Based at our Telford Plant in the UK.

What does your role at moveero entail?

I joined GKN (now moveero) as an apprentice over 25 years ago, and in the intervening yearshave held a number of positions within the engineering department. Today, as Lead Engineer in our Product Engineering team, I have quite a broad role, which ranges from application engineering, where I liaise with customers and sign-off all wheel designs at our Telford plant, to quality management systems, FEA (finite element analysis) and most recently, VAVE (Value Analysis/Value Engineering) projects.

Although primarily based at Telford, I also support colleagues in Nagbøl and the US when needed, as well as liaising closely with our manufacturing, engineering, marketing and patent teams when required. I also particularly enjoy working with our OEM customers, meeting on at least a monthly basis wherever possible to discuss their future platforms and developments in wheel technology.

 

Can you tell us about some of the projects you’ve been involved in?

Well over a quarter of a century, there have been quite a few! These have included the design and development of our TW Profi-Fit profile, which is now the global standard for moveero single piece rims; the design of our patented high speed wheel spacer, and the design and development of the turned-over flange rim, now known as our Profi-Grip wheel.

The impact these designs have had on the market has been enormous and I think from time to time, it’s good for us all to step back and think about our role in keeping construction, port and agricultural machines and equipment moving, and so the small part we play in keeping the world moving and helping to feed the world.

 

What does a typical day look like?

That’s a really good question, and one I can’t really answer because in my experience there’s no such thing! I suppose all that’s typical is that in the engineering team, we have a wide variety of projects occupying us at any one time. For example, I’m currently working on wheel designs for a new platform for one of our OEM customers, as well as reviewing our dual-wheel product offer, again to meet a customer’s specific requirements, and a new workflow that could improve efficiency at our Nagbøl plant in Denmark.

However, recently, I have been focusing quite a lot of attention on VAVE. This is a relatively new tool which, as the name suggests, focuses on the analysis and engineering of value in a product, with the aim of improving its value proposition through cost reduction and/ or performance enhancements.

We are already seeing VAVE deliver considerable benefits as it helps us identify improvements to our manufacturing processes and enhancements to our product designs.

Can we say more about VAVE

• What is involves
• ​Perhaps a particular example
• ​And explain the benefits from a customer’s perspective?

I also work closely with colleagues internally, whether that be engineering meetings across all our plants, or supporting our sales, marketing and patent activities.

 

What do you see as the main challenges that face the industry in the next five years?

I believe that electrification (and other alternative fuels) will have a significant impact on our industry, albeit a slower one than in the automotive sector. For moveero, we will stay really close to these developments, looking at how the changes in torque delivery for electric machines (compared to a traditional drivetrain) will impact on our wheel designs, and how the potential for higher road speeds and the need for lighter weight products will need to be addressed.

Perhaps slightly more mundanely, but no less importantly, is the need to reduce the complexity of our product range. Having a smaller range of standard products will not only help our manufacturing and planning teams but will also deliver benefits to the customer by simplifying our inventory management.