Sally Thorley, who has been employed by Precision Products for nearly 30 years, has taken over the position of Managing Director from Brian Owen, who remains on the board of directors as Chairman.
Located in Rustington, West Sussex, the company is one of the leading subcontract manufacturers of precision turned parts in the south of England.
Further senior appointments are Ian Jenkins, who has moved across from production to become Commercial Manager; and Jason Bullen, who joined the company at the start of 2018 as Production Manager.
The company has recently become one of the first contract machinists in the UK to be accredited to AS9100 Rev D, the latest revision of the quality management system standard for the aviation, space, and defence industries.
Precision Products is a long-established, second-tier supplier to the aerospace sector, which accounts for around 20% of the subcontractor's turnover. The latest accreditation will be promoted on the company's stand, D70, at Southern Manufacturing 2018, Farnborough, 6th - 8th February.
The end of 2017 marked 18 months since Precision Products consolidated its business into the Rustington factory and dispensed with a nearby satellite unit in Hollingbury. In so doing, the subcontractor went exclusively CNC, phasing out the use of cam-controlled multi-spindle turning machines and coil-fed lathes.
Production is now carried out exclusively on 22 Citizen and Miyano CNC automatic lathes for sliding- and fixed-head turn-milling respectively, the latter having capacities up to 64 mm diameter.
Mrs Thorley commented, “By concentrating production in Rustington, we have more staff in one place so are able to work more flexibly. Our setters have become multi-skilled, allowing them to move freely between machines on the shop floor, even from fixed- to sliding-head lathes, increasing production efficiency.
"It has streamlined our operation, reduced overheads and helps us keep down the prices we charge, making us more competitive. As a result, we have been able to increase the number of long-term partner relationships we have with customers, leading to stable contracts that benefit both them and us.
"We now operate continuously from 5.00 am on Monday to noon on Friday. Without the previous gaps between day and night shifts, it increased our machining capacity by 15 per cent almost overnight. With 32 employees, nearly the same number as we had before our rationalisation programme, we increased turnover by 14 per cent in 2017 compared with the previous year."