Montracon paintwork on site
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by Dan Gilkes • Trailer manufacturer Montracon has extended its Woodville plant in Swadlincote, Derbys with a five-booth paintshop. The :£2m extension was officially opened last week by local MP Edwina Currie.
Shot-blasting and spray booths bring all paint work at the site in-house, which managing director David Pacey says will improve quality and cut production times.
He adds: "Because of the high demands of the customer you need top facilities today. This plant now equals anything in Europe." The trailer market is far from buoyant at present; Montracon is taking a longterm view of investment, securing jobs at the Derbyshire site. The paintshop also gives the factory a greater refurbishment capability, explains Pacey. Sales and marketing director Chris Curzon agrees: "The market place has driven the industry to improve its quality and you can't do it on the cheap. It makes us more efficient having paint in-house and we'll pass any savings on to the customers."
Montracon, which is part of Ballivissey Holdings, has grown strongly since 1993, though Pacey sees 1997 as a consolidation year. "We have the plant right," he says, "now let's start filling capacity."
Last year was the first time Montracon has seen much export activity and Curzon is keen to build on that.
The company has recently opened a sales operation in Germany, selling UKbuilt trailers, but Curzon admits that the strength of the pound is taking a toll on export growth. In addition, continental manufacturers are using the high value of Sterling to make inroads into the UK trailer market.
Montracon's Woodville site can build some 1,500 trailers a year as well as carrying out painting work for the firm's other five manufacturing sites.
The new paintshop includes four full-size spray booths and a smaller unit for painting components. Each booth can be heated to 60°C and is fed with heated and filtered air through a plenum ceiling.
The ovens are equipped with air hoists to lift the trailers for underside spraying. Breathing quality air is piped to all spray and shot-blast booths from a central compressor.