OUR APPROACH
State of the art software allows engineers to design with confidence, building a complete 3D model before a single component is made. Embracing modern CAD -CAM technology means it’s just as easy to machine curves as it is to work in straight lines. This organic approach enables us to ‘design outwards’ from the part interface, ensuring that equipment and frame not only perform exceptionally, but match the function with ergonomic elegance.
We design our products to last. So, at the outset of every project, we fully explore the role your equipment will play and the environment it will occupy. Then we’ll select materials and finishes to match: Makrolon and aluminium frames for maximum visibility, for example, or powder coated steel for more demanding environments.
And thanks to 3D printing, we are able to show you exactly how even the most complex finished machine will look.
WHO WE ARE
Design Automation (DA) began life as DA Industrial Design in 1998. Over the years the business grew, and so did our reputation for precision engineering. Then in 2014, John Morris, then the machine shop manager and Tim Walton, a sub-contractor to the business specialising in control system design, bought the business.
Today, we’re an eight-strong team of engineers who love to make, and who love working with clients who have manufacturing problems that need solutions.
WHO WE WORK WITH
Although firmly rooted in the heart of industrial Lancashire, our loyal customer base stretches much further and covers all manufacturing sectors, encompassing sole traders through to multinational companies and sectors ranging from oil and gas, automotive and health to the fashion industry. Yet whatever your scale, you’ll receive the same uncompromising personal service from DA.
WHAT WE DO
Our core services are specialist machinery design and build, subcontract engineering, and tool design and manufacture.
We’re always investing in new technology. It’s how we ensure we can provide a level of quality and service you might often associate with much larger companies. Yet because we remain a small business, when you work with us, you work directly with John and Tim, the owners.
So when you have a manufacturing problem in need of an engineering solution. When you need a reliable source of expertise to whom you can easily outsource. Or when you need new, bespoke machinery so you can manufacture for yourself, with us you’ll enjoy the sort of collaboration, partnership and personal service that larger competitors simply cannot offer.
OUR TEAM
TIM
Director
Tim was working with DA as a sub-contractor specialising in control system design when the opportunity arose for him to become co-owner with John Morris.
Ever since, he has worked to build a team and business that provides engineering solutions for businesses that want to manufacture more efficiently, more cost-effectively or who want to offer their customers better quality.
He is an engineer who is passionate about his specialism, who loves to make a difference, and who loves to make clients’ manufacturing headaches go away.
JOHN
Director
John was DA’s machine shop manager when the opportunity arose to buy the business in 2014. Joining forces with Tim Walton, John became co-owner of DA and has since worked to grow the business and its reputation for precision engineering with a personal service.
John believes the company’s growing success is a result of two factors: an ability to solve difficult manufacturing challenges that others can’t, and a commitment to listening to the ideas of his skilled and experienced team.
