Surface Transforms Share Chat (SCE)

Share Name	Share Symbol	Market	Type	Share ISIN	Share Description
Surface Transforms	LSE:SCE	London	Ordinary Share	GB0002892528	ORD 1P

	Price Change	% Change	Share Price	Bid Price	Offer Price	High Price	Low Price	Open Price	Shares Traded	Last Trade
	+0.00p	+0.00%	15.50p	15.00p	16.00p	15.50p	15.50p	15.50p	62,500	07:52:47

Industry Sector	Turnover (m)	Profit (m)	EPS - Basic	PE Ratio	Market Cap (m)
Automobiles & Parts	1.4	-1.2	-1.4	-	13.98

Surface Transforms Share Discussion Threads

Showing 4001 to 4024 of 4025 messages

Chat Pages: 161 160 159 158 157 156 155 154 153 152 151 150 Older

Date	Subject	Author	Discuss
20/7/2017 15:14	Longshanks, Thanks for putting such a good and detailed report together. I can vouch for it being factually accurate and that it gives a reliable and detailed description of all that we saw and heard. The management team and staff are almost bubbling with enthusiasm and quite rightly so, they have worked hard to achieve the very happy position they're now in, i.e. OEM,s really solidly behind them and pushing hard to see Surface Transforms become a supplier of the very best Corbon ceramic brake disks available to them as a dual supplier. As you have stated, with the forthcoming VDA 6.3 validation and the prospect of the OEM 3 contract following close on its heels the future does indeed look particularly bright.	goldman	Read Full Thread Reply
20/7/2017 12:42	Thank you Longshanks. Regarding F1 Adrian Newey seems to be a fan of our brakes after choosing them for the Red bull Aston Martin collaboration.	quemaster	Read Full Thread Reply
20/7/2017 11:05	longshanks, many thanks for your report/views and the time taken whilst only a very small invester I will be adding when funds available, I have kept the faith in this company, now a nice big F1 contract or am I dreaming?. Again many thanks longshanks for your time and efforts	distill	Read Full Thread Reply
20/7/2017 02:16	The new Surface Transforms factory is located in buildings that used to form part of the Eastman chemicals site in Knowsley. At first I was unsure on whether I had the right location. A glimpse past the security lodge with its zealous security guard, convinced me that the sat nav had brought me to the correct place: 100m away, in 2 meter high red letters was the company logo proudly painted on a factory wall. The building is much larger than the premises previously housing the company. There are a few offices at the "front of house" with a substantial factory floor space at the back. We were greeted in the large communal "board room" with all the board other than Kevin D'Silva on hand. We were given a thorough candid presentation of the business, the factory move and an update on the commercial prospects/game changer opportunities. Kevin Johnson did most of the talking and seemed relaxed and at home in this environment. Occasionally David Bundred chipped in the odd comment to reiterate points. After the factory tour a tasty sandwich and presentation, the company gave all attendees a copy of the Hardman broker note. For the factory tour, the visitors were split into two groups. I went with a group led by Kevin Johnson, the other group was led by David Bundred. The first stage of the tour involved a walk through demonstration of the separate manufacturing processes. All of the equipment from Ellesmere Port has been relocated and all of it was very active. We saw how the PAN material was transformed from a roll of "cloth" into its layered, processed and machined final form. Manufacturing involves some patent protected elements with other elements using more standard processes and machinery. All processes though had some level of integrated company know-how used to streamline the manufacturing process. I spoke to several of the operators on the shop floor. One I talked to had only recently joined ST having been made redundant at Bosch late last year. I asked him what he made of the company and his work. He said he really enjoyed the variety of work and the fact he was actively involved in all areas of the manufacturing process. For him Bosch is a company on the "way out" whilst ST is a company of the future. I got a similar story from the other operators - all were really motivated and enthusiastic about the business. Many are shareholders themselves and clearly want the business to be a success. I have to say though, as someone involved in heavy industry myself - I wasn't overenthusiastic about the working plant. Whilst clearly working at or close to capacity, there was a lot of inventory on view. Lots of disks in various forms being held as idle intermediate inventory awaiting the next stage in the manufacturing process. And yet - I needed a reminder that this is what is to become the SVP: the Small Volume Production cell. It is currently the only production cell. We moved through a door, and my jaw dropped. The next space can be best described as a tardis. A massive factory floor. Empty, but for the massive CVIST furnace grinning in the corner. A gaping open mouth at the front, hungry to be fed green rotors for chemical vapour infiltration. Impressive feed and exhaust pipes already fitted and, to the side, a layout drawing illustrating where all the new equipment is due to be installed. This space is a few months away from becoming OEM Cell 1. A space dedicated to efficiently churning out 20,000 disks per annum for OEM automotive customers. The scale was impressive, but so was the design. The SVP is niche - it is inefficient - it is/was a pilot plant. The OEM production cells are serious high end manufacturing scale. Production will be lean with minimal intermediate inventory. They have one OEM production cell due to be commissioned this year - but elsewhere on the site they have space allocated for four more such cells. Excluding production from the