Case Study: Auto Conversions
Countries Involved : Ireland, USA
Auto Conversions Ltd. is a leading supplier of ambulances in Ireland and the UK with over 50 years experience under the Wilker brand name which is a derived from its founder and owner William Kerrigan. Wilker manufactures ambulances and carries out various types of conversions on all types of vans ranging from 8 seater minibuses to 25 seater minicoaches. Many vans are converted or adapted for wheelchair access. Its main premises are in Clara, Co. Offaly with a smaller unit in Sand-bach in Cheshire. It employs 65 people in Clara and 27 in Sandbach.
Ambulances have traditionally been made by fitting a glass fibre reinforced plastic (GRP) body to a chassis. The company had been doing this for many years and has built up its own design capability, being able to supply ambulances on different vehicle chassis as customers required.
Some years ago it became clear that GRP was no longer regarded as a suitable material due to the difficulty of disposing of it at the end of the vehicle’s life. GRP contains a fire retardant and cannot be burned or buried. The company was also aware of a new European standard being developed and decided to investigate other materials.
Aluminium chassis type ambulances have long been in use in the US and Canada, so Wilker participated in a technology partnerships mission to Canada organised by Enterprise Ireland. The purpose of this was to research the possibilities of manufacturing this type of product and introducing it to the UK and Irish health services. The company subsequently sought a technical cooperation with a Canadian company. They made the Canadian company aware of their design specifications and needs, and as the Canadian vehicle chassis are a different design and are not compatible with the European needs, Wilker supplied and shipped a chassis to Canada. With the cooperation of the Canadian company and the technical knowledge within the Wilker organisation, the company adapted their aluminium body design to meet European standards and shipped the proto-type back to Ireland. This was then used as the basis for a number of designs using various leading manufacturers’ chassis.
The company now buys the modular body from the Canadian company, and fits it to the chassis, then carries out the fitting out of the interior which in an ambulance represents about 70% of the added value. This includes stretchers, lockers, wiring, external blue flashing lights and various types of medical life saving equipment. The company has completely redesigned the ambulance interior to the highest modern CEN standards.
In addition the company has crash tested all products presently being used in Ireland and the UK in order to comply with the European regulations EN1789.
The company has benefited greatly from this kind of technology cooperation. They were able to source the technical expertise that they needed at a time when it was not available in Europe. They recognised the huge learning curve in moving from GRP to aluminium bodies and have been able to call on the experience of the Canadian company when changes in design were needed. There has been a two way exchange of information, benefiting both partners and enabling them to meet the market requirements and produce in larger volumes. They now supply between 150 and 200 aluminium modular body ambulances in Ireland and the UK per annum and a further 50 or 60 van conversions to ambulance and minibuses. The UK plant supplies the van-converted ambulances and is equipped to design and adapt to the various needs of the customer. Wilker UK presently supply all front line vehicles to the Welsh NHS and supply a variety of adaptations tailored to suit the needs of the various type of customer, whether it be for taxi / wheelchair access, patient transport /minibus/ A&E and police vehicles as do Wilker Ireland. The key to the company’s success has been to anticipate changing standards and customer needs and to make sure they had access to the technology to meet them, including looking at technologies overseas.