Further investment ahead for Lorien

A Lorien Engineering Solutions product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jan 30, 2003

Despite difficult economic conditions, excellent partnerships with clients have helped to ensure a successful year for Lichfield-based Lorien Engineering Solutions.

Despite difficult economic conditions, excellent partnerships with clients have helped to ensure a successful year for Lichfield-based Lorien Engineering Solutions according to Managing Director David Morris.

The company is looking forward to another positive year in 2003, with new investment into meeting client needs.

Plans for 2003 are based around continued client-driven growth and investment in new tools, such as computer hardware and software, to help the workforce to continue to provide high levels of service.

Lorien Engineering Solutions is a multidisciplinary engineering design and project management organisation.

Its specialists design and deliver manufacturing capital projects in brewing, drinks, food, industrial and pharmaceutical production environments and work with many of the world's top manufacturing organisations, both within the UK and overseas.

Morris said the company had fared well in a tough marketplace in 2002.

He attributed its success to its close relationships with customers and having a well-defined methodology that is fluid enough to meet client's needs.

The company also has a well-motivated staff with a broad skill base, and operates in a number of market sectors - spreading the risk of one sector having a bad year.

New jobs had been created, taking the number of staff employed to more than 60, and the total workforce, which includes some associate staff, to more than 75, up from around 50 in 2001.

Morris said: "We have been focused on partnering with clients to provide a real service and encourage repeat business.

We gain repeat business by providing value for money, innovation, delivering on time and within budget and understanding the dynamics of the businesses we serve.

"We believe in long-term relationships which not only benefit our clients, because we understand their industries, their objectives and their needs, but also help us to develop our own business by understanding how we may do more in order to take the relationship forward".

Existing clients awarded a total of 80% of Lorien Engineering's business in 2002.

The 20% of business won from new clients represents a pleasing and encouraging basis for an expanding client base.

The company has long operated a customer "KPI" review programme where it asks clients to report back on recent performance.

This feedback allows Lorien to learn more about the issues and needs of its' clients as well as learning about any issues within the relationship that needs to be addressed.

An example of this at work is that it has increased its design capabilities over the past year in direct response to customer requests.

Lorien Engineering also operates a profit-sharing scheme for all staff, a strategy which David Morris believe helps to encourage true buy-in and motivation from everyone in the company.

He said: "This helps to ensure that everyone is focussed not only on doing a good job but also on minimising unnecessary costs and maximising our efficiency, ultimately returning both lower costs to our clients and safeguarding our profitability".

The company has reviewed its customer review programme this year to help it to plan for the future, asking clients how it can improve its work with them, for example, by opening an office in another location, providing another service or setting up another division.

Morris said: "If, for example, there is a strong demand for us to open an overseas office to support our client's expansion plans, or to develop an additional skill so that we can better meet our client's long-term needs, these are the sort of issues we will consider when planning ahead".