Capital Compactors and Balers are the leading suppliers of waste and recycling solutions in the UK, supporting different sectors throughout the waste industry such as retail, medical and nuclear. Offering both standard units, and entirely bespoke compactors, Capital Compactors and Balers is now a strategic partner with the UK's leading waste management suppliers.
Believe it or not, there is such a thing as a luxury compactor and/or baler, and Capital Compactors are the leaders in this space. Not only do they supply the most robust, high-performing equipment, they even take steps to ensure they’re easy on the eye too! From the sleek colour scheme to the smooth finish on the paint job, you’ll struggle to find a better-looking waste unit!
Solid Solutions have been working with Capital Compactors for a good few years, beginning as their SOLIDWORKS reseller, Solid Solutions now support them with CAD Management and more!
THRIVING, NOT JUST SURVIVING DURING THE PANDEMIC
Like many businesses, Capital Compactors and Balers found that their business was affected by the pandemic, but not in a necessarily negative way. Upon reflection, what seemed like a very manic time bought them new market segments. On the one hand, their retail business had dropped dramatically, and many of their customers had come to a halt entirely however, on the other, they found new opportunities in spaces such as medical and food waste.
"We found that business in normal sectors such as retail and leisure struggling, but we found new business ventures due to the pandemic... Business was created and excelled during what was a turbulent time." - Daniel Parsons, Managing Director at Capital Compactors and Balers.
INCREASED BUSINESS DEMANDS FURTHER SKILLS
Due to the increased demand driven by the pandemic, and the need to adapt to the new industry sectors quickly and efficiently, Capital Compactors and Balers found themselves in need of some CAD Management support.
Rather than taking on the project and doing the work for them, Solid Solutions spent time with Capital Compactors to upskill their team, enabling them to tackle the project themselves.
"Instead of coming in and doing the work for us, the approach was taken to coach us to look at our systems and review how we operate and our data management. That enabled us to embark on a programme of improvement which has helped to transform our outfit and our processes to the point that we can now cope in house." - Laurence Lindsay, Technical Development Manager.
CAD MANAGEMENT TRANSFORMS THE DESIGN TEAM
In addition to being a SOLIDWORKS reseller, Solid Solutions are also the leading provider of business services, supporting a client base of over 15,000 customers. Our CAD Management Programme gives customers access to a large and diverse range of bespoke services tailored to suit their unique requirements. Our CAD Management Programme aims to ensure you get the most out of your software investment and that you're using the solutions in the most efficient way to support your project requirements.
For Capital Compactors, we advised the CAD Management Programme after a technical review of their current systems and processes to enable a more streamlined design process.
"The CAD Management programme has helped us to expand our capacity in the drawing office, through software and system review and bringing expertise into the outfit to help us." - Laurence Lindsay
Solid Solutions have supported Capital Compactors by implementing:
- Naming Conventions and Part Numbering Systems
- Secure Data Management Processes and Procedures
- Version Control
- Increased Quality Control
During our visit to Capital Compactors, we took the opportunity to speak to a few members of their design team to see just what impact the CAD Management Programme has had on their day-to-day role.
"The CAD Management programme has transformed the design team by upping the efficiency of how we do things and heavily encouraged us to up communications, to integrate more with other teams." - Jordan Allbrook, Design Engineer. "We're making use of more intuitive tools within SOLIDWORKS, we have more refined systems and have more accessible data through using the PDM Vault."
"The CAD Management Programme has impacted the design team immensely by allowing us to structure the projects that we do by using numbering and naming conventions. If any member of the design team is looking for a specific part, you know exactly where to look to find it.” – Mark Hemmingway, Design Engineer. “The design team has grown in strength in terms of capacity, the speed at which we can respond to queries and the level of detail that we can get into… Using SOLIDWORKS is advancing the way that the design team works and the collaboration that we have with the other departments.”
DESIGNING, TESTING AND DELIVERING WITH SOLIDWORKS
Capital Compactors and Balers are under increasing pressure to exceed industry standards and expectations of their products. Using SOLIDWORKS allows them to do so by enabling them to view, analyse and adapt their designs before they’re made to ensure they work as they should.
“When we’re working on a bespoke solution, using SOLIDWORKS means that we can test multiple iterations of the design before we nail down the final one.” – Explains Jordan
“SOLIDWORKS has really helped us with conceptual design, textures and layouts. We can get site structures to position our assemblies on-site so that the customer can get a relative view of how the concept is going to look when it’s installed.” – Mark Hemmingway
More than just a design tool, SOLIDWORKS is supporting each department throughout Capital Compactors, as Laurence explains…
“SOLIDWORKS is used throughout our entire organisation and it’s becoming the core of our operation. It helps us to handle the entire sales process from the concept stage right through to the shop floor release and the manufacture.” Laurence also added that “the by-product of the drawings and the 3D models are automated cutting lists and bills of materials which is greatly increasing efficiency.
FROM SOLIDWORKS TO THE SHOPFLOOR
A key part of the CAD Management Programme was structured around encouraging greater, autonomous collaboration between various departments. By using SOLIDWORKS, the design team can work closely with the shop floor fabrication teams, reducing confusion, errors, and any unnecessary delays.
“Having PDM and SOLIDWORKS on the shop floor allows me to pan around the carcass and the standard part of the baler to make sure that they [the fabricators] understand everything that’s on the job.” Grant MacKenzie, Production Coordinator.
In addition to reducing errors and accelerating the production process, Capital Compactors have found SOLIDWORKS to be a great tool for bringing new joiners to the business up to speed on their products and the manufacturing process. “Using e-drawings allows us to ensure that the new members of staff understand what they’re building.” Explains Grant.
WORKING WITH SOLID SOLUTIONS TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS
"Working with Solid Solutions has been incredibly easy. One of the best things we've found when working with Solid Solutions is their flexibility and the co-operation." - Laurence Lindsay
“The Solid Solutions support team are really helpful, whenever there is an issue with the system or if there’s ever something that you want to do and you’re not sure how you can get straight onto the support team. They’re very knowledgeable and come back to you straight away.” – Mark Hemmingway