Dawson Shanahan Ltd, a specialist precision engineering firm, looks set to exceed its investment targets this year to meet increasing demand from the power distribution, e-mobility and medical sectors, which is expected to expand further in 2021.
The company is the leading global specialist in cold forming and machining of high-precision, customer-specified copper, aluminum, ferrous and assembled components. It offers a complete solution, with everything from prototype to production, being designed and manufactured in house to reduce both manufacturing lead time and costs for its customers.
With over 80% of its business being exported, the company’s products meet the demands of a wide range of sectors including aerospace, automotive, electronics, laser, medical, packaging, plasma, power distribution, telecoms and welding.
As part of an ongoing strategy of investing in manufacturing assets for maximum long-term benefit, so far in 2020, Dawson Shanahan has committed over £500,000 on new machinery. Despite Covid-19 and its impact on the plant – 50% of the staff were furloughed – the company has still met the growing orders for precision engineered products and services.
As well as bolstering its turning capacity with a further Citizen Miyano ABX lathe, the company is investing in a Schmid T200 orbital cold forging press which will be used initially for making plasma nozzle components reducing both material waste and cycle times.
This advanced technology delivers excellent precision and efficiency and will enable Dawson Shanahan to optimise cycle times and increase capacity. The company has also replaced an older machine with a more modern Studer CNC cylindrical grinder.
Dawson Shanahan manufactures most of the development and production tooling in house for quicker turnround and this allows the company to do so with far greater efficiency.
As part of the investment plan, a further rotary transfer machine is being refurbished with a new CNC control and automation — collaborative robots will load and unload the machine — and will be used to meet the increased demand for parts in electric vehicles.
Typically, a new part is loaded every 12-15sec so having the agility to automate even small batch runs and frequent line changeovers means operators can use their time much more effectively. In addition, Dawson Shanahan have two new high-precision lathes on order for delivery early in 2021.
Dawson Shanahan joint managing director Les Reeves said: “Despite the phenomenal challenges this year, continual investment in new machinery is a cornerstone of the Dawson Shanahan philosophy. It enables us to consistently meet our customers’ wide range of needs.
“The new machines will boost our capacity to satisfy the increase in demand from different sectors, ensuring quicker turnaround and deliveries. It ultimately, means we can offer an even more customisable and flexible service.”