Opportunities exist in turbulent market

Shearline Precision Engineering has strengthened its management team to bring in additional expertise, expanded its capacity in design for manufacture, and enhanced its customer focus.

Charles Maltby has been appointed as technical and commercial director and will be heading up the new Design for Manufacture facility.

A chartered engineer, with specialist knowledge of product development from various sectors, including aerospace, automotive and medical, and a Masters in Engineering Management, he has held executive positions at Domino Printing Sciences, Screen Technology, and ANT Software.

He said: 'Increasing shipping costs and wage rises have narrowed the price gap between south east Asia and UK manufacturers, hence many companies are looking to return to manufacturing in the UK.

'The main issues appear to be uncertainty in supply, delays in shipping, increased inventory in the pipeline, and quality control - or potentially the lack of it - in the finished products.

'Increasingly there also appears to be a minimum order quantity necessary to secure the low prices of recent years.

'For many of Shearline's customers this is higher than their annual production requirements.

'Customers are also realising that the intangibles of reputation, trust, and clear, credible communication are more important than ever as worries about the global situation bite.

'Shearline can manage projects from initial designs through to the final product, including bringing in specific components or services from off-site where necessary, and overseeing finishing and assembly to high specifications.

'We want to take responsibility for the delivery of a completed product, so that our customers can be certain that we will look for and pass on savings, with no compromise on quality.

Maltby added: 'We are establishing a dedicated Design for Manufacture facility to provide the fast turnaround that customers need.

'Shearline can take designs from paper through to prototype and short-run manufacture, and support scale-up, developing tools and systems as required.

Shearline's additional appointment, Andrew Hayward, who joins as sales and marketing director, previously headed up business development and group marketing at Universal Engineering Company (Charlestown) .

He has experience in the aerospace, defence, automotive, rolling stock, and printing industries.

In an earlier role he was a purchasing officer working to demanding quality standards such as the automotive spec Ford Q1.

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