Home: Issue 1 2013 › A precise strategy
A precise strategy
06/03/2013 | Channel: Manufacturing, Engineering
To ensure it is meeting the exacting requirements of its customers, KW Kane Precision Engineering achieved SC21 Silver Status in November 2012
Established in 1984 and today recognised as one of Northern Ireland’s foremost precision engineering companies, JW Kane Precision Engineering (JW Kane) offers fully integrated solutions for computer numerically controlled (CNC) milling requirements. It specialises in servicing the aerospace industry, and from its manufacturing operations in Portadown, Northern Ireland the business is able to provide a range of medium to high volume precision machining solutions, from a variety of materials including aluminium, titanium, steel and carbon fibre.
Damian McArdle, general manager, gives a bit more detail about the core technology offered by the company: “Our modern purpose-built facilities are equipped with leading-edge machining technology. We have 45 CNC milling machines up to 5-axis envelope of 4500mm x 825mm x 500mm. In addition, we have six CNC programmers and two CMM programmers using Mastercam, Openmind, Catia and PC DMIS software.” JW Kane also uses the Tricorn enterprise resource planning (ERP) database to manage and control the flow of information along the value chain.
Manufacturing high-precision machined components for a number of blue-chip customers, JW Kane has a proven success rate of supply to the aerospace industry and currently supports a workforce of around 65 employees. “Our key market is the aerospace industry,” confirmed Damian. “We have a number of aerospace customer-related accreditations including AS9100 Rec V, SC21 Silver and Airbus Airframes Machining.”
The prestigious SC21 silver award that Damian mentioned was presented to the company in November 2012, during a ceremony at ‘Titanic Belfast’ and saw an appearance from the Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster. Damian explained the work that went into this accomplishment and what it means to the business: “We achieved this through extensive teamwork and by following the ADS framework, as well as the valued support of our customers. We are among a small group of UK ADS members to have been awarded SC21 Silver, so it is a great achievement, and it has contributed to a significant increase in our workload.” He added: “The SC21 accreditation gives our business, industry credibility and allows all employees to be involved in improvements throughout the organisation.”
Being part of ADS also gives JW Kane access to the latest industry news and trends. Damian shared some insight that was discussed during a recent chief executive forum sponsored by ADS. “The biggest risk identified by chief executive officers and vice presidents is that the capacity of the supply chain may not be able to keep up with demand,” he said. “To maintain our position JW Kane Precision Engineering have invested heavily in infrastructure and we are well positioned to support tier one and two suppliers into the Boeing and Airbus supply chains.”
Furthermore, JW Kane is investing £6.57 million in a number of business development activities to advance its technical, management, finance, marketing and skills capabilities. Following a visit on 31st January 2013, Arlene Foster announced that Invest NI has offered almost £900,000 of support. This is a highly ambitious investment for the company aimed at substantially increasing turnover. With an improved manufacturing facility and highly trained staff JW Kane will be able to target top level aerospace manufacturers and be in a position to meet their exacting demands.
“The project will give us 54,000 square feet of fully equipped manufacturing capability with state-of-the-art machining centres. It will also see us add key technical, management and operational skills needed to support an aerospace-focused customer base,” added Damian. “We are also actively working to introduce up to five new blue-chip customers to our ever expanding portfolio of clients.”
The JW Kane team also works with prestigious knowledge providers such as the world-renowned Queens University of Belfast. Its plans to constantly improve its technology footprint also include ongoing research into the future of carbon fibre and associated machining techniques. Its groundbreaking machining strategy in this area has been instrumental in supporting a leading aerospace company in the fast turnaround of engineering test samples, leading to reduced new product development cycle times. JW Kane continues to acquire essential knowledge to advance its strategy of vertical and horizontal integration along the value chain.
“Our key strengths include our investments in a variety of areas including people, equipment and engineering capability,” concluded Damian. “We believe in focusing on our vision to ensure our continued success. This is: ‘To become the preferred supplier for precision engineering machining and supply chain management solutions to all our target customers’.”
