The judges were impressed by SC Group’s success in winning a £75m plus contract for its military vehicle business, Supacat, from the Australian Government and more recent wins for Norway and New Zealand. SC Group has also developed new business streams, such as its SC Innovation business, in different market sectors including marine and energy. The privately owned family business employs over 200 people.
SC Group Operations Director, Lizzie Jones, who accepted the award, said, “We are delighted to receive this award which rewards the whole company’s hard work and success producing world beating products”.
The carriage is powered by a Four-Track-Drive system from Bosch Rextroth to deliver the exceptional traction for negotiating steep gradients and rough shingle. The new concept is for a `non-powered carriage` variant and the project is being driven by the opportunity to make considerable savings for lifeboat stations with more benign conditions. Subject to successful trials, the implementation of the new variant will substantially reduce the costs of components, production processes and in-service costs.
SC Innovation will perform the detailed design to modify the carriage to non-powered with the work and drawing package due for completion in January 2017. SC Innovation engineers will support the RNLI who will conduct trials of the new variant as well as Bosch Rexroth on the software trials. All tractors must be compatible for operation with both powered and non-powered carriages and future builds will be for both variants according to the RNLI’s assessment of the station’s ground conditions.
Under the contract SC Innovation will also upgrade the tractor unit of the first pre-production SL&RS, SC-T01, which it delivered to the RNLI in 2011, to production standard for use in-service as a relief vehicle.
Joe Wilcox, Head of SC Innovation said, “We are proud to be collaborating again with the RNLI on the further development of the SL&RS, which we have been supporting throughout the project since we started designing a pre-prototype 14 years ago. It is an essential piece of equipment that has proved itself in service and has also become a showcase for our engineering capabilities in developing bespoke equipment for hostile environments”.
SC Innovation’s engineering capabilities are in mechanical and electrical engineering, structural analysis, structural optimisation, fluid structural simulation and test and validation, including full system prototype build. The business has an established production capability carrying out low rate, high quality builds. Together with the in-house project management team these capabilities have combined to deliver projects for energy and marine customers, often in partnership with academic and industrial partners.
SC Innovation is exhibiting at Advanced Engineering UK, 2-3 November at the NEC, Birmingham (Stand K32).
The order, from an undisclosed customer, has a total value of £1.2 Million and will see Blackhill fabricating components throughout 2017. Workshop preparations are well under way including significant investment in new weld booths, extraction systems and welding plant. Each booth has been kitted out with all the equipment required to manufacture the complex assemblies, including bespoke specialist jig frames.
Paul Fishwick, General Manager of Blackhill Engineering said: “This order is significant for Blackhill Engineering and it has allowed us to invest further and create jobs. We’re delighted to be placing Blackhill in a higher volume and more production biased position that will open up wider opportunities for us in the future”.
Nick Ames, Chief Executive of SC Group said: “I’m particularly pleased to see Blackhill making this key step towards higher volume, production fabrication. Having recently been granted Fit for Nuclear status and with the recent announcements regarding Hinkley Point, I see Blackhill as being ideally placed, both in terms of capability and geography, to provide the South West based fabrication services required by elements of that major project’s supply chain”.
The program will commence vehicle deliveries in the final quarter of 2017.
SC Group CEO, Nick Ames, said “We are delighted that New Zealand has chosen to join the HMT family. Interoperability is an important element for the Special Forces community and commonality of spares and support, is a key driver in maintaining relatively small fleets.”
Designed for, and used by, the world’s elite Special Forces, the HMT Extenda is unique in being convertible to either a 4×4 or 6×6 configuration to meet different operational requirements. Its open architecture provides for various levels of protection and great variety in the roles and missions for which it can be configured. New Zealand is a new customer for Supacat and the latest defence
force to join the HMT family.
Michael Halloran, Managing Director Asia Pacific said, “We are very pleased to have reached this milestone with our friends in New Zealand and we are dedicated to providing the New Zealand Defence Force with the best cross country wheeled mobility in the world. This is a very exciting time for the Supacat team in Australia as it is the first time that we have entered into a product export
contract.”
The SOV-MH vehicles will be manufactured at Supacat’s existing assembly facilities in Australia using Supacat Team Australia members to manufacture and assemble the vehicle. This represents the first time that Supacat Team Australia members will be exporting completed vehicles and complements the opportunities already emerging for Australian suppliers to enter Supacat’s global
supply chains.
The new variants include HMT in the Recovery, Logistic Support and Gun Towing roles as well as a unique 4×4 to 6×6 convertible feature for `Jackal`. At DVD Supacat is unveiling the Logistic Support and Recovery variants, the former will be exhibited on the Supacat stand and the latter as a static display on the off-road area.
Supacat is also highlighting how the 4×4 `Jackal` can be re-rolled into a 6×6 `Coyote` using the unique convertible concept of its HMT Extenda special operations variant to increase payload, capacity and range. By inserting or removing a self-contained third axle HMT Extenda is convertible to a 4×4 or 6×6 configuration within a day to meet different operational requirements.
