Precision is key for engineers
Soaring demand for the high-quality turned components manufactured by two engineering brothers from Staffordshire has put their company, Key Precision, on course for a £500,000 annual turnover less than three years after starting up.
Directors Neil Dawson, aged 28, Adam Dawson, 25, and Neil's wife Emma, 26, commercial manager, have completed a £500,000 investment in the latest CNC sliding head machinery at premises in Phoenix Road, Cannock.
The expansion programme was supported by a grant of £30,000 from regional development agency Advantage West Midlands. Key Precision specialises in the manufacture of precision-turned parts and global sourcing of components for customers in the automotive, aerospace, medical technology and plumbing industries.
Neil and Adam, who gained first-class honours degrees at the University of Central England and Aston University, both in Birmingham, respectively, started up Key Precision using just one machine at premises in Coppice Side Road, Brownhills, in July 2004. More hi-tech machinery has been added since as the company goes from strength to strength.
Neil said: "Our customers get a first-class service, with the possibility of short lead times and the flexibility to manufacture both small batch work and large volume production. Our overheads are low, which helps us compete with the Far East.
"We have invested in the latest technology that allows us to run the machines unmanned 24 hours a day, seven days a week, minimizing labour costs. The company website, www.keyprecision.com, is also an essential marketing tool."
As well as Neil, Adam and Emma the company employs a fourth person, trainee operator Greg Jackson, aged 18. Manufacturing runs in the Dawson family – Neil and Adam's father Tony runs manufacturing company Key Products in Wolverhampton.
