BMW's new engine manufacturing plant at Hams Hall near Birmingham builds BMW four cylinder petrol engines. Representing an investment of some £400 million, it has a capacity of over 400,000 units per year.
As one of the most highly automated plants in the world, it relies on more than 700 torque wrenches and a full range of calibration equipment supplied by Norbar Torque Tools to keep it running smoothly.
BMW has specified Norbar Torque Tools for all manual torque tools, testers and calibration equipment used at Hams Hall. From the smallest 5 N.m tools up to large 760 N.m wrenches. Most are "P" type production wrenches, which have no scale and have a sealed adjustment, making them perfect for the production environment.
Paul Ward is Metrology Manager at Hams Hall and has overall responsibility for calibration and measurement on site, as well as liaising with outside suppliers on these vital issues.
"After a careful assessment of possible suppliers we chose Norbar because they could supply the complete package of tools and calibration equipment," he says. "They also offer us good technical support, they have a UKAS accredited laboratory, the company is well-established and their products represent good value for money."
Each of the 10 production teams has its own multi-function (MuFu) room where quality checks are carried out and tools stored.
Every MuFu room is equipped with two Norbar Professional Torque Testers (Pro-Test) instruments, which enable operators to check that their wrenches are accurately calibrated before use. Each Pro-Test comes with three easily interchangeable torque transducers, enabling wrenches of up to 1500 N.m to be tested.
Every Norbar wrench has its own unique reference number to ensure traceability, and all operators are issued with their own set of torque tools to encourage a sense of ownership and responsibility for their care.
The engines made by Hams Hall are hardly touched by human hand and Norbar torque wrenches play a vital role in keeping this flagship BMW plant in perfect tune.
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