Hepco Appoints Group Manufacturing Director And Reaffirms Its Commitment To Apprenticeships

All bearings used in its linear motion components and systems are produced at the Group’s Braintree Precision Components (BPC) factory in Essex, whilst its Tiverton factory in Devon is responsible for all other elements. Barry Engstrom’s role will be to harmonise the processes and functions between the two.

His appointment coincides with the retirement of BPC Production Director, Brian Weavers. The day to day running of the BPC business will now be the responsibility of General Manager, David Ford, with Barry Engstrom in overall charge of all Group manufacturing.

“We will be developing the business in line with our continuous improvement programme towards lean manufacturing,” Barry Engstrom explains. “But the short term focus for both sites will be the increase of Kanban controlled stock. Our business is growing again and we are very busy across all our product groups.”

Bridging the skills shortage is a longer term objective and for many years Hepco’s policy has been to invest in the engineering apprenticeship scheme. This has been a highly effective approach for the company, resulting in successive generations of apprentices rising through its management ranks.

Barry Engstrom concludes: “There will be a fresh intake of apprentices at Tiverton in the coming months and we are actively seeking to put a similar programme in place at Braintree. It’s a proven and time-honoured formula for us.”