A world leader in engineering vital components for diesel engines was born in a shed in Huddersfield 60 years ago. Business editor HENRYK ZIENTEK charts the rise of Cummins Turbo Technologies.
A TOP engineering firm is celebrating a high-powered 60 years in business in Huddersfield.
Cummins Turbo Technologies began life on March 29, 1952, as Holset Engineering Co Ltd and began manufacturing turbochargers in the town in 1958.
The company, which was founded by business partners Brian Holmes and Paul Croset – who began working in a small wooden shed – grew to become a leading name in the industry by the time it was bought by US-based diesel engine manufacturer Cummins in 1973.
The company quickly developed a strong reputation for engineering vital components for diesel engines.
Today, Holset-branded turbochargers are the market leader in the commercial diesel sector.
About 40% of trucks worldwide include a Holset turbocharger, which was developed at Cummins’s Huddersfield factory.
And the company, owned by US-based Cummins Inc has grown to become a global technology leader with 1,100 workers at its Turnbridge site and more than 3,000 employees worldwide.
It has technical centres at St Andrew’s Road, Turnbridge, and in China, the USA and India and continues to develop technologies for customers in sectors including commercial vehicle, industrial, construction, agriculture, marine and power generation.
On the eve of its birthday, executives at Huddersfield site hosted a visit by technical staff from Cummins plants worldwide to review the latest technologies under development.
This weekend, the accent will be on fun and games with an employee family day at the St Andrew’s Road site. Events will also be held at locations across the world.
The company has never stood still when it comes to developing world-beating products and has been first to market with many new technologies over its 60-year history.
But the company has also played a prominent role in its home town – by making time for employees to take part in community initiatives ranging from river clean-ups and tree-planting to charity fundraising.
The company sponsors the Examiner Community Awards – while last year, more than 2,600 hours of employee time and talent were invested in projects and activities in the town.
The firm is also among the partners supporting North Huddersfield Trust School, which was set up last autumn in buildings previously occupied by Fartown High School.
Simon Bamford, plant quality manager, said: “We actively encourage employee volunteering. In 2011, we had 25% participation. Our target is 62%.”
A keen supporter of apprenticeships, Cummins Turbo Technologies is one of 13 organisations backing Huddersfield University’s new £8m Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Advanced Metrology.
The centre will carry out work to enable machine tools to achieve massive improvements in accuracy – bringing major gains in productivity for UK engineering firms and helping to keep the UK industry at the forefront of engineering technology.
Demonstrating its commitment to environmental improvement, Cummins Turbo Technologies has installed 256 solar panels on the roof of the St Andrew’s Road facilities building.
As part of efforts to reduce waste and increase recycling, the company is looking at more efficient cooling systems for its buildings, rainwater harvesting, waterless urinals and recycling “weash plant” water.
The firm was named Green Business of the Year for South Kirklees in last year’s Green Business Awards run by Kirklees Council and the Green Business Network.
Reflecting on 60 years of achievement and the future, Tracy Embree, president of Cummins Turbo Technologies, said: “Our legacy and heritage have equipped us well for the challenges ahead as we enter a new decade of accelerated global growth.
“While we continue to partner with our customers to deliver the best products and technologies, our commitment to the environment and the communities within which we live remains at the heart of our business”.
HUDDERSFIELD’S biggest industrial employer may be celebrating 60 years of manufacturing – but the focus is firmly on the future.
Turnbridge-based Cummins Turbo Technology has invested millions of pounds on systems designed to keep it at the forefront of a highly competitive global market for turbochargers used in commercial vehicles.
A major strategy for the company, Huddersfield’s biggest industrial employer, is to win more business in the sector for supplying turbochargers for use in light commercial vehicles – after many years focusing exclusively on designing and manufacturing heavy-duty truck turbos.
Customers served from the Huddersfield site include Volvo, Scania, DAF, MAN and Ford. The company has already gained a reputation as a groundbreaker – designing the industry’s first heavy duty variable geometry turbocharger – still the only one on the market 14 years on.
Adrian Tipling, account executive for Europe at the firm’s St Andrew’s Road headquarters, said the company was on an upward trend – one which was likely to bring more high-quality, skilled jobs to its site at St Andrew’s Road.
