Clitheroe Engineering bounces back in 2010

The company traditionally specialises in the flexible manufacture of hydraulic components for multinational companies, notably in the mining and automotive industries. As a result of the slowdown in 2009, the sub-contractor sought to diversify into the aerospace and machine manufacturing markets, and is currently carrying out machining for two well-known global organisations. The return of pre-existing work in January 2010 to previous levels, coupled with the new business, has prompted the optimistic turnover forecast. Helen Meloy, operations director, said, "We see 2010 as a year of re-structuring, with significant levels of capital expenditure, including a new building on our existing site and other initiatives aimed at taking our company to its next stage of development." The return to previous levels of business enables the company to proceed with several initiatives that were put on the back burner. The first will be the purchase of a new ERP (enterprise resource planning) system from Emax. The system will be totally integrated from quotations through production planning and control to despatch. At least two more machine tools will be added on the shop floor. One will be a half-metre-cube Mori Seiki NH5000 horizontal machining centre to occupy the fifth and final machine position within the Fastems, 72-pallet flexible manufacturing system. The second purchase will be another Puma 2500SY CNC lathe with 76 mm bar capacity from Mills Manufacturing Technology to strengthen Clitheroe's mill-turning capacity. A further capital purchase will be a Mitutoyo CNC coordinate measuring machine, which will join two similar, manually-operated machines. The choice of product was based on the subcontractor's intention to move further into aerospace work, for which it already holds AS9100. A new quality control officer was appointed at the beginning of February 2010. She is the first of six recruits planned for this year, mainly setter-operators, which will increase the number of staff at Clitheroe Engineering to 35. In addition, it is expected that an apprentice will be taken on during 2010, the first since the company was established in 1973. Discussions are ongoing with nearby Burnley College to sponsor a Year 2 undergraduate. Existing staff will benefit from a company-wide analysis of skills and requirements, so that they too, can access additional training, as required.