Operating across a wide range of market sectors, including automotive, leisure, manufacturing, mobile telecoms, rail, retail and technology, multi-national company Unipart has become recognised worldwide for offering a breadth of different services. From third party logistics to expert consultancy work, Unipart now employ over 10,000 personnel, becoming one of the largest developers in the UK market.
Part of Unipart’s offering to the manufacturing industry is their consistent investment in degree level graduates. Working with prestigious engineering Universities across the country, Unipart have continued to invest in the technicians of tomorrow, bridging the gap between newly qualified graduates and the working world. One particular alliance that has proved particularly successful is that formed with the University of Coventry where the decision was made to develop a ‘state of the art’ institute for advanced manufacturing and engineering (AME) that Unipart and Coventry University could utilise to train and develop the next generation of engineers.
Unipart chose to develop 3 multi-function workshops that would form the core of the training facility, allowing the centres leading team members to train new technicians on key aspects of the AME course. Dura were chosen to meet their storage and workspace requirements and provided all initial designs in 2D and 3D Cad visuals.
Working hand in hand with Unipart and Coventry University, Dura started with the fit out of the main technician’s room. Measuring 6.6m wide by 7.5m deep, this workshop was formed around a modular corner solution at the far end of the main room that provided each technician with a single work bay and plenty of modular tool storage. In addition to this, Dura created 2 mobile workstation islands in the middle of the workshop that could be re-configured at will, allowing students to transport key parts to the adjacent machines when necessary.
For the Joint Preparation Lab, Dura created two columns of low-level bulk storage cabinets and bridging units to provide enough worktop assembly space for each class. As Unipart wanted to form the core of the Preparation Lab around specially selected technician’s machines, which required Dura to develop deeper worktops to integrate all of the necessary equipment. The back of the room was then finished with a 4.2m storage section along with a single centralised wash station, allowing them to clean between tasks.
For the final Metrology Laboratory Dura integrated a series of 1200mm wide, 4 drawer deep tool storage cabinets along the left hand wall, interspersing them with 900mm wide bridging units to create a series of low-level work stations. Due to the need for efficient record keeping, Dura then installed two double-door, 1200mm wide shelving cabinets on the opposite side of the workshop to utilise the remaining space available.
Once completed, each of the 3 workshops created an efficient, productive and perfectly styled teaching facility for the range of students that pass through the centre, mirroring the innovative aspirations that both Unipart and the University of Coventry originally had.
