06.06.2015

Niftylift opening

UK based aerial lift manufacturer Niftylift held the official opening of its all new greenfield production facility in Shenley Wood, Milton Keynes yesterday with hundreds of customers and distributors attending.

The company, celebrating 30 years in business, has been gradually moving production across town from its old plant in Stonebridge since the start of the year as the overall building was completed. So far six of its eight assembly lines are installed in the massive new building.
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The new building covers 12,000 square metres of the 28,000 square metres developed space

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The main visitor entrance

The old facility was an all new purpose built facility in 1994, with the company having outgrown its first plant in the town. But it has been bursting at the seams for a number of years, as demand for its boom and trailer lifts has grown.
Finally early last year work began on the new state of the art facility which should take production up to around 80 units a week, although capacity is expected to be around 130 units a week. The company’s biggest challenge at the moment is keeping pace with demand and reducing the current lead times.
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The company had every model on display showing how wide its product line has become

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Visitors came and went throughout a warm sunny day

The company is retaining the Stonebridge facility for used equipment, repairs, service and rebuilds, while one can imagine it coming into service to help with production when the new facility first reaches capacity. The 12 acre site has plans though for two more phases of expansion, adding to the current 12,000 square metres (130,000sqft) under cover – with seven acres (28,000 sqm) of the site currently covered with building and yard.

In addition to the two facilities in Milton Keynes the company has a fabrication plant in the Nottingham area. While it is early days the company says that not only has the production move gone relatively smoothly, but that production efficiency and product quality - as measured in faults picked up at the end of the line - have both improved significantly.

More on the new facility in future editions of Cranes & Access and Kran & Bühne
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Inside the main hall there was an extensive display covering all aspects of the company and its history

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An architects model of the new facility

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The display included a competition to test your skills in Lean Production assembly techniques

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The large open plan office area

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One key objective was to bring all the offices together and offer a better work environment

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The production hall will eventually house all eight assembly lines

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The environmental aspects of the building include automated lighting that constantly adjusts to the make the maximum use natural light