We don’t just create, we innovate!

In a Q&A session, Aerospace Manufacturing speaks to T&T Precision’s director, Victor Twohig to hear how the precision machining specialists continue to create and innovate by using the latest multi-axis CNC machine tool equipment.

T&T Precision is a Cork-based engineering company specialising in the design and manufacture of bespoke, high precision machined components for many of the world’s most progressive companies. For over 20 years, the company has been providing engineered solutions to complex engineering challenges and in doing so has built up a diverse customer base.

T&T Precision’s facility houses a variety of multi-axis CNC machining centres, mill-turn machines, wire erosion cutting systems and injection moulding equipment. For the aerospace sector, the company supplies electrical housings and radome enclosures, interiors and structural component solutions.

Q) Please provide a brief potted history of the company?

T&T Precision was founded by my brother Finbarr Twohig and I, who were initially toolmakers who also trained in electronics. The aim at the time was to supply high quality bespoke engineering, plastics, electronics, and tooling solutions to local industries.

We started out with a 4,000ft² factory and began with designing and making medical equipment which has now organically grown over the past two decades due to the ever-increasing medical device and later aerospace demands into a 36,000ft² engineering campus, manufacturing precision components serving international leaders in the aerospace and medical device industries using the latest and greatest of technology programmed by our highly skilled workforce of designers, toolmakers, and technicians.

We achieved this because we were committed to CNC ramp up our EDM, grinding, turning, milling and metrology departments, and by 2005 we had secured international manufacturing contracts to supply the aerospace industry. We further expanded in 2010, allowing us to manufacture stainless steel solutions to supply the food and drug sector with cleanroom equipment and furniture services. Between 2014 and 2020, we have acquired state-of-the-art design and manufacturing technology by investing in multiple 5-axis large machining capabilities and CNC turning with driven tools needed to launch a fully managed, machine validation and applications centre.

Q) What are the types of performance demands placed on your company by today’s customers?

As price, quality and delivery are a given, we value customer relationships most of all. Without giving away too much about our secret sauce, simply put, we don’t aim to give the customer just what they want, we aim to exceed their expectations. With our combined expertise and experience, we are in the position to offer stellar advice on every single project we’ve met which seems to be greatly received by our customers who give us repeated business over the years.

Q) What is your CMS Antares K CNC machining centre mainly used for and how satisfied are you with its performance?

We are so happy with the performance of the Antares, we had to get a second one to keep up with our aerospace demand! The cycle times have significantly reduced, production has greatly increased, and with its built-in lubrication and cooling system makes this user-friendly beast quite unique.

I’m all for faster cycle times without compromising on quality or accuracy. It does exactly what it says on the tin. The new swarf and dust management feature is a definite bonus and its accuracy on large and complex machining capabilities brings this level of engineering to new heights for us.

Q) Are you part of an aerospace cluster, and if so what kind of benefits do you derive?

T&T Precision is a member of the Emerald Aerospace Group EAG cluster which consists of 10 companies located around Ireland who have diverse, yet complementary set of skills, expertise and capabilities. Together we can offer the greatest of all solutions to our clients. Our partnership gives us the platform to compete on a global stage. We hold AS 9001, AS9100 and are preparing for SC21 Silver. Apart from the aerospace sector, we hold ISO 13485 for medical device manufacturing.

Q) What do you feel are the most important assets of a company?

I would say technology and people go hand-in-hand. After all, what good is technology if our operators don’t understand it? That is why we don’t just invest in the best of machinery; providing training to our crew is critical. The beauty of getting that right is that experience will inevitably follow.

A defined strategy also of the utmost importance to us because it empowers each and every one of us in T&T Precision to perform at our best. It’s doing the simple everyday duties well that makes us stand out from the competition. A defined structure keeps us on the right path to continuous improvement.

Q) Do you think companies can use this pandemic-enforced downtime to effectively ‘reset’ and look at how efficiently they run their businesses, and are there any positives in general to come out of all this?

It’s the perfect time to reflect and get post Covid-19-ready - and we are taking full advantage of it. It has brought out the best in my workforce; they have really stood up to the mark and our success is down to them. Also, it really showed us our value to our customers because although we took a hit in terms of volume on the aerospace side, there were gladly no causalities in terms of loss of trading partners.

Q) Crystal ball question: what next and what will be the challenges you face in the future?

The Covid-19 status will be a challenge should there be more level 5 lockdowns, but with the vaccine already released and in circulation, I’m optimistic on that front that our aerospace business will gradually resume to the level it was pre-Covid-19 and even better.

And then there’s Brexit and how that might impact lead-time, but again we are now taking the preventative measures needed to make it as smooth a transition as possible. As with all challenges, there are always strengths and opportunities. We will find a way to make it work. We always have and we always will. This is how we have built up our resilience.

www.twohigprecision.com

www.cmsukltd.co.uk