One of the UK’s leading structural engineering and metal fabrication companies – Tranent based Had Fab – has this month announced a £400,000 investment in a new CNC heavy plate processing machine as the business continues to grow.

The investment – which has been supported by a grant from Enterprise Scotland – is a major step forward for the structural engineering and metal fabrication business and will enable the company to produce precision cut steel components in a fraction of the time and to an industry leading standard.

The commitment – which forms part of Had Fab’s strategic growth plans – will enable the business to grow its already successful Power Transmission and Distribution division and will position the company as one of few in the UK to be able to manage precision cut steel at such a significant capacity.

Speaking about the investment, Martin Ward, Chief Operating Officer at Had Fad said: “This is a significant investment for the Had Fab business, and we are extremely grateful to Scottish Enterprise for the grant support provided to us.  This will, without doubt, take the business to the next level and will enable Had Fab to compete for engineering and fabrication contracts at the very highest specification and to absolutely deliver these with optimum efficiency.

“The investment is an integral part of our strategic growth plans, and we are absolutely confident it will enable us to achieve our production capacity targets.  This is key for projects currently being commissioned across the power and transmission sector where speed, combined with the highest quality production, is becoming an absolute pre-requisite.” 

The machine – which has been commissioned as a bespoke item and manufactured in Italy – is capable of producing over 100 sheets of 10mm steel in as little as a 24hr period.  As such, the business could slash the production time of typical tower jobs by as much as half.

Advantages of the machine also include – as well as increased efficiency and productivity - the requirement to only measure once, meaning sheets can be processed in one operation resulting in significant throughput.  Exact specifications – communicated through sophisticated software – also enable Had Fab to drill with exact precision, using only the shortest movement of paths, and meaning processing is optimised. Finished product can then also be sorted based on length, product name and any other processing requirements.  

Formed almost 30 years ago, Had Fab works across the power and transmission, rail, civils and energy sectors and boasts brands including Costain and National Grid amongst its clients.  Only last month the business announced it had loaded out of one of the company’s largest constructions to date – a 28 tonne, 6.5m long, 3.5m wide and 4m high piling frame - to be used as part of the high-profile redevelopment of the Stornoway Deep Water Terminal.