Latest news from Drurys
December 2011
Drive for continuous improvement leads to new appointments
Drurys Engineering, manufacturers of high quality components for the aerospace, defence, oil and gas, and motorsport industries, has strengthened its leadership team with two new senior appointments.
Howard Chesterton – General Manager
Howard will be tasked with the day to day running of Drurys and implementing their growth plan.
He has a wealth of industry experience having held senior positions in companies such as BAe, Flight Refuelling, WEAF and Harris Performance. Howard also has experience of lean tools and techniques, business excellence and manufacturing excellence being an accomplished practitioner within the SC21 programme.
Paul Harris – Manufacturing Service Manager
Paul will be responsible for manufacturing plus purchasing and administration functions. He has vast experience of operation management gained at a variety of companies. Paul also has lean experience being trained to green belt level in six sigma techniques.
Managing Director Richard Dunn commented “Strengthening the leadership of our business is a key part of our growth and continuous improvement strategy. I am very excited about the new structure and feel that that our new leadership team are ideally experienced to lead the progression of Drurys. The combined skills of Howard and Paul will enable us to become an innovative market leading manufacturing services provider offering exceptional service and solutions to our customers”
November 2011
Drurys Engineering Managing Director chairs SC21 Task Force
Richard Dunn was delighted to chair the November SC21 Task Force Meeting at the prestigious Heritage Motor Centre in Warwickshire.
The meeting included updates on the SC21 programme, the key milestones which have been achieved since the last task force and the up and coming challenges. There were also presentations , with an SME theme running throughout the day.
Richard Dunn said “I have been involved with the SC21 programme for the last 4 ½ years and am honoured to be chairing the meeting today. I feel that it is a good thing for the SME community as it sends out a positive message as to the level the SME’s can be involved at and influence the programme”
Drurys Engineering invests in Biglia new machine tool
A commitment to manufacturing excellence supported by ongoing investment in high end machine tools has prompted Drurys Engineering to invest in a Biglia 545YS CNC turning centre. The purchase is the first Biglia sale by Hardinge Machine Tools since it took on the UK distribution and technical support activity for Biglia SpA.
The 545YS machine features 12 rotary tools, a main spindle and sub-spindle both with C-axis and a Y-axis. The vertical Y-axis offers greater accuracy when performing operations such as flat milling, off centre drilling and tapping while the second spindle with C-axis enables complete finish machining operations to be undertaken in a single set-up. The machine is also equipped with live tooling enabling the rotating toolholders to machine components from both the main and sub-spindle.
Read the full article on Production Engineering Solutions
June 2011
Drurys Engineering at DSEi
Drurys will be showcasing its services at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEi) Exhibition at Excel London from 13th to 16th September 2011. The DSEi is the world's leading integrated security and defence exhibition. Visit Drurys at stand N7-276.
New Appointments
Drurys has made two senior promotions as part of its continued growth and customer service improvement strategies.
Graham Walton has been appointed Head of Operations. He will have overall responsibility for quality, purchasing, delivery and key customer contracts. Graham has been with the company for over 15 years and previously held the role of Head of Quality.
James Buckingham has been appointed Head of Quality and will have day to day responsibility for the quality function. James, who joined the company last year from Lockheed Martin, has a strong back ground in supply chain quality assurance and is trained to Six Sigma green belt level.
Commenting on the promotions, Managing Director Richard Dunn said “Quality and customer satisfaction are pivotal to the company’s long term success. As a centre of manufacturing excellence, we are constantly striving to deliver exceptional quality and service to our customers. Graham and James will be responsible for delivering market leading manufacturing services to our customers”.
December 2010
High flyers land at Drurys
Aerospace and defence industry experts, from as far a field as Saudi Arabia, recently met at our Hitchin base for a conference on supply chain excellence. The conference was part of the aerospace and defence industry’s Supply Chain for the 21st Century programme (SC21) which is designed to boost the competiveness of the aerospace and defence industries.
Drurys’ Managing Director Richard Dunn commented “in the current climate of defence cuts it’s vital that the industry takes all possible measures to ensure its competitiveness and the SC21 programme plays an important part in this. It is an absolute honour for Drurys to be chosen to host this event as we are the first small business to host such an event.”
Mike Webb of BAE Systems, who flew in from Saudi Arabia specifically to attend the event, commented “As Chairman of the SC21 Performance and Development Special Interest Group I am delighted that Drurys have been chosen to host this event. Usually these events are hosted by the Primes and it’s great to see an SME demonstrating their commitment to the SC21 Programme in this way”.
