Significant investments have been made within the Kenard Group over the past 5 years, resulting in an increase in business within the marine, oil & gas, aerospace, defence and telecoms sectors. The company believes this is due to the ability to attract new and often complex projects by capitalising on its strong production engineering, quality control, manufacturing and IT skills.

The precision engineering company has invested in the latest manufacturing and software technologies. A knowledge driven production operation is achieved by using production planning, monitoring and analysis software. The entire manufacturing process is optimised and job progress can be monitored through the use of integrated software packages, including the in-house developed KIDS ERP system and the real-time Networked Manufacturing System (NMS) from Seiki Systems. NMS provides live production management information and visibility to maintain a controlled and flexible approach to the manufacturing process, including work-to-lists for individual resources, capacity planning and shopfloor data collection. The data collected is frequently reviewed and a comparison is made between estimated, planned and actual process time that combined with effective supply chain management ensures customers receive competitive and cost effective solutions.

Operating from two manufacturing sites in the UK, which includes a modern purpose built factory in Darftord, a 50,000sq ft facility in Tewkesbury and 32 CNC machine tools, the company is able to produce one-off prototype components through to medium batch (200-off) production requirements. The Tewkesbury facility predominantly machines aluminium at high speeds on horizontal, vertical and multi-pallet machining centres, including a 72 pallet Fastems system that comprises of a line-of-five, four-axis Mitsubishi MH 500 horizontal machining centres, with 12,000rev/min spindles. The Dartford facility specialises in complex turned components usually manufactured from exotic materials to customer specifications. Components ranging from 75mm diameter up to 930mm diameter are manufactured on the latest machining technology, including a new Daewoo Puma 700L mill/turn centre.

Customer service is the company priority and the organisation aims to work with all customers from the concept-design stage through to full manufacture, including all processes and treatments. Project managers hold activity meetings with customers to ensure that the best results are achieved and that deliveries are on time. As part of the technical service, the Design for Manufacture facility is an integral part of the operation. The sales, production and quality departments work closely to carry out detailed evaluations of customers’ design and manufacturing requirements. Through direct liaison with the customer’s design department, the company undertakes a full analysis of the component and assemblies in order to develop an optimised process solution for manufacturing the component. A full assessment of the service condition and life expectancy requirements is undertaken for improved product quality and reliability, and a range of material and surface finish options are available to meet customer requirements. The overall benefit is the ‘one-stop’ shop approach to manufacturing, offering a dedicated manufacturing design and problem solving service for existing or conceptual design issues and a co-ordinated technical and manufacturing support service. The primary goal is to ensure that all projects are managed efficiently and to a high standard, which was recognised at the bi-annual MWP Awards 2008 when the company won the ‘Best Subcontractor – Machining’ award. The judges of the MWP Awards commented that the company ‘Ticks all the right boxes - investment in advanced manufacturing, workflow management, input to design and development, lean principles and quality management.’

www.kenard.co.uk