I visited here with Brewtal. I did a report of here back in Feb 2015, so this is a re-visit for me. 2017 marks almost 9 years since Federal Mogul Camshafts was closed, so lets see how the old girl has fared.
History
The company announced in May 2007 that it was seeking 70 redundancies in its 140-strong workforce at the long establish-ed engineering premises but it said it would continue to manufacture out of the Elstead factory, supplying customers such as BMW and Perkins.
remaining workers were informed that the factory would almost certainly close in October 2008.
The Elstead works started life at the beginning of the 20th century as Weyburn Engineering, and in recent years was merged to become Weyburn Bartel before being bought by Federal Mogul.
It has always been the only real factory in the village, and it employed about 300 people in 1937 when it manufactured lifeboat engines and parts for cars and aeroplanes.
When soaring asbestos liabilities forced Federal Mogul to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US in 2001, its UK subsidiaries were placed under the control of court appointed administrators.
The Elstead workforce, who carry out precision engineering for a number of high profile clients on the four-acre site, believed the business still had a future, despite the company’s decision to make 70 redundancies.
However, hopes faded after most of the site was sold to a property developer.
The Explore
Brewtal fancied visiting here, and I fancied having a second look around after a couple years. It's pretty much the definition of a relaxed mouch, a very nice easy explore.
Not too much has changed since 2015, although its a little more trashed than I remember it being. Also the ladder to the document loft has vanished, so getting up into it took a little more effort.
Working in Engineering myself, its sad seeing what this once thriving factory has become. In 2008 the village lost its biggest employer, which must have been heartbreaking for the workforce and devastating for local employment.
I actually stumbled across the auction video showing all the CNC machines that were being sold off. Gives you a little idea what it looked like before it was stripped out.
Photos
Externals
The Factory
The cup room! There seems to be even more cups than before.
The Office
A SPC X&R chart. I remember doing these back in college only a few years ago. That figure on the bottom right ACTUAL CpK 1.41 is 'Process Capability' and is a measure of how capable the manufacturing process is of producing something reliably and in the limits of the specification. Normally a car company will set a minimum standard for process capability to ensure their suppliers can meet demand and quality requirements. If I recall 1.41 is not bad, although probably poor for today's standards of CNC machining.
The inspection room
I don't think I saw this room last time. It appears to be an QA inspection room.
We found this piece of equipment fallen over on the floor. Being the only remaining bit of equipment left I was keen to see what it was. We picked it up and stood it back up. It seemed to be some kind of optical inspection machine. Inside the wooden draws were various optics. I don't think those draws have been opened for a very long time and everything looked very clean. I've not encountered a machine like this before, so if anyone knows what it is I'd be interested to know. It looks a little like an old shadowgraph/microscope type thing, but I'm really not sure.
The paperwork loft
All the old paperwork here seems to go back to the 50-60s. I'd imagine this was stored up here long ago well before the 2008 closure.
History
The company announced in May 2007 that it was seeking 70 redundancies in its 140-strong workforce at the long establish-ed engineering premises but it said it would continue to manufacture out of the Elstead factory, supplying customers such as BMW and Perkins.
remaining workers were informed that the factory would almost certainly close in October 2008.
The Elstead works started life at the beginning of the 20th century as Weyburn Engineering, and in recent years was merged to become Weyburn Bartel before being bought by Federal Mogul.
It has always been the only real factory in the village, and it employed about 300 people in 1937 when it manufactured lifeboat engines and parts for cars and aeroplanes.
When soaring asbestos liabilities forced Federal Mogul to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US in 2001, its UK subsidiaries were placed under the control of court appointed administrators.
The Elstead workforce, who carry out precision engineering for a number of high profile clients on the four-acre site, believed the business still had a future, despite the company’s decision to make 70 redundancies.
However, hopes faded after most of the site was sold to a property developer.
The Explore
Brewtal fancied visiting here, and I fancied having a second look around after a couple years. It's pretty much the definition of a relaxed mouch, a very nice easy explore.
Not too much has changed since 2015, although its a little more trashed than I remember it being. Also the ladder to the document loft has vanished, so getting up into it took a little more effort.
Working in Engineering myself, its sad seeing what this once thriving factory has become. In 2008 the village lost its biggest employer, which must have been heartbreaking for the workforce and devastating for local employment.
I actually stumbled across the auction video showing all the CNC machines that were being sold off. Gives you a little idea what it looked like before it was stripped out.
Photos
Externals
The Factory
The cup room! There seems to be even more cups than before.
The Office
A SPC X&R chart. I remember doing these back in college only a few years ago. That figure on the bottom right ACTUAL CpK 1.41 is 'Process Capability' and is a measure of how capable the manufacturing process is of producing something reliably and in the limits of the specification. Normally a car company will set a minimum standard for process capability to ensure their suppliers can meet demand and quality requirements. If I recall 1.41 is not bad, although probably poor for today's standards of CNC machining.
The inspection room
I don't think I saw this room last time. It appears to be an QA inspection room.
We found this piece of equipment fallen over on the floor. Being the only remaining bit of equipment left I was keen to see what it was. We picked it up and stood it back up. It seemed to be some kind of optical inspection machine. Inside the wooden draws were various optics. I don't think those draws have been opened for a very long time and everything looked very clean. I've not encountered a machine like this before, so if anyone knows what it is I'd be interested to know. It looks a little like an old shadowgraph/microscope type thing, but I'm really not sure.
The paperwork loft
All the old paperwork here seems to go back to the 50-60s. I'd imagine this was stored up here long ago well before the 2008 closure.