The conference was featured on the Aerospace Manufacturing website.
Drurys appears in Machinery Magazine's 5-axis supplement
Managing Director Richard Dunn is quoted in an article on 5-axis machinery in Machinery Magazine's 5-axis supplement. Direct PDF download (see page 9).
September 2010
Drurys in Production Engineering Solutions roundtable discussion
Following the performance award Drurys Engineering gained for commitment to the 21st Century Supply Chains (SC21) programme, our Head of Operations Sara Dunn was invited to take part in a roundtable discussion published by Production Engineering Solutions. Read the article here.
Drive for continuous improvement leads to new appointment
Drurys Engineering, manufacturers of high quality components for the aerospace, defence, oil and gas, and motorsport industries, has appointed James Buckingham as its new SC21 Champion.
James, who joined Drurys earlier this year from Lockheed Martin, takes over the role from Managing Director Richard Dunn. This will enable Richard to devote more time to his role as Managing Director and develop further interest in the company to achieve Drurys’ five year growth plan together with his continued role as Co Chair of the SC21 Development and Performance Special Interest Group.
“James is a strong back ground in supply chain quality assurance and is trained to Six Sigma green belt level. Both of these will be invaluable to him in his new role.” commented Richard Dunn. “Continuous improvement is vital to the success of any business. James and I are committed to ensuring Drurys continually improves in all areas and we will be working with the whole Drurys’ team to achieve this goal and ultimately achieve a gold SC21 award”
James commented “I am delighted to have been appointed SC21 Champion and look forward to the challenges involved with this.”
Drurys are delighted to have won a national award for supply chain excellence.
The award, which was presented to Managing Director Richard Dunn at the Farnborough Airshow, is from the aerospace and defence industry’s Supply Chain for the 21st Century programme (SC21) which is designed to boost the competiveness of the aerospace and defence industries.
To achieve this award Drurys has been on a 4 year journey of improvements. Benefits gained from this include increased efficiencies, cost reduction, raised profile within the industry and most importantly improved staff morale.
Receiving the award from Peter Hogg, Chairman of SC21, Richard Dunn said “I'm delighted to accept this award on behalf of my company, but more importantly on behalf of every single one of the team at Drurys who have enabled us to achieve this recognition. The award demonstrates to our customers, suppliers and the industry as a whole that we can consistently manufacture and deliver to an exceptionally high standard.”
June 2010
DVD 2010
Drurys exhibited at DVD 2010. DVD is Defence Equipment and Support’s (DE&S) annual stakeholder event for the Land Equipment and Joint Support Chain communities, together with the Air Commodities team. Our stand was C5-142.
May 2010
ADS Defence Magazine
Drurys are mentioned twice in the May 2010 issue of ADS Defence Magazine (Click pictures to enlarge and read the articles).
Sara Dunn appointed as Head of Operations
Drurys Engineering Ltd has appointed Sara Dunn as Head of Operations. Whilst taking responsibility for all operational aspects she will be specifically leading Drurys’ continuous improvement and professional standards programmes.
Sara has over 20 years’ operational management experience gained in multi national companies. This is a newly created role and is part of Drurys continued expansion strategy. It follows the recent appointments of additional production staff to increase their manufacturing capacity.
March 2010
Local MP visits Drurys
Peter Lilley MP visited Drurys Engineering Ltd today (26th March) 2010 to gain a firsthand appreciation of the work being done by the firm in Hitchin. Drurys Engineering Ltd employs 26 people and is an important part of the local economy. Mr Lilley was given a tour of the company’s facility which provides manufactured hardware for British troops on the front line and was introduced to members of the workforce.
Richard Dunn, Managing Director of Drurys Engineering Ltd said:
“We are proud to be part of the UK defence industry which provides equipment to support our Armed Forces. The sector has a world-class reputation for innovation and invests heavily in research and development. We are pleased to give Mr Lilley a behind the scenes tour of our business and hope to work closely with him to ensure that our firm continues to flourish in Hitchin.”
Mr Lilley was fascinated in the technology which was demonstrated to him and was amazed at the expertise required in modern day manufacturing. The defence industry in the UK employs 300,000 people up and down the country in high value manufacturing and engineering positions. The industry is proud to work hand in hand with the UK's Armed Forces both at home and on operation overseas.
© Drurys Engineering 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Engineering, manufacturing and assembly services for F1/Motorsport, Aerospace, Defence and Oil and Gas
