Pictured above: Greg Pepper (Greenway Engineering), Maxine Chapman (MAS-WM) and John Smith (Greenway Engineering)

North Staffordshire is playing an important role in the launch of a new DNA profiling machine thanks to the expertise of a local engineering firm.

Greenway Pepper, which employs 20 people at its Parkhouse Industrial Estate East site in Newcastle-under-Lyme, is using over 25 years' experience and the latest CNC machining to manufacture the aluminium casing for a product that is set to be sold all over the globe.

Supported by the Manufacturing Advisory Service-West Midlands (MAS-WM), the company is estimating that the £150,000 contract has already safeguarded existing jobs and created five more positions which also helped it smash the £1m barrier for the first time in its history.

Greg Pepper, joint owner with John Smith, was delighted with the early months of 2010:

"Despite the tough market conditions, last year was a good one for the business and we not only managed to consolidate existing work, but actually won new orders, invested in our facilities and employed more people." 

He continued: "The contract to work on the DNA machine was the culmination of three months prototyping work and underlines our evolution from a jobbing shop to a value added machining facility, offering production of small to large volume batches and a fully integrated design, development and assembly function.

"Manufacturing the aluminium case is extremely complex and requires precision engineering of the highest quality. It also requires fast turnaround under a strict delivery time, a challenge we have met head on."

Established as part of a merger between Greenway Engineering and B Pepper & Son in 1998, the North Staffordshire firm worked with the Manufacturing Advisory Service to implement lean processes and new quality management systems underpinned by 5s and ISO:9001.

It combined this determination to improve performance by investing more than £250,000 on upgrading its capabilities, including three new CNC machining centres and later this month the introduction of their latest acquisition - the high speed twin pallet Brother machining centre.

The latter, which in its class is one of the fastest in the world, has enabled it to significantly improve quality and has cut the production cycle on individual components from two hours to just forty minutes.

John Smith, who also runs nearby food machinery specialist All Foods Engineering with Greg, picked up the story: 

"Support from MAS-WM has been first class as their advisers understand what manufacturing is all about and we have seen some real bottom line benefits, including a 25% increase in productivity  and on-time delivery performance rising by 12% to 92%.

"We've had specialist assistance in helping us diversify and, in addition to successes in medical, we have also been able to make inroads into automotive, aerospace, yellow goods and the care sector."

Greenway Pepper, which is in the process of launching its new corporate identity, is keen to make sure North Staffordshire benefits from its growth, with 90% of its supply chain based locally.

It is also firmly committed to developing the engineers of the future and is currently putting 17 year-old Jake Hall through its company Apprenticeship programme and supporting Grant Barnes (21) to combine his role as Production Controller with completing his microgenics degree.

Maxine Chapman, Specialist Adviser at MAS-WM, concluded: "There are two things we always stress to the companies we work with - lean manufacturing and diversification.

"Greenway has embraced both philosophies and is now driving forward with a solid business base, a great workforce and innovative thinking that allows it to win major international orders. It is well on the way to meeting its vision of becoming a leading player in the precision engineering sector." 

Established in 2002, MAS-WM has assisted over 6000 companies to improve their products, productivity, processes and people, adding over £250m to the turnovers of those firms that have embarked upon in-depth business improvement projects.