Thetford's food and manufacturing plants get a few days a year to change a line. We use them well: old kit out, new machine in, levelled, anchored and guarded before production restarts.
Thetford, about 30 miles south west of our Norwich workshop down the A11.
Factory installs in Thetford
In a shutdown, every hour is already spoken for before the gates even close.
Our machinery installation in Thetford is aimed at the food producers and manufacturers on Fison Way, Brunel Way and Thetford Enterprise Park. The work is practical: jack and skate the machine through the plant, set it on its marks, level it, fix it to the floor, and have the stainless or mild steel frames it needs made and ready beforehand.
What we do not do is the electrics. Connection, controls and commissioning are for your site electricians or the machine supplier, and a good shutdown plan gives each trade its slot. Ours covers the mechanical and steel work. Share the layout, machine weights and floor details early, and we will book hired lifting plant where it is needed.
Steel erection in Thetford
Before, during and after
Walk us round the line or send the drawings. We estimate free of charge and fix the price with you well before the shutdown starts.
Weeks ahead we measure the area, check drains, kerbs and floor falls, and fabricate every frame, guard and bracket in Norwich. Your engineers and ours agree an hour by hour sequence, so nothing is being invented once the line has stopped.
Redundant plant is unbolted and skated out. The new machine is rolled in, levelled on shims or jacking bolts and anchored, then guarding, platforms and pipe supports are fitted around it.
Lines rarely run perfectly on day one. We can return to alter a guard, add a step or weld on an extra support, and we relocate machines between Thetford units once your engineers have disconnected them.
Food factory conditions
In a Thetford food plant the steel has to be cleanable as well as strong. We TIG weld stainless frames with dressed joints and no dirt traps, keep grinding away from open product areas, clear up as we go, and follow your changing and hand wash procedures.
A Thetford note: many food and manufacturing plants along the A11 take their main shutdowns at Christmas, Easter or in summer, so labour and hired plant get booked early. If you have dates in mind, tell us as soon as they are pencilled in.
Send your permit to work and hot work rules, induction slots and hygiene policy with the enquiry. We supply RAMS ahead of site work.
Unplanned stops in Thetford
When a conveyor leg shears or a machine frame cracks mid shift, call us. Repair welding on site is part of our 24/7 call out, in mild and stainless steel. Have ready what failed, which line it is on, the material, and your permit needs.
Thetford is around 30 miles from us, and we will give you a realistic time on the phone. We make safe first, then agree a permanent fix. Do not nurse a damaged frame through the shift. Call 07495 409006.
Emergency welding in ThetfordThetford and Breckland
Thetford sits on the A11 between Norwich and Suffolk, which makes it a direct run from our workshop with a loaded van or a HIAB lorry. Fison Way, Brunel Way and Thetford Enterprise Park are all close to the junctions, so steel arrives when the plan says it will.
The same service reaches Brandon, Croxton, Mundford and Watton, along with the farms and packhouses of Breckland. Machine moving in Thetford can also be paired with work at a sister site in Attleborough or elsewhere in East Anglia.
Steel fabrication in ThetfordThetford shutdown FAQs
Yes. Nights, weekends and bank holiday shutdowns are normal for this kind of work. We agree shift patterns with you in advance and aim to keep the same people on the job, so handovers between shifts are clean.
As early as you can, ideally when the dates are first discussed. Steel has to be drawn, made and finished, and cranes or forklifts reserved. A late enquiry is still worth a call, and we will say what is possible.
Yes. We follow your induction, protective clothing, jewellery and hand wash rules, control swarf and grinding dust, and use stainless tools on stainless work. Tell us about any allergen controls too.
No. Positioning, levelling, anchoring, guarding and steel fabrication are ours. Electrical connection, controls and commissioning sit with your electricians or the machine supplier, and we plan the shutdown sequence together with them.
Machinery installation in Thetford
Send your Thetford site details, the machines involved and the shutdown dates. We will ask what we need to, walk the job with you and estimate for free.