With 25,000ft2 of manufacturing space and some of the latest CAD/CAM and CNC technology, Yorkshire-based Bedfords uses large quantities of MDF and plywood to produce workbenches, desk tops and shelves.
Prior to the installation of the new Koolkut wall saw, the company had cut sheet materials using a hand-held circular saw and trestles, which, as Matthew Blackall, project design manager, explained, had become out-dated.
“The main problems were the space required, and the mess created,” he said. “We cut a lot of 10×4 sheets – one of these laid out on trestles with working space around it, completely blocked our main loading bay.
“And the dust was appalling, getting onto and into everything, including finished products waiting to be shipped out.”
There were other problems, including health and safety risks, the time taken to cut large numbers of sheets and the need for more than one person to be on hand to position and cut larger sheets.
Bedfords installed a Sagetech Series 2 Koolkut saw, which, says Mr Blackall, immediately freed up a large amount of space.
“What used to take two days with the old circular saw and trestles now takes about half a day,” he said. “It has sped up sheet cutting by about four times.”