SVP, the Knowsley facility has a potential capacity of 100,000 disks per annum. ---- An accusation often levelled at the company is that it promises jam tomorrow and never delivers. The new OEM Cell 1 throws that accusation firmly in the bin. The 2015 investment capital is being deployed not into research and development, not into spinning out a tenuous AIM listing, but instead into building a loom to spin carbon gold. A world class production line is being built in Knowsley to produce carbon ceramic disks in decent volumes, at a quality superior to those produced by their only competitor and at a cost that is not only competitive but allows them to promote the use of carbon ceramic brakes for lower priced car models. Surface Transforms believes with good reason, that automotive carbon ceramic brakes will rapidly become a £2bn+ market, and that they will be able to maintain gross margins of around 50%. Following issues in their supply chain a large German automotive OEM, issued, several years ago, a mandatory directive within its group of companies that all elements of their supply chain be dual sourced. As there are only two suppliers of carbon ceramic brake rotors, this OEM was left with the choice of either dropping Carbon Ceramic brake rotors as a fitted option or they nominate Surface Transforms as a second source. A key company within the group is one of the most high profile sports car manufacturers in the world: carbon ceramic rotors are nominated as standard on several of their models. It is not an option for this company to not use carbon ceramic brakes. Over the last 18 months this one company has worked extensively with Surface Transforms in helping propagate the same dual sourcing policy throughout ST's own supply chain. They have sent a team of senior executives at three month intervals to evaluate progress - not out of any altruistic pursuit of better brakes - but because they need ST as much as ST needs them. In total this OEM has spent a large seven figure sum on its part in the R&D. The end goal is for ST to be qualified to VDA 6.3 so that they can be nominated as a tier 1 supplier. The process has been long, the process has been arduous, but the process is rapidly coming towards an end with only a few outstanding punchlist items to clear. The next meeting is in September and there is a strong expectation that the company will be qualified to VDA 6.3 soon after. Aircraft brakes were also discussed. The company was fully expecting to receive orders by now for the military aircraft - AirFrame 1. These orders haven't been lost - that is clear. The issue is that the lead supplier on this project is keen to have all items fully defined and whilst the ST brake rotors are one component that has been fully defined, there are a number of other items that need to be finalised. In this respect a delay in orders for ST is inevitable. Contractually, the tier 1 supplier in this process is exposed as they have made commitments to ST, but understandably ST are reluctant to press their legal rights. Delays in nomination by automotive OEM 3 and in getting sales for the military aircraft have dented the confidence of some shareholders. But let us not forget the company was awarded an automotive OEM contract in January this year. A small one yes, but still a very significant one for a high profile car. Equally, whilst OEM 3 has yet to nominate ST for application on road vehicles they have nominated ST to supply brake rotors for their racing cars. They can do so because racing cars are not bound by VDA 6.3 selection criteria. All in all - Surface Transforms is clearly now a long way through its transition from being a niche developer of exotic materials into a fully fledged manufacturer of a high-end, high-margin automotive component. The ducks are all lined up and I came away reassured that this was a sound investment. My feeling is that we will have VDA 6.3 at end of September and OEM 3 nominating ST for series supply on their 2019 model in October or November at or around the time that commissioning of OEM production cell 1 is close to completion.	longshanks	Read Full Thread Reply
18/7/2017 10:58	Apologies. Had a busier than normal weekend and start to this week. I will write up my full thoughts in due course: but I would say foremost that the Hardmann note was written on the back of a very recent visit too and to my mind summarises the company's position extraordinarily well.	longshanks	Read Full Thread Reply
18/7/2017 08:44	It would be great if you could share more detailed observations Longshanks for reduction of cognitive dissonance purposes if nothing more! Regards	toffeeman	Read Full Thread Reply
17/7/2017 22:10	According to the Hardman note and assuming no further delays we should have OEM 3 naming the model we are going on and nomination for OEM 5 before the end of the year. OEM 3 (German) As announced in July 2016, Surface Transforms signed a preproduction technology development agreement. A formal announcement of the model and customer name is expected by Surface Transforms in late 2017 upon completion of the test and finalisation of supply agreements. OEM 5 (German) A competitor to OEMs 2, 3 and 4, late-2019 SOP is currently scheduled; expected initial revenues of £2.5m, not far from the ongoing mature level of sales. It has recently confirmed this date, continuing to test with positive feedback. With OEM 5 i'm assuming the 2 year before SOP nomination period.	quemaster	Read Full Thread Reply
16/7/2017 07:53	Thanks for reports from the visit. Any further comments gratefully received.	graham1ty	Read Full Thread Reply
14/7/2017 23:15	I attended too and will post my full impressions over the weekend.My initial observations were:1. The level of excitement and engagement in the business by the operators, management and directors was remarkable. 2. The production line has been successfully transferred from Ellesmere Port in the form of the SVP Cell.3. The new CVIST furnace for the OEM Cell 1 dwarfs the one installed in the SVP Cell and shows the scale of the company's ambitions.	longshanks	Read Full Thread Reply
