![[IMAGE: retro-look BGA logo]](images/bga_retro.png)
At British Gaskets Group we hope to provide detailed information about the company. We begin with a brief history of the company.
The first gasket was cut by British Gaskets when the family run company was formed in central London.
Masterforms Cutters began as an on-site tooling company in 1971 manufacturing tools for gasket production and the carton industry.
Specialist mouldings and O-rings were incorporated into the company's product range in 1973 when British Seals and Rubber Moulding Ltd was launched.
1977 saw the very first British Rail contract signed. Thus began a long and successful partnership between the two companies.
British Gaskets Ltd became the first gasket company to pass BS 5750 which at the time was the most widely recognised industry ISO quality standard.
A new manufacturing site was acquired at Sudbury in Suffolk to accommodate the Group's ever-increasing customer base. This year also saw the development of our own range of materials, in partnership with one of Europe's leading manufacturers, Fibras y Elastomeros.
To enhance its global sourcing capacity, the Group set out to form alliances in the Far East. As a result a commercial partnership was formed with a leading Chinese moulding manufacturer.
British Gaskets Group acquired the well respected Norse Rubber Products Ltd, enhancing the group's ability to provide bespoke rubber mouldings to specialty markets.
The Group's 70th anniversary. An automotive aftermarket facility was established which provides the Group with a strong presence in the automotive aftermarket industry.
B G Automotive Ltd a resounding success in the first year.
Further expansion was achieved when the group purchased Cotswold Rubber Products. Diversifying to other markets the Group also launched B G Packaging.
The Group expanded its operations with the acquisition of Scotland's leading sealing distribution company, Bovill & Boyd Engineering. The company also proudly announced its successful accreditation to ISO/TS 16949:2002, "Quality Management System".
All companies need alliances and partnerships to ensure their success for the future. This has never been more important than with the supplier-customer relationship. The intensity of international competition has placed companies and their employees under immense pressure to perform. Whilst this has its good elements it can also create an environment where performance and appraisal methods encourage short-term decisions to be made. British Gaskets understands that targets have to be met, without compromise or short cuts, to secure long term prosperity. Establishing strong relationships, built on trust and openness, gives us the opportunity to take on board all aspects of our customer requirements.
"Together we can make things easier"
Our aim is to supply first class products, now and for the future. We also aim to support our customers in their efforts to maintain and increase efficiency.
British Gaskets work "Best Under Pressure"!
Continuing our development work with raw material partners, British Gaskets Group has projects in hand to bring a bespoke WRC approved cork range to the market as well as several other ground-breaking material innovations.
Presses Gaskets are produced at three of our sites, which between them host significant capacity. Apart from conventional manually operated machines, we possess a variety of the latest CNC travelling-head presses, power presses capable of handling high volume runs in flexible and semi-rigid materials, and kiss-cutting machinery specifically aimed at the adhesive backed market. These machines enable us to produce almost any type of gasket, in any volume and any material, whether flexible or rigid.
The combination of cutting speeds which enable us to handle the highest volume, single step tool change, automatic material feed and extremely high accuracy of cut, enables the Group to offer its customers technology of the highest calibre, resulting in excellent efficiency and a competitively priced, quality product.
Digitiser and CAD/CAM Not only is it important to optimise material utilisation for environmental reasons, it is also necessary in order to remain competitive. For these reasons, we have invested heavily in nesting software to calculate optimum yields of parts. Irregular shapes can be entered into the digitiser system from a drawing, cad image, tool or sample, which will then automatically calculate the most efficient output for the part giving the maximum material yield and minimum waste. At the same time the system analyses the fastest and shortest cutting route which can then be downloaded to the press for manufacture.
Packaging and Distribution Wherever possible the British Gaskets Group offers a total commitment to our customers, not only in manufacturing but also through packaging and delivery. We are able to offer our product packaged to a customer's specific requirements whether in individual, bulk or kit forms. This can include corporate image logos, backing boards, labels, special cases, bar-coding and other special identification. We also use specifically designed vacuum formers to protect fragile components.
