Profile: Doughty Engineering

Clamps for Martin Professional Laser etching machine

Laser etching machine

Stands waiting to be shipped

All the metal waste is recycled. Stands waiting to be shipped

All the metal waste is recycled.

Julian, left, shows Bernie the laser etching machine.

Doughty Engineering staff at work mold casting

Julian, left, shows Bernie the laser etching machine. Doughty Engineering staff at work mold casting

Doughty Engineering

The powder-coating transport mechanism

The powder-coating transport mechanism

Steady progress of a forward-thinking firm

Words & photos: Bernie Davis

Doughty Engineering has hosted a few STLD meetings in the past, which have proved very popular – the last about three years ago. Unfortunately, I have never had the chance to go on any of them, so when Julian Chiverton invited me to see a new addition to his plant, I thought, why not?

The calmness of the adjacent New Forest seems to have had an effect on the Ringwood industrial park where Doughty Engineering has been based for 40 years now. For a unit turning out so many products for use worldwide, the factory seemed to have an almost relaxed air on the day I visited.

Julian ’ s father worked for Russell Doughty, who formed the original company, making boat trailers for Sainsbury ’ s, among other things. It was a typical local small engineering company that would make anything for anyone. Then in 1987, AJS Lighting (former STLD sponsor) asked it to make some suspension brackets for lights and speakers. It subsequently placed an order for 500 hook clamps, so getting them cheaper than its regular sources.

Doughty looked to expand its customer base for these products and, by 1989, had joined PLASA and taken a stand at its exhibition. It quickly expanded its market in the lighting industry and, in response to a German request, it developed the famous halfcoupler barrel clamp (now known as the Doughty clamp). This was developed to clamp on to smart aluminium truss without gouging grooves into it, and its clever design quickly made it an industry standard.

While walking round the factory, one of the products I saw being completed was a large number of barrel clamps made to go on Martin Professional fixtures. Julian explained that Doughty made many products such as this for other manufacturers.

Profile Doughty Engineering

A row of post drills still in use

A row of post drills still in use; and, inset, laser-etched clamps

Later, I also saw some truss hinges made for Prolyte.

Doughty ’ s winch stands have been a big seller for many years, although Julian told me sales were a little down now compared to a few years back. The reason seems to be not that they are less popular than they were, more that all the old ones are still working!

I was impressed with the way most of the manufacture was achieved on site, with a clever computerised stockcontrol system enabling the 65-strong workforce to keep suitable stock levels of such a wide range of lighting support and grip equipment. At any one time, Doughty usually has about £1.5m of products waiting to go out.

Its range of products is enormous, from lighting hoists to staging, from shackles to pantographs, and from grip equipment to lecterns. If you have seen its display at lighting exhibitions then you will know it is packed full of all the hardware needed for lighting, and you can be sure you were looking at only a small sample of the 1,700 products it now makes.

The company has slowly grown and expanded to the 32,000 sq ft that it is today, and when another building on the same industrial estate became available recently, Doughty decided to buy it and install a powder-coating plant. This dry-powder method of painting uses heat to cure the powder and results in a hard, durable finish. Up to now, this was one of the few processes that had to be bought in, but thanks to this new addition, Doughty is already treating about 4,000 products per day, and Julian thought that it might well be able to improve on this with the use of pre-loading racks to keep the plant constantly working. Changing colour is not easy, so it is likely that Doughty will keep doing all its own black coating, and will buy in on the occasions when other colours are necessary.

This steady progress and forwardthinking has to be the secret of Doughty ’ s success, and long may it continue.

For more information about Doughty products, visit www.doughty.com

Laser-etched clamps

The Doughty timeline

1970 Doughty Engineering formed, manufacturing trailers ranging from small camping and boat trailers to 20-tonne commercial truck trailers for companies such as Sainsbury ’ s. The name comes from the original owner, Russell Doughty. 1987 AJS, which is on the same industrial estate, request suspension brackets for lighting and sound equipment. There follows an order for 500 hook clamps. 1987 Doughty sends a sample of the hook clamp to Stage Electrics, Lighting Technology and AC Lighting et al, with a 50 per cent take-up for orders. 1987 A request for a truss lift for smaller mobile performance venues without hanging points leads to the development of a full range of equipment for the TV/film industry. 1989 First stand at PLASA, followed by SIB and ProLight+Sound, takes Doughty products abroad (in 2013 the export market accounts for 60 per cent of production). Aluminium half coupler, now known as the Doughty clamp, developed for German market. 1990 Development of Easydeck, a modular performance system comprising 1m frames and deck panels, which are clipped together without the need for tools.

2001 Development of the Trigger clamp range, enabling one person to hang moving lights or luminaires with ease.

2002 Open US office. 2003 Begin to develop new products to fit the various and non-standard sizes of tube used in the States.