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Engineering a success story
Following successful involvement
in a number of international exhibitions,
a family-owned West
Midlands engineering company
is now bringing its latest products
and innovations back to the NEC.
Rugby-based AW Precision Ltd. has taken
a stand at the MACH 2010 manufacturing
technologies exhibition from 7th to 11th
June and is keen to showcase both its
manufacturing and subcontracting capabilities
– within the context of the optimism
which, it believes, is increasingly
evident in British manufacturing.
“We are determined to demonstrate to
everyone at the show that we are building
on our established success record to look
positively towards growth not only in the
UK, but also overseas,” says Andrew
Whitworth, Director at AWP.
From a small manufacturing unit established
in 1972 in Dunchurch near
Rugby, AW Precision has grown to an
impressive Ł6.3 million-a-year business
with a record of continuous and solid
growth behind it. “We have built a firm
foundation in engineering skills as well as
the capabilities of our sales and manufacturing
staff,” continues Andrew Whitworth.
“From the outset we have focused
on the production of punches and dies,
but have always been committed to expanding
our product range into a long list
of key manufacturing sectors.”
He highlights the opening in 1995 of a
die-set manufacturing operation to provide
a ‘one stop shop’ for the toolmaker as
a prime example.
Today, AWP offers toolmakers and manufacturers
both standard and bespoke
products across a broad spectrum of industry
in the UK, Europe and the USA. It
bases much of its activity on a comprehensive
catalogue of standard and related
products alongside subcontracting services
which, indeed, are set to be the focus
at the forthcoming MACH Exhibition.
“This area of our activity has been highly
successful in international markets and
we are keen now to use this major event at
the NEC to demonstrate its importance
and the benefits it can offer a wide range
of customers,” explains Andrew Whitworth.
He points out that AWP is constantly
looking for new products and innovation
to add to its large portfolio with the emphasis
clearly on enabling toolmakers to
build tools both quickly and cost effectively.
Its commitment to providing a focused
service is demonstrated by its sole
distributorship in the UK of the Kaller®
range of nitrogen gas springs – the world’s
biggest producer in the field – while the
acquisition in 1991 of the manifold range
of Wright Systems is cited as further evidence
of the AWP approach.
The company has occupied its 55,000
sq. ft. factory in Rugby – close to the M6,
M1 and M40 motorway network – since
1998, and the site is now at the heart of its
UK and European operations. This was
enhanced in 2001 by expansion into the
USA in the shape of what has become a
highly successful manufacturing and
sales division based in Milwaukee.
Nearer home, the organisation proudly
points to some 75% of its sales being
achieved in highly competitive European
markets, including France, Spain and
Germany. Both in the UK and abroad,
leading names in the automotive industry
as well as sectors that include rail, nuclear
and general heavy engineering also
figure extensively on AWP’s customer list,
as does a growing number of white goods
and electrical manufacturers.
Andrew Whitworth points to this diversity,
combined with a commitment to investing
in its UK manufacturing base, as
key strengths that have come to the fore
during the last few years –
“We believe very few companies in the
UK can offer such a competitive range of
products and services in this sector,” he
says. “With an ongoing commitment to
new machinery, and an ability to manufacture
around the clock – often, importantly,
responding to very short customer
lead times – our approach underpins our
belief in working closely with every customer,
irrespective of order size or complexity.”
It is this combination of positive factors
and AWP’s corporate structure that has
enabled the company to address the wellunderstood
challenges that manufacturing
industry has had to face in recent
times. The company has addressed the
full spectrum of its operational activities
to ensure efficiencies are retained and,
indeed, maximised and, vitally, to ensure
sales remain within as wide a range of
manufacturing industries as possible.
Critically, the company has avoided overreliance
on one particular sector.
“We believe our family-owned status has
also made an important contribution in
this regard as decisions on structure and
investment can be made very quickly, allowing
us to react positively to each challenge
or opportunity,” continues Andrew
Whitworth. “I am delighted to report that,
today, we are not only continuing to invest
in new machines – three new important
installations have been commissioned on
our factory floor in recent months alone
– but we are also adding to our workforce.”
His positive outlook is also reflected by
the addition of 150 new customers since
January – both in established sectors and
also via a number of enterprising new
start-up operations. “We are very happy
to be working with a number of new businesses,”
he says, “which itself reflects the
brighter outlook starting to run through
industry.” He points out that activity in
the Birmingham area in particular, is
very significant in this regard.
With its order books now committed to
despatching tens of thousands of parts
every month to a growing list of customers,
and with enhanced investment and
an increasing workforce, the outlook at
AW Precision is extremely positive.
“Our history shows that we have never
stood still and today we continue to make
inroads and progress – both in terms of
product range and our investment in
people and plant. Our decision to present
our services once again at one of the UK’s
leading manufacturing exhibitions pays
testimony to this view. With joint emphasis
on our manufactured products and
our subcontracting capability, we retain
our belief in working with a wide range of
customers by delivering a reliable, high
quality service every time,” concludes
Andrew Whitworth.
16/06/2010
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