Case Study UK

Special Synergy between Britain's Royal Mint and Fischer Instrumentation (GB) Ltd

A special relationship exists between Royal Mint and the UK division of Helmut Fischer GmbH, born largely from international connections and cemented by similar visions of the highest customer service, the highest production standards and real shareholder value. Prior to the time of the Euro becoming official accounting currency on 1st January, 1999, the Royal Mint considered the global aspect of their business and a possible system for quality checking the currency that could be internationally uniform. The international Fischer brand, being synonymous with high quality and reliability in quality control instrumentation, became a natural partner in this quest.

Fischer's MMS Euro ® was the first system to be used because all required measurements could be carried out at one station; the coating/property to be measured depended on the denomination, with the lower denominations made of copper plated steel and higher denominations, of thicker nickel clad coating. In addition to measurement of coating thickness, the MMS Euro ® also offered conductivity measurement.

Although the Royal Mint supplies some 100 issuing authorities around the world with coins and blanks (as the leading export mint with 15% of the worldwide market) , its first responsibility is in making and distributing the UK's coins, estimated at around 28 billion pieces. Coins are now also manufactured from plated material as well as alloy material and Fischer Instrumentation (GB) Ltd was able to provide X-ray instrumentation to monitor and check plate thicknesses, which could be easily incorporated within existing production facilities.

Coin production comprises 3 distinct areas: making the blanks, making the dies and striking the coins. Blank discs are punched from the strip in a blanking press at a rate of up to 10,000 a minute The XDL instruments have been set up to ensure a simple, efficient and operator friendly system, which meets the strict Royal Mint quality control procedures. Plating thickness using the XDL is achieved using an automated measuring stage which can be pre programmed to accommodate a preset number of blanks.

With a big production need, a universal audience and a worldwide reputation, the single most important consideration to Royal Mint in supplier relationships is customer service. Greg Hough, a busy, hands-on Quality Technician at Royal Mint cannot stress this enough. With regard to Fischer, he cites "speed of response", "a hands on guiding through of problems as they happen", "the dedication of my main contact and the technical team at Fischer", "help and advice always at hand". Such an approach is as ingrained in Fischer's philosophy as it is in Royal Mint's.

Royal Mint is a 1000 year old organisation moving with the times. Fischer is also leading edge in its field and there are future possibilities of using the science of spectrometry in other areas of the Royal Mint business.

For further information contact 01590 684100 or mail@fischergb.co.uk