NEWS

• 01/12 Koso Kent Introl makes trio of appointmen... Open

  Yorkshire-based engineering firm, KOSO Kent Introl (KKI), has expanded its team through three new appointments. The global specialist control valves manufacturer and supplier continues to deliver strong global sales.

  David Limb, sales director at KKI said: "We are pleased to continue to create employment in Yorkshire, particularly during a time when confidence in the region's manufacturing sector is low. The three new employees have a wealth of manufacturing experience and will prove to be valuable assets to KKI. We continue to grow the business domestically in Brighouse, and through overseas exports to our oil, gas, petrochemical and power industry customers."

  Damian Dugdale starts at KKI as an Expeditor, responsible for managing supplier purchase orders and expediting spare parts' orders. He demonstrates high levels of experience in his field, having managed purchasing and expediting processes at Edmund Bell Fabrics, and transport planning and stock control for the Clipper Group.

  Paul France is the new Workshop Engineer within KKI's Service department. He has extensive experience within manufacturing and has previously worked as a fitter at KKI for 22 years, at JH Smith Engineering for seven years and for over 13 years at MRC Transmark.

  Peter Spedding joins as the new Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Operator. He has over 30 years' experience in manufacturing, having spent 17 years as a manufacturing technician for Lucas Aerospace, ten years at Weir Valves and four years at Valvetek Machining Ltd.

  Left to right: Paul France, Damian Dugdale and Peter Spedding.

  
• 10/11 Koso Kent Introl makes new appointments Open

  Yorkshire-based engineering firm, KOSO Kent Introl (KKI), has made four new key appointments, at a time when the Brighouse organisation continues to grow as a global specialist control valves manufacturer and supplier.

  David Limb, sales director at KKI said: "These latest appointments demonstrate our continued commitment to creating new jobs in Yorkshire, and to our plans to extend our global reach, including a presence in the Australian market. In the current climate, we continue to deliver strong sales of our control valves across the world to oil and gas, petrochemical and power industry organisations."

  Gary Malone joins as area business manager, covering the Australian Territory for KKI. Gary is based in Perth, Australia and is being tasked to promote KKI's leading control valve and subsea products and services, and to develop a strong presence for KKI in the region. He has extensive experience of the valve industry having held previous roles of Control Valve Coordinator and Control Valve Manager for Geographe Energy working within the oil, gas and mining industry.

  Bill McKelvie and Nick Reid have been appointed as Choke Valve Sales Engineers. They will work within the Sales team, overseeing the technical preparation of customer quotations of choke valves, specialising in both surface and sub-sea oil and gas industries. Bill has fourteen years' experience within technical sales during his time at Chem Resist. Nick has already spent nineteen years in the control valve industry having worked at Weir Valves and Controls for two years and seventeen years at Flowserve in Worcestershire.

  Aaron Beaumont comes on board as Design Engineer within the Control Valves department. He began his career as an apprentice engineer in 2004 at KITS. He joins from Weir Power and Industrial where he spent four years as a design engineer. Aaron is currently working towards a BEng/MEng degree in Mechanical Engineering.

  
• 06/11 Koso Kent Introl opens third factory Open

  Koso Kent Introl (KKI) is making a seven-figure investment in its business that will increase manufacturing capacity, improve process efficiencies and maintain quality excellence, for the valve manufacturer.

  The firm has opened a new 18,000 square foot factory in Brighouse, a few hundred yards from its original factory on Armytage Road; part of a significant investment programme within Yorkshire. The new factory is the company's third facility in Brighouse, where it has been based for over forty years. The new site is housing the aftermarket team responsible for service and spares, and creating additional capacity for scheduled shut-down or maintenance programmes that demand high volume turnaround in short timescales.

  Denis Westcott, KKI's managing director said: "We are fully committed to providing world-class service engineering and manufacturing practices for our oil and gas customers around the world. We recognise that to remain competitive and maintain our position as a global player, we need to continue to invest in our Yorkshire roots; that's in our people, processes, facilities and new machinery."

  Further works have already started at KKI's machine shop that is being reconfigured to accommodate the arrival of several new pieces of hi-tech machinery over the coming months, allowing the company to produce higher volumes in shorter timescales, whilst reducing waste.

  Lynn Mowbray, KKI's operations director said: "As part of our Continuous Improvement Programme across the business, it's essential that we have the ability to keep production in-house wherever possible to maintain a degree of flexibility and production scheduling. The new factory enables us to focus on the spares/service sector whilst the investment in the existing machine shop will increase our capacity.

  "Our investment in the latest machining centre and Integrex machine is going to make a huge difference to our operational capabilities, particularly for some of the high volume projects that we have on our order books."

  KKI's investment extends to its on-site testing capabilities. Construction of a state-of-the art gas test facility, one of only a handful in the UK, is underway and is expected to be fully operational this summer. Having this capability in-house will enable KKI to control cost, time and quality across the KKI product range. It will also enable the firm to supply testing services to other manufacturers, for the first time.

  
• 05/11 Yorkshire engineering firm signs Brazil a... Open

  Brighouse-based KOSO Kent Introl (KKI) - www.kentintrol.com has signed a five-year agency agreement with Brazilian firm, RTS Valvulas - www.rtsvalvulas.com.br - that will help the engineering company to increase its presence in Brazil. The deal will open up new distribution channels for KKI's specialist valve products.

  David Limb, sales director of Koso Kent Introl said: "This agreement with Sao Paolo-based RTS Valvulas is a significant milestone for the company. We are increasing our valve distribution channels across the world and this includes building a local presence in Brazil where we will develop service and support channels.

