Power Train steam ahead
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Success in business in times like these? scoff defeatists. We took up the challenge and invited companies to tell us their success stories. In this first of a series John Darker finds out it's still possible to forge ahead if you've got the guts to chance your arm
JCCESS STORIES in British inIstry during the recession? is, it's possible. Take Power am n Engineering Ltd, for instice, with most of its customers the road transport sector.
No business takes off in this ctor if it doesn't give customs the service they want at the )ht price.
Power Train re-manufactures igines — a phrase new to me it which made a lot of sense ter I visited the company's im-essive manufacturing and sting facility at Willenhall.
"Re-manufacture" provides a .oduct in every way comparee to original equipment. The )mpany's aim is to maintain le original manufacturing )ecifications, and engines are Dt passed out until this has aen achieved.
When you learn of the scale of ie investment — to date Power Pain has ploughed in around 11/2m — you realise that the enine re-builder who sets up shop ith a power drill and a honing ead can't fairly be said to be in le same league, though that is ot meant to deprecate the skill, edication and integrity of small re-builders".
But Power Train, as a cornany, bristles with these qualies and some hours spent in the company of the engineering director, Roger Perks, and David Etherington, the entrepreneurial genius who has created Power Train, and other thriving companies, left me with the thought: if these chaps have accomplished so much in such a short time, what will the future bring?
Power Train's main activity is re-manufacturing diesel engines for the road transport industry, but industrial and marine diesels are also catered for. The production flow covers Ford, Bedford, Rolls-Royce, Gardner, Volvo, Perkins and Leyland, with other makes as demand arises.
Less "popular" engines are dealt with on the basis of a ceiling price, with some return, to the customer if the cost of the work is less than the estimate.
How did Power Train begin? Perhaps the real answer is that David Etherington was born ambitious: he wanted to own a Rolls-Royce by the age of 30. Breaking his neck (literally!) as a young man, (he is still a mere 31) helped further his ambition though he would hardly have guessed as much when he hit the bottom of a Jersey swimming pool.
As a Leyland apprentice, David's accident led to a transfer to white-collar work in workshop offices and stores at Guy Motors. He was offered a job as a buyer and later started Jeenashire, a holding company that owns Motor Components. The first specialisation was the remanufacture of gearboxes, still undertaken with great success at Wolverhampton.
Two years ago, David began to interest himself in engines. A company named S. Barnard Engineering of Walsall providing machine shop services on engine components, and run by Roger Perks, was bought and developed as an engine builder for Motor Components.
When it was realised that Barnards facilities could not cope with the likely demand for remanufactured engines, David Etherington, with the resources to build and equip a new factory, and with Roger Perks' warm support, set up Power Train Engineering in industrial units built and developed by themselves.
The project prospered. Sixteen months after the Power Train launch at Willenhall, a 3'/7acre site was acquired nearby to cope with the rapid expansion of the company. The new engine assembly and fitting bays will give the company room to expand. Currently, Power Train's out put is some 150 engines pei month and with the new factory in commission it will certainly bE much more than that. Matchinc output to demand in a cost effective way, particularly witF regard to the high capital cost o test equipment such as dyna mometers, will pose some in teresting management prob lems.
With the forward thinkinc based on the success alreach gained, Power Train sees futurE growth being helped by double shifting. The strategy of th( company has called for usinc the most efficient — often th( most expensive — machin( tools.
You can buy a crank grinde for £12,000, I'm told, but typically, Power Train bough one for £24,000.
Some special-purposl machine tools such as an Italia cylinder honer, costing £12,50( 3 re understood to be unique in 3ritain.
If the productive machine ools need to be worked hard to )ay for their corn, this is no less rue of test rigs and so forth. So hroughput is vital, just as vital is the company's quality and reiutation for fair dealing and irompt service.
Fleet engineers may have difering views as to the merits of e-manufacturing "short", 'long" or complete engines. 'ower Train gets more satisaction from its complete en ines, though possibly lower Torn margins.
The ability to run engines uner varying loads on the dynalometer test equipment, which rints out bhp and torque gures, and oil and water terneratures, gives the Power Train ')en the quality assurance they eed.
Their engines are backed by a 2-month warranty, and Power rain goes to great lengths when lere are problems with a partiJlar engine in service.
In the nature of road transport nd plant operation, the rechanics' skill varies a lot. Of Power Train has to "wet Jrse" certain customers who we been unable to install an lgine correctly. Clearly, there is "grey area", but this, I think, ould happen however perfect le condition of a re-manufacred engine ex-works.
Power Train goes to consider31e trouble to give its cusmers the benefits of any posble doubts — by getting an dependent engineer, such as tose of the FTA inspection ser vice — to visit an operator with problems. David Etherington stresses that more damage can be done to an engine in its initial 500 miles than in the next 20,000; hence the crucial role of the installation mechanic and the driver.
Until recently, Power Train made 95 per cent of its engine deliveries in its own one-ton vans, all radio equipped. It was expensive, but it made for good service. The policy now is to appoint suitable agents, to whom weekly deliveries of engines (and gearboxes) would be made, using the small van service for the most urgent deliveries.
The agents appointed so far include National Carriers Ltd whose spread of depots is nationwide. The criterion is the ability to handle service enquiries and deal with technical problems. Engine repair facilities are not necessary.
The development of the chain of agents will be handled with common sense: Power Train does not want to embarrass itself with an excessive order book ...
With 80 per cent of engines dispatched ex-stock, Power Train's customers don't suffer serious VOR problems. The company re-manufactures engines for a number of etablished vehicle manufacturers, who have seen the Willenhall facilities and in at least one case have admitted: "Your equipment is better than ours!"
The success of Power Train Engineering gives an object lesson for many of those, in and out of Government, who want to see entrepreneurial initiatives succeed.
David Etherington, whose early years in industry involved about six years attendance at technical college studying machine tool operations and motor vehicle technology, had no business training before launching out. He told me: "If my colleagues and I had had business training we wouldn't have had the courage to do it." That says a lot about the making of a successful businessman. You must have the guts to chance your arm.
But David had been well grounded in engine-building and component-marketing. The blend of experience he obtained, somewhat by chance, fired his early ambition. (He now runs a Rolls-Royce.) If knowing what things cost is half the battle in putting together a viable business, those without the necessary experience are handicapped.
Power Train's philosophy is to plough back into the business the bulk of the profits made — 20 per cent of profits go to the wages fund. The spirit generated by the hardworking directors is catching, one employee said: "I'd rather have a new machine than a rise." That's one way to re-equip British industry.
Power Train Engineering deserves support not only because its exchange engine prices are lower than the manufacturers' net price but because its quality standards are high.