No Sweat. Vacuum-formed panels for “revolutionary” fitness machine.

Nine years in development, the A-Trainer was designed to exclusively target the upper body, successfully combining the three key elements of physical exercise : cardio vascular, muscular endurance and muscle building, to provide a comprehensive upper body work out using innovative techniques offering the athlete the opportunity to alternate their training programme, by effectively targeting all of these elements using one piece of apparatus.

Its creator, Advanced Cardio Equipment’s Robert Howett passionately believes “the A-trainer will revolutionise the fitness industry.”

In 2023 Robert approached us with the aim of creating the cover for the rear of the machine. Following initial meetings, the project was greenlighted and our design team developed the initial concept into a realistic cost-effective design, and our material credibility ensured we were able to determine the most suitable material for a part where ‘high impact’ goes without saying!

Prototyped and approved the first panels went into production. The panels are vacuum formed in two parts and then rivetted together inhouse ready for shipping.

Launched at Elevate 2025 to a huge response, expect to see A-trainer in a gym near you soon.

We thank Robert and the team for this opportunity.

Severn Lamb is a Warwickshire-based company with a worldwide reputation for the design and manufacture of light urban, leisure and resort transportation – if you haven’t been on one of their trains, your kids probably have at locations across the UK, Europe & the USA. At 60 years, they are even longer established than us.

We have previously manufactured end caps for the company and hopefully that gave them the confidence to approach us for this more substantial project. After reverse engineering their sample, our design development team and plastic prototyping skills meant we were able to develop a cost-effective solution – one mould which could be used to manufacture 2, 3 or 4 seats depending on the train’s configuration.

The mould is used to vacuum form the seating from 6mm gloss acrylic ABS. ABS’s chief properties are impact resistance and toughness – essential for busy venues and making this a sustainable option as the seats will last & last!

After being vacuum formed, the mould is then moved to on the CNC router for finishing and final configuration.

We thank the team at Severn Lamb for the opportunity to work with them on this exciting project.

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