Engineering opportunities

Her enthusiasm, drive and passion for the business and the sector are immediately noticeable, as she jests: "I could start now and talk all day about what we do." Like other UK companies that have successfully weathered the economic storm, strong relationships rank highly in Hartigan's approach to business. "One of the things we are extremely keen on doing is looking beyond the products," she says. "It's about finding out what customers are actually trying to do. It may well end up being more expensive, but that is just as likely to save the customer money in the long run. We have never been the cheapest, that's not what we are about." Schaeffler UK's remit and technologies stretch from bearings to linear systems to condition monitoring equipment for industrial applications. And it has continually been able to exploit the automotive sector, which has lead to it developing clutches and engine components for a variety of major OEMs. But, despite the diversity, bearings remain at the core of its business. "When you talk about bearings, people think about ball bearings," says Hartigan. "But, in 1946, Georg Schaeffler developed the first needle bearing and the basic idea hasn't changed. Even recently, we have looked at opportunities to bring in improvements such as special coatings, new materials or introducing an improved manufacturing process." And Hartigan has not had to wait too long for the opportunities to come. "We have, fairly recently, been identified as the lead mechanical tappet supplier for the Schaeffler Group," she says. But while she expresses her pleasure at receiving new orders, she admits it can put strain on the manufacturing process, particularly considering the current volatility of the automotive sector. Schaeffler UK recently won a contract to supply parts of a new small engine. "The main things we need to do as a supplier is be able to ramp up production with the customer, which we are very pleased to do," she says. "But that does put enormous pressure on us, particularly when it is a bit out of the blue." And this is a worry for Hartigan on a much wider scale. "The whole supply chain has been hit very hard," she says. "Companies fell away at the start of the recession and many others will continue to starve to death through lack of orders. But my big fear is what will happen when the upturn starts. "My single biggest concern, for our customers, their suppliers and the supply chain – and really for British industry in general – is that when we do start to see an increase in demand, a lot of companies will really struggle. Many will have wrung out all of their resources, particularly in terms of cash flow and, to meet the upturn, they will need some sort of capital injection and working capital. Unfortunately, the way things are at the moment, it will either not be available to them or will only be available at such a high price that they may not be able to survive." Hartigan is also concerned that the UK has fallen behind, especially given the news that France and Germany saw growth in their economies in the last quarter of this year. However, she suspects that while the figures say one thing, on the ground they may be different. "Although that may appear to be the case on paper, you might be hard pushed to find too many French or Germany manufacturing companies seeing much of an upturn," she says. "We need to look at why we are further behind. I personally think it is the support those countries have received from their governments." With the Government spinning rhetoric that the UK's future is as a 'knowledge economy', Hartigan is encouraged by the statement, but careful not to over play it. "I think most would agree that balance is good," she says. "Economies do change and clearly it is going to look different. And I hope we do recover a lot of the strength from our financial sector. But, it does show the danger of the over reliance of one sector over others. For a long time, manufacturing has been the poor relation of overall growth." Looking forward, Hartigan is confident about new markets and technologies for both its automotive and industrial businesses. "But also renewable energy is a major opportunity," she says. Wind is the first thing people think about when renewables is mentioned and Hartigan expects there to be opportunities to pick up on much of the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) business once these devices are installed in and around the UK coastline. But another area of great interest is wave and tidal power, where Hartigan expects to see big opportunities. Key to the company's success is its ability to change and seek out new areas to exploit, which is a constant process. "Things that were not economically viable, may be now," she says. "We are always very proactive and keen to reassess these things and find the potential in new opportunities."