But with the cooperation of their customers and usage of the latest video conferencing software and hardware, the pass off trials were still able to successfully take place on time.

Through a combination of Microsoft Teams running on laptop computers fixed cameras in the factory build area, and hand held mobile phones to walk around the machine, Guyson and its European clients were able to go through the rigorous Factory Acceptance Trial (FAT) procedural checklists and pass off the machines.

These virtual machine pass-offs in fact have all gone very smoothly and with overseas travel restrictions foreseen for a good while yet, this usage of modern technology will no doubt become the new normal for manufacturers such as Guyson, which generates much of its business through export sales.

In the first half of the month of August alone, Guyson shipped well over £1 million worth of export equipment. This includes two very large rotary indexing turntable blast machines each equipped with twin robotically controlled blasting for a Scandinavian automotive company.

And also a Guyson Multiblast TR (Through Belt Conveyorised Blast Machine) - fitted with eight blast guns for blast cleaning thread rolling dies.

The Multiblast TR conveyorised blast machine, in particular, was up against an especially tight delivery schedule to deliver to site, as it was replacing an existing machine that was being run in a production situation right up until its replacement arriving.

The new Multiblast TR machine was passed off, on a Wednesday, in the Skipton factory with the client in a European country via video link technology. The machine was then stripped down on Thursday and Friday morning and packed and dispatched, via lorry, late Friday, arriving at the customers site on the following Tuesday morning; where a Guyson installation engineer was ready to install and begin commissioning the machine.

www.guyson.co.uk