“The new variants demonstrate the flexibility of the HMT platform and the different roles it can perform now and in future programmes where it could be offered”, said Phil Applegarth, Head of Supacat. “For UK MoD programmes where we do not have a direct product to offer we are looking for teaming opportunities with international primes, similar to our partnership with Rheinmetall on its bid for the Challenger 2 Life Extension Programme”.
Supacat is also displaying at DVD its all-new LRV400 Mk2 light reconnaissance vehicle, a high performance off-road vehicle for rapid intervention operations. It offers a highly versatile tactical capability for special forces; it has the unique 4×4 to 6×6 convertible feature and can be transported inside a CH-47 Chinook fully equipped and loaded, making it immediately deployable. At DVD, Supacat will be displaying a concept demonstrator 6×6 version of the LRV.
Work experience is acknowledged as a real benefit not only to the students, but also to the manufacturing industry. Raising awareness and engaging students at an early age provides engineering insight and also increases options for future career opportunities.
Sadly, very few students will ever have the opportunity to see or experience a large fabrication workshop with heavy manufacturing equipment. At Blackhill Engineering, the students are initially encouraged to look around the workshops, talk to the staff and ask questions that will help them to decide if engineering is the career path for them. We are pleased to report back that most return to the office with a big grin and cannot wait to get started.
All the team at Blackhill would like to pass on a huge well done and many thanks to Erin Fisher and Alfred Downs for your time, and also for the positive influence you have had on our business in such a short time.
SC Innovation has joined the Centre to expand its presence in the region’s growing low carbon and nuclear energy sectors through forming new partnerships. Earlier this year it gained Fit for Nuclear (F4N) status from the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (NAMRC), positioning SC Innovation to bid for work on Hinkley Point C and other work in the nuclear sector, including decommissioning.
The Centre also offers opportunities for SC Innovation to develop its renewable energy business. Its expertise includes developing high specification equipment for the marine environment, such as the lifeboat launch and recovery system for the RNLI’s 16 ton Shannon class; translating concepts into products for wave and tidal energy for Fred Olsen on the BOLT 2 wave energy device and the Whatever Input to Torsion Transfer (WITT) renewable energy device; and conceiving the SMV24 multi-purpose support vessel to support offshore wind farms.
The Centre offers flexible offices and meeting spaces and is owned by Somerset County Council and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund. It is managed by Business West, Somerset Chamber of Commerce and SWMAS, who run the Centre as well as providing advice and practical support. Tenants benefit from access to a wide range of business support programmes and expertise including the co-located Hinkley Supply Chain Team. SWMAS advises manufacturers in the South West of England and has supported more than 2000 local businesses. SWMAS has supported SC Group businesses Supacat, SC Innovation and Blackhill Engineering through training workshops, manufacturing diagnostics and accessing new markets, including through the F4N programme.
“Being at the SEIC is a strategic move for SC Innovation to grow our energy business and take advantage of the exciting and collaborative opportunities opening up to companies in the South West”, said Joe Wilcox, Head of SC Innovation. “We also value SWMAS’s role as they understand what support companies need to develop strategic growth plans and access new markets”.
Nick Golding, Supply Chain Manager at SWMAS said “We are extremely pleased to welcome SC Innovation to the Centre and to have the opportunity to support our tenants to form new collaborations and access new business opportunities. A key part of this support will be through our newly formed Low Carbon Energy Network which is open to all interested companies to help them make new connections with like-minded companies and access business support. We offer a unique opportunity as SWMAS are working in partnership with the Hinkley Supply Chain Team and Nuclear South West”.
SC Innovation is the brand for delivering engineering solutions to the energy, marine and specialist vehicles sectors of SC Group. In September 2015 the company rebranded under a new SC identity to take it forward in its expansion into new markets and provide a clear customer focus for its products.
To visit the SC Innovation website, please click here:
The 7½ meter dish is the first of two destined for a secret location. The photograph shows the satellite dish in mid-assembly ready for the top dish plates to be attached.
Paul Fishwick, General Manager of Blackhill Engineering said “We are incredibly proud not only to be involved in such an exciting project but also that that the item is designed and manufactured in Devon, and wherever possible supported by local engineering and manufacturing companies.”
Goodridge Ltd, a world-leading manufacturing company based in Devon, recently tasked Blackhill Engineering to vertically mount a sports car on a wall.
The super lightweight sports car will be the main centrepiece display of their new Reception area.
Paul Fishwick, General Manager of Blackill Engineering said “We at Blackhill Engineering were really pleased with the end result of this project, and successfully manufactured a six-metre tubular frame in order to support the sports car vertically on the wall.”
Please click on the photograph below for a larger image.
This website will store cookies on your computer. We use cookies to improve your browsing experience (we never store personal information in a cookie) and to track how the site is being used. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.
