high level of finish and exacting hygiene standards required in food processing machinery, a sterile production environment was crucial. A self-contained cell was constructed inside the existing factory, utilising floor space vacated in late 2018, when Alpha’s production office was relocated. Access to the area is restricted to the stainless-steel team only, to further reduce any possibility of contamination from mild steel or other materials.
The cell boasts a host of new machinery including a dedicated stainless only press brake, 4 x 6m bead blast room, ring roller, linishing and polishing facilities and manual weld bays. A new specialist team of stainless fabricators has also been recruited to work in the department, dedicated solely to stainless steel production.
Prototyping has been under way over the past few weeks as fabricators perfected and fine tuned their processes. Now, after official sign off from the customer, Alpha will begin full production of their first stainless steel components for supply into the food processing industry. In the space of a few months, Alpha have gone from having no facilities or experience in stainless steel manufacturing, to being capable of producing parts of the highest quality for a global food processing conglomerate.
This latest investment represents a bold step in a new direction for Alpha and again underlines their commitment to growing both the quality and breadth of their service, through investment in new technologies. These new capabilities open up a host of potential new markets and offer an exciting opportunity for Alpha to bolster their customer portfolio over the coming years.
