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Like a heavyweight boxing champion corning out of a mid-career lull, Renault's British truck operation is in training for its great comeback bout. Book your ringside seat early: the company's new management team does not pull its punches.
• Nigel Buchanan winces if he is described as an inventor. "First and foremost, I am a businessman," he says. "I see a gap in the market and fill it with the right product, at the right price and — most important — at the right time."
All good marketing theory, but what makes Buchanan different from many of today's entrepreneurs is that he alone researches, invents invents and develops all the products sold by his company, Liquid Levers, based at Peat Inn, near Cupar in rural north-east Fife.
"Ideas are no problem for me," says Buchanan, "and if I see an opportunity in a market that nobody else is in, I have the facilities here to take that idea right through to the production stage."
One of Buchanan's ideas has taken him into the final six of the 1991 Prince of Wales Award for Innovation and Production. It is for a truck tyre sensor that balances the pressure of twin-tyred wheels, monitors temperature and pressure, and alerts the driver of danger. The six finalists are now in the second stage of the competition, during which progress in production is assessed by the judges over two years.
ELECTRICAL ENGINEER
Having trained as an electrician, Buchanan worked for Michelin at Dundee as an electrical engineer, and has also worked in the hydraulics, pneumatics and electronics fields.
He left Michelin to build and restore specialist and vintage cars, a passion which he still has, which led him to his first invention: a hydrolastic suspension pump system for BL Metros and Minis, which was cheaper and easier to use than other systems.
Buchanan gave up the kit-car business to set up Liquid Levers in 1986 . The hydrolastic suspension pump was soon selling well to the garage trade, and is still the company's best-seller, moving up to 200 units each month.
Another successful product is a brake and clutch bleeding system which Buchanan claims can cope with any vehicle, even those with advanced-technology braking systems. "Lots of people have good ideas," he says, "but if the market is wrong or the timing is wrong they come to nothing. 1 owe it to my staff to ensure that the design is right from day one, and I always have an independent assessment carried out to make sure I am on the right tracks," For this, Buchanan uses Strathclyde Technology Transfer, part of Strathclyde University in Glasgow. "It is an expensive part of the process," he says, "but essential."
The idea for the truck tyre sensor came to Buchanan four years ago. During a long motorway journey, he saw the shredded remains of 14 truck tyres on the hard shoulder.
"The problem is worst on a warm day, particularly after a cold spell. Normally with truck tyres at constant speeds, heat generated within the tyres by the deformation of the rubber is controlled to a safe level, but in the real world you have uneven tyre pressures, acceleration and deceleration, damaged road surfaces, badly adjusted brakes and tracking, excessive speed and poorly distributed loads — and that's when the trouble starts," Buchanan explains.
"These changing conditions affect the load on each wheel, and the pressure balance between the twin tyres is lost. This can generate extra heat within the tyre to the point where the residual pressure causes the tyre to blow."
One of the problems Buchanan faced was developing a delicate electronic sensor that would function in one of the toughest working environments possible — the rim of a truck wheel.
His solution looks surprisingly simple. The sensor fits the valve of the outermost tyre, with a bridging hose attached to the valve of the inner tyre. The heart of the unit is a miniature radio transmitter, little more than 30mm2, fitted in a small injection-moulded housing.
The bridging hose allows air to flow between twin tyres to maintain even pressures and, in the event of a puncture, can isolate the secure tyre as the other deflates. A fast puncture or an increase in temperature activates flashing lights and a buzzer in the driver's cab. The warning system stays on until it is reset — a simple operation using an electronic key.
Buchanan recognises that the market for the truck tyre sensor is large, too big for Liquid Levers to attempt production and marketing. There has been no shortage of interest from manufacturers throughout the world, and Buchanan hopes to announce a deal shortly which will put the device on the market early next year, mainly for retro-fitting.
WARNING SYSTEM He estimates that it will cost around £600£700 to equip an average artic — the device works as a warning system for single tyres as well — but reckons the cost would be recouped in a matter of months.
"The potential for the sensor is enormous," he says, looking to Europe and beyond. "And the time could come when legislation requires some form of warning device to prevent tyre blow-outs on some large vehicles, perhaps trucks carrying hazardous loads or long-distance coaches. It could even be used to warn airliner pilots of deflated or damaged tyres," he enthuses.
Liquid Levers, set in an old schoolhouse, looks set to thrive on the fruits of Buchanan's imagination. "I don't want to work on an industrial estate or even a technology park," he says. "On a clear • day I can look across the fields and see the peak of Schiehallion, and anyway this is where my roots are."
Buchanan is managing director of the company, and his wife Irene is export director. Liquid Levers employs 15 people, "mostly from the dole", and Buchanan is proud to have created jobs in his local community. The staff will soon become shareholders, as Buchanan is planning a free share handout.
"We really are a team here," he says. "When we were approached to enter the Prince of Wales Award, it was with another product. I put it to the staff, who said we should enter the truck tyre sensor; I disagreed, but I was in a minority of one, so we entered it. I'm glad to say they were right."
by Gavin Booth