Stairways Midlands invests in Salvador cross-cuts

The purchase was as a result of Walsall-based production manager, Lyndon Woodward, looking to reduce operating error and create a more efficient workflow for mass produced work, with a view to allowing more time to focus on bespoke services.

Health and safety was also a factor for the team, as operatives often manually cut stock timber as small as 100mm, requiring high levels of operator skill and time.

“Automatic saws reduce that human element of mistakes by cutting set lengths,” said Mr Woodward.

The saws are the Salvador SuperPush 250, which offers high volume 90 degree cross-cutting with an automatic chain infeed loading system; and the Salvador SuperAngle 600, which provides flexibility for straight and angled cross-cutting up to +/- 70 degrees.

Both machines reduce operator skill level, reduce labour by over 50%, and provide a 100% safe working operation.

Thanks to the optimisation software and defecting facility, included as standard, yield is increased while waste is minimised.

Mr Woodward said that the operatives adapted to the company’s first automatic cross-cuts very well. “Before it would have been a normal radial arm cross-cut saw, so measuring lengths of timber, cutting it, and depending on how many they would have to count them through. Now with the automated saws it’s all batched on the lengths, the machine will count so there’s no worrying how many has been cut – it will generate what we want, it’s much simpler”.

He added that although the Salvador Superpush 250 is not yet running at full capacity, it can produce the same amount of work in an eight hour day as multiple operators working over four days.