Hillbrush, the UK’s largest manufacturer of brushes and specialist cleaning tools has made a £1.3 million investment in three new automated brush making machines at its production site in Mere, Wiltshire.
This significant investment secures Hillbrush’s manufacturing capability long into the future, with quicker outputs and reduced workloads for operators, as well as offering an even better quality finished product.
Custom-built for Hillbrush and so the first of its kind, the Belgium produced Boucherie Aeola T will increase output of the majority of Hillbrush traditional yard brooms. Previously, broom manufacturing was undertaken by a separate manually fed machine, which has now been replaced by this one integrated, automated machine, making the operator’s workload easier and removing the inefficiency of transporting from one machine to another.
The German produced Zahoransky Z Lion machine was designed and purchased with productivity and efficiencies in mind. The new kit is being specifically used for manufacturing hygiene brushes, used in food and beverage production environments, freeing up Hillbrush’s smaller Boucherie machines which are being utilised for shorter product runs. Trimming long handled brushes has also been made safer, as with this automated system, a manual fed hand trimming machine is not required.
The equipment trio is completed with another Zahoransky machine, the Z.Tiger. This machine has been purchased solely to manufacture vacuum cleaner brushes and will ensure continuity of supply, freeing up current machinery to manufacture other products too.
Charlie Coward, managing director of Hillbrush said:
In its centenary year, Hillbrush is committed to investing in the latest technology to not only provide our customers with the best quality products but to ensure that the Hillbrush business is fast and agile ready to meet the challenges of the next generation.