14/7/2017 22:50	You're very welcome	goldman	Read Full Thread Reply
14/7/2017 22:43	Thanks Goldman for taking the time to post. Helpful for those of us who can't easily do site visits.	bdaonion	Read Full Thread Reply
14/7/2017 22:08	I attended the open day earlier with about fourteen others and found the tour around the Knowsley plant to be most interesting and enlightening. The management team were very approachable and helpful and did an exellent job of explaining the manufacturing process and the expansion plans that will be implemented as OEM production contracts are agreed. The presentation was exellent and although the management team couldn't say much that wasn't already in the public domain what was said was very positive and encouraging. Although progress with the OEM's may appear to be slower than hoped I think it's fair to say that the wait will be well worth it. It was good to meet a few fellow shareholders and the management team who I would like to thank for giving us the opportunity to see and hear firsthand the progress that is being made, well done ST.	goldman	Read Full Thread Reply
13/7/2017 21:02	Swiss paul, I thought you of all people you would understand that Surface Transforms is very much like a beautiful woman. She will tease you keep you waiting and take your money, but when she finally delivers WOW!!!	quemaster	Read Full Thread Reply
13/7/2017 21:00	Divvi - you'll be lucky and of course it's not jelly and ice cream but swiss roll :)	toffeeman	Read Full Thread Reply
13/7/2017 20:47	Hope you all enjoy your jelly and ice cream tomorrow - don't load up on the freebies to much as your eating into this wage slaves divvi!	swiss paul	Read Full Thread Reply
13/7/2017 11:26	Thanks for posting that Riv It's a useful document if peppered with spelling and grammatical errors (rushed off the press before the open day?) My main question is the one inconsistency (that so far I identify) in the report. The key benefits are performance in part due to weight reduction. The latter only applies if it is pre-specified into the OEM build programme. A significant part of the Hardman report which looks at market potential seems to overlook this: "Market size potential is £2bn+, we consider, with a highly visible market of £400m. The £2bn assumes under half of cars selling for between £50,000 and £100,000 take the product – potentially only on the drive axle for more mid-range cars. Effectively,the £400m market aspiration takes account principally only of cars selling at £60,000plus, with a very small amount in the £40,000 to £60,000 range." (P21). Anyone going tomorrow - please feel free to probe! So it seems: OEM1 McLaren OEM2 Bentley OEM3 Porsche OEM4 Audi OEM5 Mercedes OEM6 A-M Now if PI's like us can work this out, then so can the world, his wife and Brembo SGL! Regards PS the latest Hardman report has had no impact so far!!	toffeeman	Read Full Thread Reply
13/7/2017 09:55	Hardman & Co initiate coverage with a 30 page report FYI: Http://hardmanandco.com/docs/default-source/company-docs/surface-transforms-plc-documents/13.07.17-riding-the-carbon-ceramic-brake-revolution.pdf?utm_source=Email+Campaign&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=29208-396400-Surface+Transforms+%28SCE%29%3A+Riding+the+carbon+ceramic+brake+revolution	rivaldo	Read Full Thread Reply
13/7/2017 09:54	tombo 003, many thanks for the heads up on the 2015 EIS restriction, I had no idea. It does complicate matters. If the company were planning to issue an EIS 3, I guess they might have told me, so in the absence of information I'm probably better of assuming the EIS 3 won't be forthcoming.I hope Friday goes well.	galois2	Read Full Thread Reply
12/7/2017 12:20	I'll ask about how the OO is going, but it is very early days, the applications do not have to be in for another 12 days (July 24th), see timings below:	timbo003	Read Full Thread Reply
12/7/2017 09:33	Hope Friday good - they should know what the open offer take up is by then - please do ask!	toffeeman	Read Full Thread Reply
11/7/2017 15:26	>>>>>galois I will mention this to David Allen when I see him on Friday, as I too have an EIS anomaly from the last placing and open offer that I would like to sort out. If you intend to do EIS in this forthcoming OO, I suggest you get it sorted out if you can, as owning shares which were not purchased with EIS reliefs will disqualify you from claiming EIS relief this time around (new rule which came in during 2015)	timbo003	Read Full Thread Reply
11/7/2017 15:17	Thanks for the replies on my EIS problem. It seems that I've just been unlucky, missing one certificate and having the wrong date on the other (I planned for the tax relief in 2016/17, not 2015/16, so the EIS relief is largely wasted). The company could have handled it better, particularly as it was a prospectus commitment,I'm not sure why they found it so hard to admit a mistake.	galois2	Read Full Thread Reply
11/7/2017 09:10	Got my EIS cert last time without any trouble at all	pinkfoot1	Read Full Thread Reply
11/7/2017 09:06	It also depends on who cannapply in the OO.We have a number of large holders and directors buying in the placing and subscription. I doubt they are buying in the OO too.Equally - shareholders living in certain jurisdictions are not allowed to take part.One can therefore expect excess applications to succeed to some degree even if all other shareholders take up their entitlement.I remain bullish and whilst I never expected to get any more EIS shares - am pleased to be able to do so.	longshanks	Read Full Thread Reply

Chat Pages: 161 160 159 158 157 156 155 154 153 152 151 150 Older