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ritish
The Roger Dyson Group is one of a dying breed; a British manufacturer. Its 0.5m new-build and revamp will cement its position as the leading maker of recovery vehicles.
Words: Kevin Swallow/ images: Tom Cunningham The opening of a new showroom and the redevelopment of the Roger Dyson Group manufacturing and assembly plant was the culmination of a three-year, £3.5m investment and building programme designed to have everything on one site.
Roger Dyson, owner of the company that bears his name, explains: "Prior to this, we had two sections of our business off site; one a mile away where we stored vehicles, and one 25 miles away [in Dudley] where we did manufacturing.
"The first remit was to keep everything we do on one site: manufacturing, painting, assembly and aftersales service. We started the process by bringing in a new paint shop and stores, which gave us the space to extend the aftersales service and to bring the manufacturing facility back on site," he says.
Meeting customers' needs In 2001 a contract with the Automobile Association (AA) for 70 roadside recovery vehicles meant expansion. "Picking up an order that size — it wanted five a week — we didn't want to make the terrible mistake of displacing existing customers on the production line, so we expanded rapidly," he says. The new Dudley plant offered a total of eight weekly manufacturing slots building the platform for the sliding bed, which was then transported to Droitwich to be painted and fitted.
Dudley ran for five years before its operation was, like the platforms, brought to Droitwich. The efficiencies of the move were based purely around logistics.
"It was movement of material and manufactured products. The facility [here] is geared up for 10 a week and we will get there in the next couple of years we aren't there just yet," he says.
As a British manufacturer, the workforce is skilled in welding, fabrication, sheet metal, painting process, final assembly, commercial vehicle fittings, hydraulics and electrics. It has a proactive apprenticeship scheme with six on the books and three more starting in September.
Dyson is keen to highlight that the company holds responsibility for everything that goes out through its doors.
"We are the manufacturer, we are not sub-contracting any of it. If you give us an order, we manufacture the product, fit it to your chassis, paint it, sign write it, that's the message we tried to deliver on the open day. We can deal with all issues you don't need three contractors for a recovery vehicle," he says.
The only things brought in are the chassis cab, hydraulics cylinders and the Canadian-built sliding rotator from NRC Industries. "We stock chassis cabs. When the client orders the chassis cab it can be a problem, as the heavy chassis could [arrive well] into 2009," he says.
Responding to demand
That last point underpins Dyson's approach to stocking products ready for immediate purchase. Around 20% of what comes off the production line ends up in the new 1,858sq metre showroom adjacent to the plant.
It's capable of housing 75 display vehicles. A broad range of vehicles sits at the front of the showroom while at the back are customer-built vehicles waiting for delivery. This is where the customer hand-over takes place, explains Dyson.
"The recovery industry is a reaction business, they start work on a Monday morning, they respond to the weather. traffic movements. It's not like the haulage industry where a haulier might have a contract to deliver 40 tonnes into Scotland every day with a contract for two years they can plan that.
"They react to their circumstance, that's why we stock quite a few chassis. When he wants it he wants it, he's not thinking about starting a contract in January, he wants it now. We have products you can take away today."
He continues: "With the current economic climate that probably wouldn't fit in with some accountants, but we haven't built the business around accountants, we have built it around customer requirements. If his recovery vehicle gets smashed up or he wants to add to the fleet to take on extra work he can."
The message, he says, is to tell the customer that Roger Dyson is responsible, and accountable, for the whole vehicle from order to delivery, complete with a 12-month warranty. "The new showroom enables customers to see and experience our complete range all on one site in complete comfort. Our offer is unique customers can literally walk into the showroom in the morning and drive out with a new vehicle that very same day," he says. •