EDITOUR 21 PETplanet Insider Vol. 23 Matching the customer experience Fortunately, R&D/Leverage’s financial position remains very stable and it has a growing presence across the world. The strategic decision it took, 15 years ago, to invest in customer-matching machinery has paid off, very well. It now has nine machines in the PSL, none of which is more than five years old. Alan is animated whenever he talks about it. Our tour included a visit to the inspection and quality assurance laboratory, which has seen an upgrade and extension to its range of equipment. It has sold to customers in very cold countries – e.g, Russia and Poland – and very hot ones, such as Saudi Arabia and SE Asia. The quality assurance equipment can test bottles to temperatures as low as minus 40 and as high as 50 degrees Celsius. It’s a measure of how committed R&D/Leverage is to investment and upgrading that one of the pieces of equipment was new since Alan had last visited the room, just a few days before! Ancillary equipment includes laser etching of part numbers, for tracking and tracing of moulds and parts, and laser welding for repairs. Each of the moulds being worked on had been polished to a mirror finish. On the floor of the PSL, Alan pointed out two new five-axis GF machines; one a seven-pallet unit, the other a twin. The tour also took in a Studer S31 grinding machine, a complete assembly area for the company’s own hot runners, a Mollart deep hole borer and – I couldn’t help noticing – a couple of Bridgeport milling machines. A familiar sight over many years but, in some ways, incongruous in the middle of so much that is new and advanced.
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