BK builds on high-quality service

BK Engineering in Heath and Reach, Leighton Buzzard, aims to offer its customers a complete service for high-quality sheet metal fabrications with a speedy turnaround. The company has now invested in an LVD laser system with automated loading / unloading to further develop its service offering.

BK was bought by its present owners in an MBO two years ago and, as manufacturing director Don Cook explains, since the then the directors have taken a close look at the focus of the company.

“We really looked at what our core market should be, so we try as far as we can to concentrate on customers within a 50-mile radius. This covers a lot of companies and when we look further afield delivery costs makes us less competitive,” he says.

The company believes that there is still a strong niche market for the small to medium batch work that it offers, especially at the high quality end and where a fast turnaround and on-time delivery are critical.

“Quality is important, price is important, but on-time delivery is the key as most people work to such tight deadlines on delivery, and they get passed down to us,” says Don.

In the past, customers would keep stocks of items and give you four to six weeks lead time; now a lot of them are operating JIT and ship-to-line and so delivery is paramount and there is no leeway to be late.

“We felt that, with our costs rising, and the constant pressure from customers to reduce costs, the only way to remain profitable was to invest in capital equipment,” says Don Cook. “We saw the laser, particularly with the ability to run lights out, as a way to increase output without the need to take on more labour or invest in additional tooling.”

He says that the Orion laser is very flexible in terms of the work it can produce and makes small batch working more cost-effective – both by reducing the amount of downtime for setup and by nesting parts onto the sheet for maximum material utilisation.

The thickest material BK needs to cut is 10mm mild steel. The 4kW Orion can cut up to 20mm thick steel and on the 10mm material is very quick and cost-effective.

One of the big changes at BK since the buyout is that it tries to provide a complete service, from design to painted fabricated part.

“Often, customers will come to us knowing what they want to achieve, but not how to do it. We give them the skills they don’t have, coming up with ideas, developing products and re-engineering parts to save them money. And as well as the sheet metal work, which is our core business, we also have CNC milling and turning machines and an in-house painting facility. If a company wants a fabrication that incorporates machined parts we can do the whole job for them in house. So we are not reliant on someone else’s quality or delivery,” says Mr Cook.

He adds: “You have to differentiate between price and cost. Someone else may be 10% cheaper, but when you factor in on-time quick delivery, minimal defects, help with developing products and help with engineering cost out of the product – the true cost of our service will be better for them in the long term. For a company like us flexibility is absolutely paramount, and the LVD Orion adds to that flexibility.”

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