Sigma Fabrications - New Brand, Established Reputation
This feature was first written for publication in TPi Magazine, February 2010
The Brand;)
Sigma Fabrications may be a new name in flightcase manufacturing, but it has a 35 year legacy. The name and the brand were launched quietly in 2009 as the manufacturing operation of midlands-based SSE Audio Group.
"We've been building cases since the 1970s" says SSE Group MD John Penn. "As well as serving our own sound rental needs, we've always supplied them to the wider industry. Since we moved to our new Redditch premises, we've been able to reorganise manufacturing on a much more efficient footing and so we are now in a position to ramp up production."
In early 2009 the manufacturing team at SSE decided they wanted to operate under a separate brand within the Group. Sigma Fabrications' Steve Atkinson makes the point that "manufacturing has to exist within SSE as a profit centre in its own right, so for example we charge our own Hire division internally. It isn't such a big leap to understand the logic of creating our own entity. Other rental companies have been wary of using us when they are in direct competition with our rental operation. They don't really want 'SSE' engraved on their flightcases. Hence Sigma Fabrications. We want to offer our external clients as full a service as we can and we don't want that compromised in any way."
The name Sigma is buried deep in the DNA of SSE Audio. Back in 1976, SSE originally stood for Sigma Sound Enterprises.
John Penn continues: "I think the creation of a new, independent brand is great. It gives the team in manufacturing a new perspective and let's them focus on their customers - whether they are in-house or out of house. When our hire or sales departments come along and demand the production of some cases by the end of the week, they will have to be managed alongside Sigma Fabrications external clients."
The Cases
Sigma Fabrications' cases fall into two categories. The 'standard' flightcases are made from high quality laminated plywood and use the company's own aluminium extrusions. Cases of all shapes and sizes are made, many of them custom built for very specific pieces of equipment.
"As we use CNC manufacturing techniques, each design is stored on the computer, so we have an ever-growing set of cutting instructions for flightcases to house a wide range of components - for example the cases we build to house mixing consoles" explains Steve Atkinson.
The other range of cases offered are the distinctive carpet-covered touring cases. These are also made from high quality plywood, but they are made using different techniques, with all components flush with the surface and finished in a tough, but practical charcoal coloured carpet.
These have been used extensively by our hire division for many years and were originally designed based on touring experience.
Whereas our standard laminate cases are built around the product they house, the touring cases are built to standard sizes to fit trucks. They stack neatly together, are easy to handle and provide excellent protection.
The manufacturing techniques used for the carpet-covered cases means they are best suited to relatively large production runs.
Innovations
All of Sigma Fabrications' case designs are full of interesting features, developed out of the close contact with those who have to use them on the road.
"We may have developed as an independent operation within SSE, but we still value feedback of the hire division, who are never slow to tell us what works and what doesn't!" says Atkinson.
"As well as the carpet-covered cases, we've developed a whole host of innovations ranging from our 'Christmas Tree' extrusion, which is not easy to explain but just makes corners a lot stronger in cases, or our 'Door Maker' extrusion, which enables us to create a flat lid for a case, saving on materials and making for more efficient deployment for a variety of applications."
"Some years ago we pondered how a large mixing console in a case could be set up onto legs in a horizontal position with the minimum of manpower. The result was the EasyTilt console case."
It's these types of innovation, combined with Sigma Fabrications' focus on quality and customer service that the team hope will lead to the new brand flourishing within SSE Audio Group.