About DA Techs
DA Techs is a specialist motor trade business based in Adlington, Lancashire that refurbishes alloy wheels (specialising in Diamond Cut Alloy Wheel repair) for car dealerships, body shops and private customers. The business operates across 3 facilities at present: a 2700 sq ft workshop in Adlington, and two mobile units that service customers across the North West of the UK, now employing a total of 15 employees.
The business was founded by Jamie Baxter and Phil Barnard after noticing a gap in the market for high-quality wheel refurbishments completed on-site at dealerships. To meet this need DA Techs invented a UK first: the concept of making a lathe portable and taking the solution to the client, thus creating a business USP. The mobile solution started trading in February 2017.
By December 2017, a 1,600 sq ft workshop in Adlington had been rented to enable DA Techs to refurbish an increased quantity and more complex alloy wheels using a larger lathe with increased capability. By January 2019, the business had moved 50m to a larger workshop facility to provide greater capacity, followed 2 months later by the addition of a second mobile unit, designed entirely by DA Techs based on their first 18 months’ experience.
DA Techs is a thriving SME who have become a tier-one supplier to an Anglo-American company with a strong UK growth strategy. It has been recognised by and has received investment from Made Smarter, a UK Government strategy to drive UK manufacturing growth, productivity and transformation through the increased implementation of new technology solutions.
The grant will help fund an upgrade to our current workflow process to improve handling times of alloy wheel repair, efficiency and data reporting in early 2020. This will be achieved using a tailored real-time IT system built by AMRC, who are a network of world-leading research and innovation centres working with advanced manufacturing companies around the globe. They are a subsidiary of Sheffield University and work with partners such as Boeing and Rolls Royce.
We’re currently in the process of upgrading our Adlington facility to maximise our workflow and efficiency. This will allow us to meet increasing customer demand and to create a solid foundation for our future. With an aim to increase the output of the company in excess of 50% in the next few months, the facility will see several improvements throughout the last quarter of 2019:
The new oven
The addition of a second and larger oven means the work we carry out on-site will be more efficient which allows us to speed up the repair of alloy wheels and therefore increase the throughput.
The second lathe
The implementation of a second lathe with enhanced capability means we can add details of each alloy wheel to a database as we perform the work. This allows quicker wheel cutting when compared to the current manual method of carrying out individual probes of each wheel. The lathe will more than double our cutting capacity.
Stripping machine
A new alcohol heated stripping machine will take the place of the old stripping machine, which uses cold acid to strip old paint away from the wheels. While the current process can be slow, imprecise and labour intensive, the new machine will be digital, allowing us to monitor the best stripping times for different alloy wheels. This means we’ll be able to reduce the downtime of the machine without having to manually check and to increase productivity of the technicians. This second stripping machine will be installed by the end of October 2019.
New digital process
Implementing a new digital process is key for DA Techs in our ambitious plans to grow. We have met the objectives and criteria for the Made Smarter grant as they have identified a strong and ambitious leadership with a clear vision statement. The IDT advisor that recommended DA Techs to the grant team believes strongly that our company will be an exemplar case for the program.
What does this mean to you, our valued customer?
All this expansion aligns itself with our strategy to become a market leader within our industry and helps us to continue to execute our vision to be a proud eco-friendly UK-based company.
You can be sure that DA Techs will provide you with the very best level of service without the loss of quality or control, whether you’re dropping off one set of alloy wheels or require multiple repairs.
Call today to get your FREE quote 