In 1965, it manufactured its 25,000th turbo. By 1978, it produced its millionth. By contrast, the company produced 8.6m turbos in 2006 and increased that to 9.8m in 2011. Now it is projecting a figure of 14m by 2017 as the drive for greater fuel economy in the face of rising diesel prices and pressure to reduce emissions puts Cummins Turbo Technologies in pole position.
“Traditionally, we have not dealt in the market for smaller commercial vehicles, such as builder’s vans,” said Mr Tipling. “We now have a product for that market – and there are a lot of pressures in the market that are pushing up demand for turbochargers.
“And that will mean increased manufacturing capacity, more engineers and more staff .”
The company has also invested heavily in its research and development operations, in which it works with students and researchers from a number of universities.
Dave Clay, director for prototype and test operations, said: “The key to developing our products is good design and analysis.
“We go through a testing phase to understand whether or not a particular model behaves as required in terms of reliability, durability and performance. We also carry out noise tests and safety tests in the event of something failing on the vehicle. Last year, we invested £4m globally on testing technology. At Huddersfield, we invested £2.5m and we will invest a further £2.5m this year.”
Cummins Turbo Technologies has 18 test cells where its turbos can be driven literally to destruction. Some of the tests – looking at issues such as noise levels, aerodynamics and efficiency in various climatic conditions as well as noise – can take several hours or several days.
Key to the company’s success has been the development of its variable geometry turbocharger to improve engine performance in medium-heavy duty diesel engines. The technology led to Cummins Turbo Technologies winning the Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2002. The VGT line is manned by 65 people working in two shifts. Multiskilling means the workers are able to switch functions every two hours on the production line. The set-up also means the company can be highly reactive to customers’ lead times – as some customers want their orders within two days.
The VGT line, which opened in 2008, was designed in-house by the company and in 2011 achieved “zero defects”.
The drive to improve its products and facilities is an unceasing one. Among its achievements, 2009 saw the development of a prototype turbine expander unit for waste heat recovery systems while in 2011 a waste heat recovery test cell opened in Huddersfield, the first of its kind in the world.
The company has also joined forces with Ford, Jaguar Land Rover and experts at Bath University to develop low carbon turbocharged engines used in fossil fuel-burning vehicles.
Cummins Turbo Technologies and its partners are looking at how to incorporate turbocharging into smaller engines to maintain power while significantly decreasing the size of the engine and the amount of fuel .
Pierre French, director of advanced engineering, said: “This site is not only a manufacturing site. It is the site where we have developed ideas that have been ahead of their time “.
A third of the 1,100 employees at Huddersfield work in technology with a similar proportion in manufacturing. Huddersfield is also the company’s global research and development HQ – spearheading development for other sites in the UK, the USA, India, China and Brazil.
1952 – Holset Engineering is founded in Huddersfield
1954 – Holset’s technical and manufacturing research into turbocharging begins
1958 – Turbocharger manufacturing begins in Huddersfield
1964 – The 25,000th turbocharger is produced
1967 – Barbara Hampson becomes the company’s first female engineering apprentice
1973 – Holset becomes part of US-based Cummins Inc.
1978 – The one millionth Holset turbocharger is produced
1984 – Ayrton Senna drives the Holset-turbocharged Toleman racing car in his first Formula 1 season at the Monaco Grand Prix
1987 – Al Unser Snr. wins the Indianapolis 500 for the fourth consecutive year driving the Cummins-Holset Turbo Special powered by a Cosworth engine for Penske Racing
1987 – Company receives Queens Award for Technology
1989 –Increased demand for turbochargers leads to the opening of the Charleston plant in the USA
1994 – Holset expands into India with the formation of a joint venture with Tata Motors
1995 – Global expansion continues with the formation of Wuxi Holset Engineering Co in China
1997 – Holset VGT manufacturing capability first installed into the Huddersfield site to support engineering development programme with prototype assembly
2002 –VGT earns the company the Queen’s Awards for International Trade and Innovation
2006 – The company changes its name to Cummins Turbo Technologies
2010 – Company launches new small turbocharger range for two to six-litre diesel engines
2012 – Tracy Embree becomes president of Cummins Turbo Technologies in its 60th anniversary year
