US aircraft company orders platform kits

Edited by the Manufacturingtalk editorial team Jun 27, 2006

Lobo Systems - based in Derby, UK - has just secured a major order from US aerospace giant, The Boeing Company, to supply its plant in Texas with a a large number of work platform kits.

The 'sky is the limit' for a once cash-strapped Derby scaffolding company - Lobo Systems.

The firm, based in Derby has just secured a major order from US aerospace giant, The Boeing Company, to supply its plant in Texas with a substantial quantity of work platform kits.

Used primarily for maintenance and aircraft development the system is manufactured in Derby.

Lobo is now building up an impressive list of 'blue-chip' clients at home and abroad and hopes to win even more American business in the near future.

Company director Rob Bokros will next week fly out to St Louis to train 60 General Motors engineers in how to use the kits.

He said: "The Boeing order is a real boost for Lobo.

We already sell to a number of big American companies such as NASA and General Electric, but attracting Boeing is very exciting.

Lobo has a potentially world-beating scaffolding product in its work platform System.

It is different from other scaffolding systems as it requires no tools and does not have to be constructed by specialists.

It is easy to store and transport and can be used to provide access to virtually anything from tall trees to jet aircraft." Bokros continued: "When I took over the company five years ago it was having severe financial difficulties but I recognised that with proper marketing and research the kits would appeal to customers in a whole range of industries across the world." The Boeing order adds to the list of Lobo's 'blue-chip' customers which now includes the British Ministry of Defence, jet engine manufacturers Pratt and Whitney, NASA, Virgin Atlantic, locomotive manufacturers Bombardier, Kelloggs Foods, GlaxoWelcome and any more.

At the other end of the scale gardeners at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, UK, use the system to reach the giant yew hedges and at the National Trust's Charlecote Park it allowed cleaners to reach 17th century tapestries hanging from the panelled walls.