Work and Projects PresentationBy James Horne

What is Croft Filters?• Croft Filters is an SME (Small/Medium Enterprise) specialising in

the design and manufacture of stainless steel filters.• All of the designing and manufacturing is completed in-house

at their office and workshop in Warrington.• Croft Filters has a sister company on the same site, CroftAM

(Additive Manufacturing). CroftAM was set up to manufacture a filter which couldn’t be made with standard techniques.

• More can be found out about each company at Filters.co.uk and CroftAM.co.uk

Stainless Steel Finishing Products• Stainless steel products are commonly finished using a process

called pickling. Pickling uses strong acid to clean the surface to increase the effectiveness of the steels protective layer.

• Polinox is a strong acidic solution used by Croft to pickle the stainless steel filters that they manufacture. Polinox requires the use of ventilation equipment and can be very harmful to the user if misused.

• My task was to investigate other products and assess whether a better, more efficient solution was available.

• I compiled a large report and concluded that the Avesta product range would be the best solution. I also reviewed and described their implementation into Croft in the report.

Supplier & Industry Research• During my time at Croft I was given various research based

tasks.• My first task was to find suppliers of gold wire and mesh. Wire

and mesh is used to make Dixon rings.• I also researched the machinery used to finish 3D printed items

by tumbling; I also found suppliers for deburring media.• I was tasked with market research into ceramic filters and

assessing whether it would be worth Croft investing in the machinery required to produce ceramics.

Other Projects• One of my larger projects was to compare the sizes of various

sample 3D printed parts to compare the dimensions of the CAD files, unfinished parts and parts which had been finished with various methods. I compiled a spreadsheet and an analysis of my results.

• I attended a conference ran by Innovate UK where I assisted Neil Burns as he presented about additive manufacturing.

• Using the previous roadmap for the company I created a ‘World-Class Manufacturing’ strategy document and a new roadmap.

Concluding Comments• While working at Croft I gained a good understanding of their

operations and how SME companies work.• My tasks were well rounded and gave me a solid foundation

working in engineering.• CEO Neil Burns gave me excellent concluding comments,

commending my hardworking attitude and punctuality.• Unfortunately I was not given any ‘hands on’ experience in the

workshop which will be something I will be looking for in future placements.