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Success stories
McMenon Engineering Services
Finding purpose in export-led proactivity How is McMenon Engineering Services thriving? In the space of just three years, McMenon Engineering Services has transformed the ABB product manufacturing facility that it acquired into an independent global leader in the supply of flow meters and temperature measurement products. Thanks to an unwavering commitment to exportled growth and a proactive approach, the newly-formed subsidiary has successfully secured its future in the face of pandemic related challenges.
The challenge While it doesn’t necessarily apply in absolute sense, proactive companies are often better equipped to deal with challenges and cut above the noise than their reactive counterparts. Those taking the initiative are typically the backbone of innovation in any industry, not only excelling themselves but driving positive change more generally. McMenon Engineering Services acquired ABB’s product manufacturing facility in Workington, in North-West England in 2018. While previously the facility had been an internal ABB feeder factory for DP flow meters and temperature measurement products, McMenon planned to leverage the company’s in-house expertise to build a business based on external sales. Postacquisition, attention turned towards a proactive export-focused growth strategy, signifying the shift from being a product manufacturing unit to a proactive global manufacturing business and brand.
It was by no means an easy task. It was nothing less than a cultural and operational overhaul, with every aspect of the organisation’s operations and expansion plans reviewed meticulously to ensure growth was both maximised and indeed sustainable. Which markets offered the most potential? Would the company need to develop local bases in key regions? How would it compete in markets more price competitive than that of the UK? Throw Brexit & COVID-19 into the mix come 2020, and these ambitions became fraught with obstacles.
The solution To succeed, the company paved its path using two key points of reference from 2018 onwards. First, the goal was to increase its overall market share, and this was to be achieved through its export-centric strategy. Second, the business’ key selling point was one of quality and engineering solutions, the foundation of its success having been built on an esteemed reputation as a UK product manufacturing unit run by a global automation leader. Arrowing in on these all-important
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factors, the company was successfully able to establish presence in a number of new markets. One such example comes from its efforts in Damman, Saudi Arabia, where McMenon Engineering Services established a local joint venture with Gulftek Arabia. It was by no means a straightforward task. While ABB’s Workington plant had previous ties with Saudi Aramco, the facility’s rebrand under the McMenon umbrella meant that the enterprise had to be recertified – a long diligent process. As a result, McMenon opted to establish an in-country presence to comply with Saudi Arabia’s inKingdom Total Value Add Program (IKTVA) requirements that advocated greater localisation. Indeed, COVID-19 has slowed the process here, and McMenon continues to await Aramco accreditation, yet despite these setbacks, McMenon in 2020 formally launched the first British manufacturing facility of flow and temperature instrumentation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Following this success in 2020, the facility manufactured the first ISO Wedge flowmeter in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The venture