Georg UK, which has grown 40% in 2015, held a VIP open day to showcase its machine shop, electronics department and expert engineering team that has completed more than 50 bespoke test rigs for clients in the aerospace sector.
Backed by an innovative collaboration with a top University, the company is poised to take this knowledge and experience into the rail sector and expects this combined approach to bring in more than £1 million of new sales over the next 12 months.
Delegates from Moog, Alstom, Rail Alliance and the EEF met members of staff and were given an insight into how the ‘rigs’ are putting safety critical components through their paces.
The Head of Manufacturing at Lloyds Bank and senior figures from Warwick Manufacturing Group were also on hand to see how the firm’s capabilities could help other customers to develop and launch new products.
“We’ve had a fantastic year and a lot of this growth has been down to our ability to design and manufacture bespoke test rigs,” explains Neil Wyke, managing director.
“To date, we’ve completed over 50 special-purpose rigs, ranging from £200,000 to £2 million depending on the complexity and the size. These have been used to test thousands of components on civil and military aircraft, including door-opening systems, rudder actuators, thrust reversers and elevators; we now believe there’s a fantastic opportunity to apply this knowledge in rail.
"This is all part of a big sales and marketing push to get us heading towards £7 million turnover next year, which should involve the recruitment of at least another three members of staff,” Wyke says.
Established in 1987, Georg UK originally started life manufacturing machines for coil processing equipment but, reflecting on changes in that marketplace, decided to diversify its activity at the start of the 2000s.
The shift in focus has been supported by a £250,000 investment in the test rig centre, which now features a fully equipped machining shop, electronic systems, hardware and 2D/3D design.
There is also now a dedicated demonstration area so customers can see their products being tested.
A free component testing guide is available from www.georguk.com/test-rig-guide.
Georg UK, supported by senior marketing advisor Carl Jarvis, is still actively involved in building coil strip processing machines and can also offer clients project management, installation, spares and after sales services.