Bob Wilkins, general manager of Truturn Precision Engineering, says the company’s on-going investment in both people and machines is making it into the sub-contractor to watch in the South West.

He says he has confidence in the business, having overseen in recent years the significant investment that has laid the groundwork for future growth.

Based in Stroud, Gloucestershire, the company was founded in 1985 and undertakes milling, turning and fabrication work — plus electrical and mechanical assembly. It employs 35 people, of whom 18 are machinists.

Starting as a turning business that did work for the local engineering and manufacturing community, Truturn now has a significant foothold in the oil and gas, nuclear, food-processing and general sub-contracting sectors.

Moreover, some 30% of the business is export-focused, with Europe, the Far East, Canada and the USA being major markets.

Mr Wilkins said: “Three years ago, we decided that the culture of the business needed to change. We wanted to bring in automotive skills and better management, along with more training and accreditations. Essentially, we wanted to professionalise ourselves.”

Mr Wilkins has been as good as his word, with the Investors in People Gold accreditation being quickly followed by ISO 9001 and the Fit For Nuclear programme — plus health-and-safety accreditations. Moreover, the company is currently working towards its ISO 14001 environmental accreditation.

Mr Wilkins said: “I am very proud of what we’ve done with ISO 9001 in particular, because we have had zero non-conformities in the last three years. This is a great achievement for our quality manager, who was one of my first ‘hires’ into the business.” He adds that the Fit For Nuclear programme has also been important.

“It modernises a business and gets it ready to take on nuclear work. It was quite a challenge for us, particularly in terms of the training investment, but we have since got work as a result — not least from Magnox.”

A good partnership

Developing a relationship with Worcester-based Yamazaki Mazak UK Ltd (www.mazakeu.com) has been central to Truturn’s recent success.

Mr Wilkins said: “We found that Mazak didn’t just try to sell us machines; they looked at our business and the sort of work we were doing before making any recommendations. They have also worked with us to develop our staff and our machining processes, thereby allowing us to grow and move into new sectors.”

New machinery has been central to Truturn’s transformation, the installation of an Integrex J-300 being a prime example. Mr Wilkins said: “We knew that if we didn’t invest in new machines, we would not grow — not least because our customers were looking for us to take cost out of our processes and pass the savings on to them.

“The Integrex J-300 was a ‘culture shock’ to start with, but I would estimate that the machine has since taken 15-20% out of the cost of our products — and sometimes more than that.

“Mazak helped us to develop its full potential, which we probably didn’t fully appreciate at the outset. Moreover, the machine has had a positive effect on morale.

“Three operators now know the J-300 ‘inside out’, having been on the training courses and developed the appropriate skills. One of our apprentices has also been trained on the machine.”

The J-300 was quickly followed by a Quick Turn Nexus 250M. “This has been a revelation for us, particularly in terms of being able to put development and prototype work on it. We’ve completed a wide variety of jobs on the 250M, from tube work through to complex blocks, but the key point is that we no longer have to complete a secondary milling operation. As a result, we have cut set-up times by as much as 40%.”

Mr Wilkins says the future for Truturn lies in five-axis machining — and potentially a specialist milling machine. “The focus for us now is five-axis. We will need support from Mazak to get there, but that is where we want to go.”