  "There are major offshore project opportunities that we will continue to explore across Brazil and South America, particularly for our topside and subsea choke valves."

  Mark Harris, KKI's area business manager will manage the contract and work closely with RTS Valvulas to develop new business opportunities in Brazil, primarily in the upstream and oil and gas sector. Mark will initially concentrate on promoting KKI's specialist range of control valves, surface choke valves, spare parts, actuators and instrumentation.

  Image attached L-R:
  Denis Westcott, managing director, Koso Kent Introl, Mark Harris, area business manager Koso Kent Introl, Pedro Lucio, president, RTS Valvulas Ltd, Wagner Montanari, commercial director, RTS Valvulas Ltd

  
• 03/11 KKI makes new appointments Open

  KOSO Kent Introl (KKI), has made five new appointments, as part of its continuous growth as a specialist control valves manufacturer and supplier.

  David Limb, sales director at KKI said: "These new appointments signify recent business growth at a time when British manufacturing recovery remains in good shape. We manufacture and sell a range of control valves across the world and have seen an increase in demand amongst oil and gas, petrochemical and power industry sectors."

  Henry Dudziak rejoins KKI as quality inspector, having previously spent nine years with the company in various roles between 1995 and 2004. In his new role, Henry will oversee machine shop inspection activities. Previous positions include a production assistant at Alco Valves and an internal expeditor at Severn Unival.

  Gibel Gapare takes on his first engineering role as a quality engineer / metallurgist, having graduated in a BEng General Engineering degree from the University of Leicester. He will take part in an intense training programme across all areas of the business.
  
  James Smith also returns to KKI as a spares engineer and takes on responsibility for customer enquiries for spares and the checking and processing of orders. He was previously employed by KKI between 1994 and 2002 as a design draughtsman. James completed a Bachelor of Arts in Product Design with Animation at Huddersfield University in 2006.

  Darren Scahill has been appointed as stores assistant. His principal duties include preparing kits for the shop floor, transporting components between KKI's two factories in Brighouse and managing the recording and transfer of data for quality assurance purposes. Darren was previously employed at Wyke Plastics for 23 years.

  Craig Hirst joins as service engineer, with responsibility for the overhaul and repair of control valves. He has a number of years' engineering experience and specialist control valve expertise, having held previous positions with ABB Control Valves, Turnbridge Engineering and Gardner Denver.

  Photograph attached (3 of the 5 new starters shown)
  L-R: Darren Scahill, James Smith and Gibel Gapare

  
• 03/11 Apprentices join engineering firm, KKI Open

  Yorkshire-based engineering firm, KOSO Kent Introl (KKI), has taken on four new apprentice engineers, offering them the opportunity to develop specialist engineering skills, whilst being supported to complete reputable industry qualifications.

  David Limb, sales director at KKI said: "The industry needs to invest in and support young people into the profession, so that we can secure highly skilled people for the long-term future of British engineering.

  "Engineering apprenticeships offer an entry level route into the profession, through a structured programme of learning both on and off- the-job. We have a number of employees in the company who started at the apprenticeship level and have progressed onto advanced engineering roles. This is a real testament to how engineering apprenticeships can add value, both to the employer and the apprentice."

  The four new apprentices will work towards the NVQ Advanced Level 3 in Mechanical Engineering over the next three years. They will benefit from a combination of four days a week of workplace learning and training and one day a week of study at Huddersfield College.

  James Purchon joins as apprentice engineer at the age of 19, having studied IT at Kirklees College. He starts in the assembly shop area of the company and has ambitions to progress onto the Higher National Certificate (HNC).

  Rosie Scott joins KKI as technical apprentice, after completing a BTEC National Diploma in Manufacturing Engineering. She works in a practical workshop environment and has a particular interest in engineering design, with the aim of progressing her career towards a design engineer.
  
  Rosie said: "I chose the engineering apprenticeship route as it offers the chance to work and study, whilst being paid. It gives me an opportunity to learn about many aspects of engineering."

  17-year old Jacob Craven is the company's youngest apprentice and starts his engineering career straight from school. He joins as an apprentice engineer in the machine shop.

  Robert Clark starts as a technical apprentice in the research and development area of the business. He has ambitions to go on to compete a degree and have a long-term career as an engineer.

  Photograph attached
  L-R: Rosie Scott, Robert Clark, Jacob Craven, James Purchon

  
• 03/11 KOSO Kent Introl expands Yorkshire team Open

  Yorkshire-based engineering firm, KOSO Kent Introl (KKI), has expanded its control valve and sales teams through three new appointments.

  Michael Crowther joins the company as a control valve engineer. He will manage the technical and commercial interpretation of customer enquiries and the sales of KKI Control Valves. Michael joins from Hindle Cockburns Ltd where he was an internal sales engineer for three years, specialising in severe service ball valves.

  Hayley Burnett rejoins KKI as control valve engineer. She previously spent a period of twenty years with the company, before spending three years in Dubai. Hayley will be primarily responsible for the sizing and selection of control valves in the Aftermarket Control Valve Sales Department.

  Shaun Sharp has been appointed as trainee sales engineer, after spending eight years specialising in control valve design, within the company. He has eighteen years of mechanical engineering experience, with particular focus on the valve industry.

  David Limb, sales director at KKI said: "As a specialist control valves manufacturer and supplier, we constantly strive for engineering excellence through our people, products and services.

  "We need to continue to develop our individuals and teams to allow their expertise and specialist knowledge to grow. These latest appointments demonstrate our ongoing commitment to invest in our most important asset, our employees."

  Photograph
  L-R: Shaun Sharp, Michael Crowther, Hayley Burnett