Member Article

Express Engineering in elite company

A North East engineering firm has joined an elite group of companies in achieving a special internationally-recognised quality mark for its work.

Express Engineering, of Gateshead, has become one of just 45 organisations in the UK to be certificated under the International Institute of Welding approved scheme to the ISO 3834 standard for its clad welding process.

This follows extensive assessment by experts from TWI Certification Ltd (TWI CL) and will support the Team Valley based operation’s £10 million plus drive to win new work for subsea components.

Quality manager, Marty Baker said: “This is a benchmark recognised around the world which demonstrates the quality of our processes, our people and our products. It will allow us to target more major operators in oil and gas exploration and extraction who insist on such certification.

“We have invested a lot of money and time in specialist equipment and training to be able to carry out a welding process which can adhere a 3mm layer inside pipes - making them much longer lasting in the pressurised and corrosive deep-sea environment.”

The standard applies not just to Express Engineering’s equipment and processes but also to the competence of welding coordination personnel, including the clad welding team leader, Gary McDonald, one of the company’s many long serving employees.

Ian Hogarth, from the Cambridge based certification body TWI CL, who assessed Express Engineering, added: “This is a thorough and lengthy assessment of a company’s capabilities to meet the demanding requirements now being specified by industry.”

Turnover at Express Engineering has gone through the £30 million mark for the first time as the company celebrates 40 years in business, following five years of expansion which has seen manufacturing floor space and staff levels more than double.

New facilities, new equipment, an apprenticeship scheme and an operation in Brazil – Petrotec - are now paying great dividends with production – around a third of which is for export - and profit growing strongly.

A recent deal with private equity investor LDC means a fresh capital injection will support further growth.

Express Engineering now boasts 140,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing floor space in the UK, 325 staff - including 34 apprentices – and a 60,000 sq. ft. manufacturing operation in Brazil employing 50 people.

It is a market leading supplier of precision machined components and supplies engineered solutions to the oil, gas, power generation, defence and aerospace industries.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Paul Dobbie .