BLENDER INVESTS £200K IN ANALYTICAL MACHINES

A leading oil manufacturer has invested around £200,000 in new equipment to ensure its products remain of the very highest standard.

The new machines have been installed in the laboratory at Morris Lubricants in Shrewsbury.

The company has purchased a new automated open flash point machine to accurately measure flash points of oils and a top-of-the-range density meter for analysing samples.

Morris has also invested in a new Karl Fischer to measure trace levels of water and have also ordered a low temperate Brookfield viscometer and a HTHS (high temperature high shear) simulator.

Quality Assurance Manager Phil Saunders said the equipment would help improve Morris Lubricants’ customer service, as well as working towards ISO 17025 accreditation for laboratory quality.

He said: “This significant investment will help us from a quality control point of view to measure certain parameters on a regular basis. Our laboratory is already very good in comparison to our competitors, but this will help us improve still further.

“We are hoping to apply for the UKAS ISO 17025 accreditation in May. We would be the only lubricants manufacturer to hold the accreditation, which would be a real boost and would recognise our commitment to producing products of the very highest quality.”

Managing director Andrew Goddard said: “We are extremely proud of our high-tech laboratory and are committed to providing the necessary investment to ensure that the team has all of the machines it needs to carry out complex testing of raw materials and finished products.

“We are one of the few manufacturers to work in this way, helping to guarantee that every product which leaves our Shrewsbury factory is exactly to the specification required.

“The equipment also allows us to carry out tests on other products in the marketplace to see if they match up to the claims on the packaging.”

Phil, 27, acts as the link between the laboratory and the company’s technical experts. Since starting his Quality Assurance Manager role he has also implemented a new laboratory management system so that everything is electronically stored. This means Morris is able to spot trends, provide beneficial production statistics and maintain a full sample history from start to finish.

Morris Lubricants is a British company that has been manufacturing lubricants in Shrewsbury since 1869. Over 140 years of development has seen the company grow to become one of Europe's leading oil blenders and marketers, with a reputation for quality and service. The company offers an extensive range of performance lubricants covering a wide variety of application areas.