Hoffmann Group UK, a leading system partner for quality tools, workstations and personal protective equipment (PPE), has announced the launch of its remote consultation offering to support manufacturers keeping the UK running during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Using a suite of digital technologies, such as Microsoft Teams and Skype, manufacturers are able to enlist the support of a specialist consultant remotely. With the aid of these technologies, manufacturers can bring the consultant directly into their existing workspaces to make bespoke recommendations in areas such as material types and machining optimization, driving greater levels of efficiency on the factory floor across various fields of manufacture, such as aerospace and automotive.
Tim Paddison, managing director of Hoffmann Group UK, said: “Like many organizations, we have had to assess how we can best maintain service levels to customers during this unprecedented situation. The manufacturing industry has a crucial role to play in the ongoing fight against Covid-19, assisting the emergency production of ventilators for the NHS being a prime example.
“Our industry is simultaneously among the hardest hit by the outbreak, and one being relied upon to provide the solutions needed to keep the UK both safe and working. With the challenges facing the sector, it has never been more crucial for us to come together and create new, innovative ways to share our expertise with each other and ensure our industry can overcome present disruption and not just survive, but thrive, in the months to come.”
Through this service, Hoffmann supports manufacturers in both refining their existing processes, and creating new specifications and workflows that optimise both efficiency and productivity.
The remote consultation service is now open to all manufacturing businesses that are continuing to operate throughout the Covid-19 outbreak, and providing additional support in areas such as pivoting to ventilator production. These businesses will be able to benefit from experienced consultants’ extensive knowledge base around how best to adapt existing machinery and equipment to produce components that will be used in medical equipment.
Feasibly, a substantial majority of manufacturers across the industry can effectively pivot to new areas such as ventilator production, however, barriers currently exist for many in the form of lack of access to the correct tools and technical expertise, as well as field-specific knowledge gaps around required material types and working methodologies.
