A PRECISION engineering company is expanding into markets worldwide – with the opening of new factories in the USA and India.

VTL Group, which supplies components for the automotive and Industrial sectors has two sites in St Thomas Road, Huddersfield and one site at Luddenden Foot in Halifax, has just commissioned a new production facility in Charleston, South Carolina, to serve its American customers.

The 20,000sq ft US facility, part of VTL’s Precision business, began operations last November and was officially opened last month by the Mayor of Charleston. It now employs about 35 staff which will increase to 70 by the end of 2009.

VTL is also in the early stages of developing another factory at Dharwad, Karnataka, southern India, to manufacture items such as automotive transmission components and precision machined industrial components for clients in the Far East and in Europe.

To this end VTL acquired a five-acre site in, where it is currently building a 35,000sq ft factory to begin operations in July, 2009, as Uni-VTL Engineering PVT Ltd. The site will have enough space for a further 35,000sq ft production unit to be added when needed.

VTL Group was formed in November, 2001, by joint owners David Clegg, Chris Elliott and Bruno Jouan when they completed a management buy-out of French-owned Valeo Transmissions Ltd in Halifax.

The business expanded with the 2006 acquisition of precision engineering firm Taylor & Whiteley Ltd – which now provides the TWL name.

TWL Precision makes components used in the manufacture of turbochargers, while TWL Engineering makes large precision shafts, forge tooling, jigs, fixtures and compressor housings.

Customers include Cummins Inc – the US-based parent of Cummins Turbo Technologies – Flowserve, Weir Minerals, Kodak and Wabco.

In total, VTL Group has 270 employees, including 140 at St Thomas Road where it occupies a factory built on part of the former Brook Motors complex. It has a further 95 employee’s in Halifax and 35 in the USA.

Since 2001, it has invested more than £12m in the latest technology to manufacture components for turbochargers for trucks applications and synchronizer rings for manual transmissions.

That investment has helped boost turnover from £8m to almost £39m in the space of seven years.

Mr. Clegg said the group had achieved success by carving a niche market in the UK and being able to compete with the three or four “big players” in Europe.

“We have used a recipe of continual improvement and investment in the right type and standard of machines,” he said.

“We have kept to the forefront of technology and we have focused on meeting tough targets from customers to supply defect-free products with 100% on-time delivery every week.”

Mr. Jouan said: “Having facilities across the world enables us to attract international customers who welcome having a supplier on their doorstep.”