Summary
• Timber engineering equipment accounts for 50% of AV Birch’s business.
• Truss presses and open web presses are key products.
• The Uni-Roll open web beam roller was developed last year.
• Sales of AV Birch’s automated truss stacker are expected to increase.

The normal working week at machinery manufacturer AV Birch Ltd just got a little longer. Instead of the usual Monday to Thursday 7am-5pm, Friday 7am-11.30am routine, and despite having taken on seven extra staff since the new year, the Shropshire-based company is now putting in full stints on both Friday and Saturday to keep up with demand.

If the market for the company’s roof truss presses and open web presses is improving, then it’s proof to timber engineering director Alan Ritchie that the wider construction industry must be picking up too. “It’s a good sign for the whole industry,” he said. “Customers are buying machines because they’re already busy or believe they’re going to be.”

A tour of the 15,500ft² factory reveals gargantuan chunks of raw steel being machined into shape. To the untrained eye it looks slightly hellish, but it is possible to make out three truss presses in various stages of production. One is freshly painted in the AV Birch livery and is ready to roll, destined for Pasquill Roof Trusses.

Busy start

As the extended working hours indicate, it’s been a busy start to the year. “We didn’t have a bad year in 2009,” said Mr Ritchie, “but we’ve sold as much in the first month of this year, for delivery by April, as we did in the whole of last year. It’s a fantastic sign that things are picking up and people have got confidence again.”

Looking back, AV Birch’s product portfolio and diverse customer base has seen it through the construction crisis of the last couple of years. Timber engineering machinery and equipment now account for around 50% of the business – it has been as high as 80% – but the company also specialises in bespoke fabrication of mild steel, stainless steel and aluminium, from light steel to heavy plate and section.

Its rural location, just outside Bridgnorth, results in commissions from the agricultural sector, and contracts with the Ministry of Defence and the offshore oil industry are also part of the portfolio. It also manufactures heavy machinery and equipment, some of it in GRP or aluminium, for a sister division, AV Access, which specialises in access equipment, much of which is destined for the transport industry. And recent health and safety-driven investment in the railway network has resulted in good business.

TImber engineering

On the timber engineering side, truss presses and open web presses are the key products, with the truss presses accounting for around 30% of that particular mix. Although many of the components are standard, all the presses are now bespoke. And, unusually, everything is fabricated at the factory before being shipped to the customer where the kit is assembled and commissioned by AV Birch’s own team of installers. Installation typically takes four days, most of which is the table assembly.

“We have a lot to offer the export market, so we exhibited on JJ Smith’s stand at Ligna last year, and we think we may have been the only company there that actually manufactures in the UK,” said Mr Ritchie.

Developments in roof truss press technology are market driven. Automated “Teach & Go” pressing, whereby the pressing positions of the first truss in a batch are stored, with subsequent trusses being automatically pressed, is already an option.

“We’re very flexible with the roof truss presses,” said Mr Ritchie. “We can provide fully-automated technology – but we’d need to see the volume market for it is there.”

Where investment and development has been focused is on the open web press side of the business and this mirrors a trend for many truss manufacturers who have branched out into metal web production.

“We really concentrated on the open web production last year because we knew it was going to be a growth area – they’re now used in walls and rafters as well as floors – and, because last year was relatively quiet we had time for product development. The result was the Uni-Roll open web beam roller.”

The Uni-Roll works by rolling on top of the web and plates so the pressing action is smooth and continuous, rather than stop, start pressing. “Production is a lot quicker and it produces a very high quality beam,” said Mr Ritchie.

The first Uni-Roll was trialled last summer by a long-standing roof truss manufacturing customer, which brought some of its production into AV Birch’s factory. The factory environment meant that, not only could teething problems be ironed out, but the users’ own suggestions could be incorporated into the prototype.

Eight months on, two Uni-Rolls are in operation, at Yorkshire Timber Engineering and at Thomas Armstrong and three are on order.

Panel roof systems

For AV Birch it’s an indication that traditional roof truss manufacturers are moving with the times. “Open web beams are being incorporated into rafter systems and roof panel systems, so they can be seen as competition [to roof trusses] or as opportunities, depending on your viewpoint,” said Mr Ritchie.

“There’s a lot of investment by the system providers [Gang-Nail, MiTek, Wolf Systems and ITW Alpine] into development of these products and the only reason for that is that they can see the market for them. They will be pushed through and we can complement that because we can come up with production solutions.

“We have been asked about manufacturing equipment to produce panel roof systems, but haven’t got head-on involved with it yet because the volume isn’t there at the moment – people are still feeling their way. But they [panel roof systems] are here to stay and they are going to take some of the volume away from the trussed rafter market, so they’ll be a threat if you don’t get involved in them and an opportunity if you do.”

Handling and lifting

He added that panel systems raise the issue of handling and lifting. “They are a lot heavier than roof trusses, so there are significant logistical and health and safety requirements. We can draw on the skills of the AV Access side of the business which has cranage expertise, so there are a lot of opportunities for us.”

In fact, handling equipment is seen as one of the areas of growth for AV Birch and Alan Ritchie is expecting sales of its automated truss stacker to increase. The stacker moves the truss horizontally on powered rollers and automatically lifts it to a vertical position, then moves laterally to create a stack. Not only does it cut out any manual lifting, it also frees up the operator to start pressing the next truss, thereby speeding up the process.

The company also manufactures a “Timber Live Deck” which moves timber on powered rollers to the correct saw location and then feeds it to the saw parallel to the cutting position.

Another growth area is likely to be in servicing. The company already operates a breakdown service, with a 24-hour response time anywhere in the UK and, in addition to servicing its own kit, it can also service all of a customer’s machinery and equipment, hoists and cranes. In addition, it is the approved installation and service agent for Randek Saws and can manufacture or repair any of its component parts.

It’s now starting to look towards more formalised service contracts across the board. “A lot of people recognise that they’ve neglected servicing, but now realise that if you don’t maintain machines you shorten their life expectancy,” said Mr Ritchie. “We can service all types of equipment, so we can be the one point of contact for companies for servicing, breakdown and spare parts – and if we don’t have the spare part, we can make it.”