A generation game in precision

Ed Hill visited Hampshire-based Telmar CNC to find out how keeping things in the family has kept it in business for 25 years.

For small precision engineering businesses exposed to the ups and downs of the UK economy life can be pretty tough, so any company that reaches the 25 year milestone must have been doing something right.

Telmar CNC has built its reputation by manufacturing quality components with a fast turnaround and impressive on-time delivery performance. Life for the Chandlers Ford, Hampshire-based company began in 1991 when it was started by the present chairman Terry Mould.

Since 2012 the business has been run on a day to day basis by Lucy Mould, Mr Mould’s daughter and current managing director.

She begins: “Telmar began after my father was made redundant from another engineering company where he was works manager. It was really a now or never moment for him. He started with three manual machines in a unit the size of a double garage and steadily built the business moving to the current site where we are today.”

Telmar now has eight CNC machines at its 4,000ft² unit; three CNC lathes and five CNC mills from machine builders including YAM, Dugard and Daewoo. All the CNC machines are Fanuc controlled. The business also still uses the original manual turning and milling machines that Telmar started with, along with a range of measurement and inspection equipment including a DEA Swift CMM.

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The ISO 9001 accredited company supplies components for the defence, pharmaceutical, oil and gas, food machine, industrial cable, weighing industry, marine and automotive markets, particularly classic cars. One of its longer term contracts is supplying a steering wheel hub fitted to Morgan sports cars. Another involved intricate metal plates for machines used in pill manufacturing.

The company works with a wide range of materials including stainless steel, mild steel, aluminium, titanium, brass, copper and plastics, with batches ranging from 1-off to 15,000-off.

Ms Mould continues: “We tend to specialise in larger work. We can turn up to 700mm diameter and mill up to 1,500mm long and we have the gantry and fork lift machines to move the larger workpieces around.

“Over the years we have evolved into working on larger components because of the customers we have. A lot of companies specialise in producing small components and it’s very hard to compete against those sorts of set-ups. For us it has made sense to specialise in an area where the competition is less fierce.”

Telmar aims to be a one-stop-shop for its customers also offering services such as anodising and welding through a network of approved subcontractors.

Returning to growth

Telmar was hit hard by the economic downturn in 2008-9 when turnover appeared to halve almost overnight. However, business has steadily built up again and Ms Mould is optimistic that turnover will reach the £1 million mark in the next few years.

Offline programming software means the company can ensure throughput of complex parts is kept to a maximum despite the sometimes frequent number of set-ups needed on a daily basis. However, getting customers to commit to long-term contracts can be difficult which makes plans to invest in new equipment hard.

“We have to deal with a lot of short lead-time work which makes capital investment difficult. We want to invest in two new machines: one to replace an existing machine and a new small Doosan Lynx turn-mill because a lot of the work that we do would suit that machine perfectly. We hope to get the contracts to support that, but sometimes as a subcontractor you just have to make a leap of faith and make new investments to improve your capability and find more work.”

Investing in new machinery is one thing, but even more pressing for a small company like Telmar (currently with just five shopfloor employees) is finding new staff with the necessary skills. Like many companies involved in precision engineering the only option is to begin to train its own new workers.

“Engineering is such a broad catch all term – if we put out job adverts we either get applications from car mechanics or computer engineers,” Ms Mould explains. “People don’t understand what precision engineering is, and even worse neither do the recruitment agencies.

“The skills needed to work in a company like ours are often underestimated. It can be easier to find a machine operator but to find people who can also programme and look after an inspection department, for example, is much harder. If operators just do large batch sizes they don’t get the experience to deal with setting up machines every day. Those skills are much harder to find.”

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Telmar has recently been approved as a work placement for students from Eastleigh College and its first student has just finished his time with the company.

“He was very good,” says Ms Mould. “In fact, he has been put forward as work placement student of the year because we were so impressed by him and his attitude. However, unfortunately we find most colleges don’t seem to provide students with the right experience in metalcutting. I understand that things like health and safety are very important but there does seem to be a lack of practical experience on actual machines provided.”

Ms Mould also regrets the Government’s latest approach to helping small manufacturing businesses.

“It was a real shame when the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) was phased out. We used its help several times and now that has gone you are left floundering and looking for alternatives. With MAS you had a local representative who would come and see you, find out about your needs and put you in contact with someone who might be able to help.

“There are so many elements to running a small business such as, health and safety, employment law and pensions; when you really need that support and advice and it can be difficult to know where to turn.

“We actually received some funding from MAS. They helped to fund a diploma I did in Quality Management. We received match funding for the course and for a small company that sort of help is really useful and encouraging. The Government should do more when it comes to small manufacturing companies. These jobs are just as valuable as those found by big employers.”

Onwards and upwards

One thing that clearly comes through when visiting Telmar is Ms Mould’s enthusiasm for the company and her passion to drive it forward to a prosperous future. That begins by helping position the business further up the supply chain.

“We are looking to try and find more customers similar to the ones that we supply now,” she says. “That means building on the skills that we have and aiming to provide more to customers. I’m also inviting our existing clients to look at what else we can supply to them; sometimes as a subcontractor you are not always aware of the other work your customers undertake and the potential to assist.”

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It certainly looks like Terry Mould’s legacy is set to successfully continue under his daughter’s stewardship.

“I was only meant to be here for two weeks as holiday cover in 2002 but since then I haven’t looked back. I have taken my accountancy exams and a diploma in quality management; anything that I felt would help the company.

“When dad stepped down from being full time I still felt that I had a lot to offer Telmar. I suppose I always hoped it would happen – the firm has been part of my life since I was 11 years old and I couldn’t imagine working anywhere else.

“We have a great collection of staff; some of them have been with us many years. I enjoy the relationships we have with our customers, I enjoy seeing the work that we produce and I still want to push the company as far forward far as I can.”

She concludes: “A lot of people thought Telmar would close when dad retired but it is down to him that we have kept going and thrived because he taught me so well. Essentially you have to be able to prove your knowledge to the industry. You would be surprised at how many engineering companies are being run by women – often daughters. That is great to see because I believe we can offer a lot to the industry.”

Telmar CNC www.telmarcnc.co.uk

 

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Telmar CNC

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