Million-pound investment for engineering firm

Paul Boughton

Fast-evolving engineering company Power Jacks has invested more than £1 million in new equipment to meet growing global demand for its products and services, particularly from the oil and gas sector.

The company has taken delivery of three Doosan computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools to address customer needs for both its core products and precision-machining services.

Power Jacks specialises in producing industrial lifting and positioning equipment including screw jacks, actuators and lead screws.

Bruce Bultitude, chairman and managing director at Power Jacks, said: “The Doosan CNC machine tools are next-generation and further enhance our purpose-built engineering and manufacturing facilities. They have the most advanced high-definition and high-speed capabilities combined with a powerful weight capacity that enables us to deliver advanced products to bigger projects more time- and cost-effectively.

“The machines will be particularly pivotal to servicing the oil and gas sector where we are experiencing an increasingly growing demand for our core electro-mechanical products. What we are seeing is a sharp shift in the industry moving away from hydraulic methods of lifting and positioning of high loads. We believe this is because the end users are recognising the benefits of electro-mechanical solutions that can offer safer, maintenance-free and more environmentally friendly solutions.”

Currently being commissioned at the company’s £6 million headquarters in Ellon, with the aim of being operational shortly, Power Jacks’ new Doosan cell includes a large vertical turning centre, a large capacity lathe and a new machining centre to compliment the company’s already extensive manufacturing machining capability. This improved capability allows the company to engineer even larger industrial worm gear screw jacks and actuators for lifting and positioning applications and also perform larger products for its oil and gas customers, such as valve bodies, tubing hangers, bonnets and flange faces up to 10 tonnes and 2m diameter.

Earlier this year, Power Jacks reported a record growth in its 25-year history with its sales revenue in 2013 increasing to £13.1 million.

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