Page 59 - Hub 4 Magazine issue 53

“Our compact range of machines can easily be fitted into a 40ft container meaning that we keep shipping and movement costs to a minimum for our clients. As we’ve developed larger machines we have put a lot of resource into making sure that we design them so that they too can be folded down easily and quickly, meaning they too can also put inside a 40ft container, Portafill have many patents registered around this technology. This means that we can keep shipping costs to a minimum for our global client base and they in turn can easily transport them onto other projects if required. With the current global market now educated and much more accepting of compact machines we are very well positioned to maximise on this”.
“Our current production capacity will be increased with the addition of a phase two extension to this current facility in 2019. This will enable us to ramp up production capacity as demand increases and we will eventually take our team to around 110 people over the next two years. We’ve also recently introduced some new machines into the range, at Hillhead this year we launched a new cone crusher and a new MR-6 scalper which were both really well received at the show.”
Colin then took us on a production tour around the site “We’ve invested heavily in this new facility, including new jigs which can rotate the assemblies 360 degrees during the welding process making it much quicker and safer, along with a complete system of extraction torches for welding meaning that all fumes and smoke are extracted out through a series of extraction pipes making the environment much cleaner. We have also made sure that all welders have air-fed masks. Once welded the assemblies are placed outside to oxidise slightly, as this makes it easier for them to be shot- blasted. The shot-blast facility here has a mesh floor so that all the shot is captured and recycled after blasting making it much more environmentally friendly. Our paint booth can be divided into two with a middle roller door allowing us to paint in the first half and then bake, whilst they move to the second half to continue painting other items and then bake them. We can also accommodate larger assemblies by opening the middle door, which is ideal for items such as conveyors. We also galvanise our machines as much as possible giving them a much longer working life.
“Our final assembly area features our main line where all machines are assembled and quality checked before moving through to our dedicated testing and dispatch building. We thoroughly test every single machine here for an 8hr period making sure that it is tested against a 150point check-list to see how it performs. Only after passing this does it get prepared for dispatch. We can accommodate around 3-4 machines here at any one time and have purpose-built inspection pits to check all around each machine. Currently we have three machines being tested, one going to Japan, one to Norway and one bound for South Africa. As part of this facility we have a custom-built loading bay and ramp where we can accommodate both curtain side trailers and containers allowing for quick and easy loading of machines for dispatch as we have incorporated bays at 1.5m and 1.2m high.”
Fabrication area with rotating jigs for welding Shot-blasting area
Custom built research and development area
Final assembly
Fabrication
UK Dealer
SCG Supplies Ltd are the dealer for Portafill Screens and Crushers in Great Britain. Director of the company, Paul Thorne is very pleased with both the Portafill team and their products “We were approached by Portafill just over two years ago and we have been amazed how well the product has been received by our customers. We put this down to three, obvious things; innovative design, the best build quality and an unrivalled level of customer backup from the manufacturer. This equipment will, inevitably take significant market share once full awareness of the brand and what it stands for is demonstrated through the growing number of machines around the country.”
For more information on Portafill please visit www.portafill.com or call Colin Rafferty on +44 (0)28 8772 3505.
www.hub-4.com Nov 2018 - Issue 53
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