The core facility comprises the mechanical workshop at AlbaNova (run jointly by the Fysikum and KTH), located in Albano and the supporting workshop at the Department of Geological Sciences (IGV), located in Frescati. The core facility offers a high level of expertise and services in mechanical construction and manufacturing. The workshops can undertake both large and small scale tasks in mechanical construction and manufacturing. A more detailed description of the two workshops can be found on their individual web pages (see below).

To facilitate transports of both personal and equipment the core facility have access to a van (ABT e-Caddy). This means that the workshops are very flexible and tasks that require the presence of workshop staff or transport of relatively large equipment can be undertaken with a short notice.

How to proceed

Independent of the character of the mechanical service required the first thing to do is to contact the workshop. This is done by contacting Tomas Eneroth at the AlbaNova workshop, who is responsible to coordinate the Faculty’s needs for workshop services as well as being the workshop contact person for departments at the Faculty. Before any manufacturing can start an order form has to be completed  Order form, Mechanical Workshop (198 Kb) and sent via e-mail to Tomas Eneroth. Important to note here is that the workshop will not charge for their services until a signed order form has been submitted. Don’t hesitate to contact the workshop if you need any kind of help or support when placing the order or if there is something that needs to be handled during the manufacturing process.

More or less every new commitment is a new challenge for the mechanical workshops at the Faculty. Good communication is therefore of utmost importance for an efficient manufacturing process. This is especially important in the first contacts with the workshop when the process is initiated and defined. Since every job is unique the time required to accomplish a workshop order has to be an estimate and fixed quotes are therefore very difficult to provide. Well prepared and well documented orders will facilitate a more precise time and cost estimate of the manufacturing. The lead times can also vary over time depending on the work load on the workshop. It is therefore essential to contact the workshop in time to ensure that you can get the help you need within the time frame of the project. This is especially important if there is a hard deadline for the project (planed beam times, container projects with a fixed departure date, etc.) where an early dialog between the two parts is essential to create the best conditions for the workshop to complete the manufacturing in the agreed time frame. Involving the workshop at an early stage will also give the workshop a possibility to influence the design and construction and streamline the manufacturing; hence, always contact the workshop as soon as you know that you will need their services even if the project is in its early stage.

Workflow in a mechanical workshop

In brief a typical workflow for the manufacturing process in the mechanical workshop (W) looks as follows:

• You: Contact via email or phone
• You and W: Initial discussions
• You: Send in order form
• You and/or W: Prepare drawings (2D and/or 3D)
• W: Order material (if necessary)
• W: Prototype manufacturing
• You and W: Test of the prototype
• W:Adjust/modify the prototype
• W: Manufacturing
• W: Delivery
• W: Invoicing (link, see details here)

Checklist

The mechanical workshop is often very busy and in order to rationalize the manufacturing process (and shorten the lead time) there are a few things to consider before approaching the mechanical workshop.

• Provide as much information and documentation as possible with the order.
• Check what standard materials and dimensions are available and if they are suitable for your project.
• Check which dimensions are critical and which are not.