Sub-sourced parts can be obtained to complement multi-item gasket kits or packs such as rubber mouldings, nuts, bolts and so on. Having invested significantly in specialised packaging lines and bagging machinery, we are able to supply almost every packaging requirement our customers require - even the explicit needs of our major aerospace and defence contractors.
Fabricating and Vulcanisation Not all gaskets can be press-cut for several reasons. For example, if the gasket is too large, too thick or the number of units required is too small. In these circumstances our fabrication department is able to produce gaskets by hand to any shape or size using a variety of methods and skills, including hot and cold vulcanisation. Where gaskets are too large to handle in one piece, we are able to manufacture in segments with the ends ready for joining on site.
Kiss Cutting Specialist machinery is used to produce adhesive backed parts that are supplied on continuous reels with the waste removed. This provides real advantages on assembly lines, where cycle time is of considerable importance. Typical applications include: stick-on feet; anti-slip pads; electrical insulators; sab washers; foam pads; packing pieces; lamp bases.
Special Cutting Machinery For cutting more difficult materials the Group are able to use state of the art multi-dimensional laser cutting and profiling machinery. Water-jet cutting has become standard for cutting materials such as graphite, but new innovations in tool design have enabled us to use much more conventional methods at the fastest possible production rates. This ensures our price competitiveness. Pierce-and-blank cutting presses are used for semi-rigid materials (electrical insulation types) and also for metals. While the tools are more expensive, the production machinery used is the fastest and most accurate possible (CNC). Parts are routinely produced to tolerances of ±0.05mm.
Machining To complement our gasket production, we have many different machines used to fabricate parts from rod, tube, section or sheet. These include lathes, grinders, mills, routers, drills and gear-cutters. Various materials are converted using this facility, both flexible (tube and lathe-cut rubber washers) and rigid (polyester panels, slot wedges and so on).
Moulding and Extruding Production of high volume mouldings, especially O-rings, is carried out by using multi-cavity injection moulds. This enables large quantities to be produced quickly and accurately to tight tolerances. Stocks of standard parts are held by British Gaskets Group for off-the-shelf emergency despatch, or for online supply systems such as Kan-Ban or JIT. The use of multi-platen presses with compression and transfer tools allows us to offer short runs with even specialist materials being mixed at batches as small as 25 kilograms. Extrusion facilities are used to produce sections as small as 0.5mm bore medical tubing (silicone) and as large as 250mm aircraft chock sections. Hand layering of mandrel-built tubing produces non-standard sizes in small quantities, especially useful for lathe-cut washers that require square-cut or ground finishes.
Tooling An important member of the Group is Masterforms Cutters, dedicated solely to the manufacture of tools. Using the most modern CAD and CAM machinery, drawings can be converted to production tools in a matter of minutes, to a degree of accuracy not possible using conventional methods. While designing tools our machinery is also able to produce sample gaskets, or special one-offs using the same design package. This is often a bonus for new parts that need to be tested before going to the final design stage. Our machine shop also manufactures the steel pierce-and-blank tooling used to cut the semi-rigid and rigid materials produced in our gasket departments.
SoftCut gaskets Our expertise in the manufacture and supply of gaskets and seals has been proven over 70 plus years of trading, resulting in established high profile customers such as Rolls-Royce Aerospace, British Rail, Perkins Engines, New Holland Logistics, GEC Alstom, the Ministry of Defence and many others. The extent of materials used is almost endless but some of the most popular include: rubbers; non-asbestos; graphite; mica; cork; felt; electrical insulation; sponge/foam; paper; nylon; PTFE; plastic; metal; diaphragm material; matting; belting. These are but a few of the materials we use!
![[IMAGE: Federation of Engine Re-Manufacturers]](images/grey_fer.png)