JW Kane Precision Engineering Ltd, 1 Charlestown Crescent, Charlestown Road Industrial Estate , Portadown,
Tel: • Fax:
Email:
JW Kane Precision Engineering
Employees 65
Services CNC milling
Damian McArdle, general manager, gives a bit more detail about the core technology offered by the company: “Our modern purpose-built facilities are equipped with leading-edge machining technology. We have 45 CNC milling machines up to 5-axis envelope of 4500mm x 825mm x 500mm. In addition, we have six CNC programmers and two CMM programmers using Mastercam, Openmind, Catia and PC DMIS software.” JW Kane also uses the Tricorn enterprise resource planning (ERP) database to manage and control the flow of information along the value chain.
Manufacturing high-precision machined components for a number of blue-chip customers, JW Kane has a proven success rate of supply to the aerospace industry and currently supports a workforce of around 65 employees. “Our key market is the aerospace industry,” confirmed Damian. “We have a number of aerospace customer-related accreditations including AS9100 Rec V, SC21 Silver and Airbus Airframes Machining.”
The prestigious SC21 silver award that Damian mentioned was presented to the company in November 2012, during a ceremony at ‘Titanic Belfast’ and saw an appearance from the Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster. Damian explained the work that went into this accomplishment and what it means to the business: “We achieved this through extensive teamwork and by following the ADS framework, as well as the valued support of our customers. We are among a small group of UK ADS members to have been awarded SC21 Silver, so it is a great achievement, and it has contributed to a significant increase in our workload.” He added: “The SC21 accreditation gives our business, industry credibility and allows all employees to be involved in improvements throughout the organisation.”
Being part of ADS also gives JW Kane access to the latest industry news and trends. Damian shared some insight that was discussed during a recent chief executive forum sponsored by ADS. “The biggest risk identified by chief executive officers and vice presidents is that the capacity of the supply chain may not be able to keep up with demand,” he said. “To maintain our position JW Kane Precision Engineering have invested heavily in infrastructure and we are well positioned to support tier one and two suppliers into the Boeing and Airbus supply chains.”
Furthermore, JW Kane is investing £6.57 million in a number of business development activities to advance its technical, management, finance, marketing and skills capabilities. Following a visit on 31st January 2013, Arlene Foster announced that Invest NI has offered almost £900,000 of support. This is a highly ambitious investment for the company aimed at substantially increasing turnover. With an improved manufacturing facility and highly trained staff JW Kane will be able to target top level aerospace manufacturers and be in a position to meet their exacting demands.
“The project will give us 54,000 square feet of fully equipped manufacturing capability with state-of-the-art machining centres. It will also see us add key technical, management and operational skills needed to support an aerospace-focused customer base,” added Damian. “We are also actively working to introduce up to five new blue-chip customers to our ever expanding portfolio of clients.”
The JW Kane team also works with prestigious knowledge providers such as the world-renowned Queens University of Belfast. Its plans to constantly improve its technology footprint also include ongoing research into the future of carbon fibre and associated machining techniques. Its groundbreaking machining strategy in this area has been instrumental in supporting a leading aerospace company in the fast turnaround of engineering test samples, leading to reduced new product development cycle times. JW Kane continues to acquire essential knowledge to advance its strategy of vertical and horizontal integration along the value chain.
“Our key strengths include our investments in a variety of areas including people, equipment and engineering capability,” concluded Damian. “We believe in focusing on our vision to ensure our continued success. This is: ‘To become the preferred supplier for precision engineering machining and supply chain management solutions to all our target customers’.”
JW Kane Precision Engineering Ltd, 1 Charlestown Crescent, Charlestown Road Industrial Estate , Portadown,
Tel: • Fax:
Email:
JW Kane Precision Engineering
Employees 65
Services CNC milling