Precision engineering firm excels itself with Business Sheffield support
TTS Precision Engineering LTD makes close tolerance parts for a wide variety of sectors, from steel rolling mills to aerospace, rail and automotive. Since it was founded in 2010, TTS has invested time, money and enormous care into becoming the clear choice for clients requiring precision parts both in the UK and internationally.
They’ve developed an impressive range of in-house capabilities from design, consultation and manufacture to complete CNC CCM inspection. They’ve invested in equipment to produce manufacturing drawings from data gathered offsite, opening up further overseas opportunities. They pride themselves on their commitment to the end customer, consistent quality and improvement of end products, always going that extra mile to fulfil requirements.
“When customers buy these parts,” says Wayne Cocksedge, Managing Director at TTS, “they’re exposed to incredibly expensive and production-damaging downtime if a failure were to occur. For this reason, our references and reputation of consistent quality is invaluable. Once the opportunity is presented to us to supply a new product, we will always ensure our quality, customer service and attentiveness are beyond the expected value of the product.”
With such diligence, it’s unsurprising that in 2021 TTS found the volume of orders outstripping the capacity of their workforce and machinery. “It was putting incredible pressure on the production team,” says Wayne, “and we were in danger of losing large contracts due to lack of capacity.” Wayne got in touch with Andy Sorsby, a Business Advisor at Business Sheffield. Business Advisors are a team of experienced business consultants, experts in a wide range of sectors, who support Sheffield businesses to overcome hurdles and to thrive.
Andy supported TTS to purchase new machinery to help improve lead times and future-proof the business. The machinery works alongside techniques that will eventually become impossible to support due to a lack of skilled operators, and has enabled TTS to bring further processes in-house, gaining control of lead times.
“The results have been dramatic, reducing manufacture time and costs beyond our expectations,” says Wayne. “The second piece of work we did with Andy came about from the success of the first, as we thought we were running out of space. Andy helped us see beyond a very expensive move; instead we rearranged the flow of the workshop, which gained space and eased down time. The workflow improved productivity further and enabled TTS to modernise certain areas.
“Andy always takes a pragmatic view; suggestions often come about via his experience and ability to listen and digest the information. Working with Andy has been a pleasure, I’m sure he will be called upon time and time again.”
TTS continues to grow at a tremendous rate: their turnover increased by 30% last financial year. Next, they are looking at splitting the core parts of the business further and potentially adding another workshop.
The Business Productivity Programme is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and provides businesses with 50 percent grant funding up to a maximum of £12,499, with the other 50 percent being provided by the business.
Read this article to find out more about the Business Productivity Grant, including more case studies. To discuss an application with one of our Business Advisors, call our team on 0114 2245000 or email BusinessSheffield@sheffield.gov.uk