Composite technology measures up for Olympics

The company, best known as a contractor to the aerospace and F1 markets, is supplying the jig to Canoe Slalom UK for the International Canoe Federation. The equipment has already been used in a warm up event in Cardiff.

Now proven the composite jig is ready for the main event of the Olympic races to be held at Lee Valley White Water Centre from July 29 to August 2.

The project is particularly close to the company’s MD and owner Graham Mulholland who in his earlier days was a slalom canoeist.

He commented: “My competition canoe was made from composite materials which regularly needed a repair; that’s the spark which contributed to the development of epm technology group, which I started in 1996. We are therefore really pleased about our first contribution to this summer’s games and being connected to slalom canoeing.”

Mulholland continues: “Designing a piece of equipment to efficiently measure over 500 competition canoes through a pre-race scrutinizing process was an interesting challenge for epm. The project has developed into a dry run for our new project engineering/knowledge exchange services, which in time will be helping customers to solve problems and help future non-composite customers to design products and understand composites better.

“This can then develop into producing one off components or components in batch production runs that require full engineering support. Once the projects have been proven they can even be transferred back to the client for them to manage their own production requirements if required or we continue to support their requirements.

“In our immediate past we have worked on a 12m table for the world’s most expensive privately owned yacht, 7.2m long clock hands for The Harmony Clock Tower in China and now this critical calibrated measuring equipment for the summer games. These have all gone through a formal process to support new customers to composites. It therefore makes sense to formalize these activities into their own division, offering chargeable services. This is all about knowledge and technology delivery.”

The development splits epm into three core activities, F1 component manufacture and assembly supply, project engineering and know-how exchange and production of composite parts that are complex and/or structural in a batch production environment for aerospace and automotive markets.

Mulholland concluded: “It is funny how things come full circle from being a slalom canoeist competing, week in week out. To supporting the sport using the know-how from the business, the sport itself in no small way contributed to making epm what it is today.”

Epm operates from its technical centre in Draycott. The high-tech engineering group which supplies F1 teams as well as British touring car competitors and Aston Martin, currently employs 80 people but this is expected to grow through 2012 to 95. www.epmtechnology.com