Key challenges for a post-Covid future

Finn Sprackling

Additive Applications Engineer - Kingsbury

Phil Rawnson

Managing Director, MRT Castings

Phil Rawnson is Managing Director of MRT Castings Ltd is an aluminium diecasting foundry and CNC machining specialist, based in Hampshire, UK. MRT supplies customers in the medical, medical, aerospace, defence and lighting industries. The company has been enjoying a period of sustained growth over recent years, particularly in export markets, and was a recipient of the 2016 Queens Award for International Trade.

MRT have been working successfully with the MTC and other industry partners on several projects around introducing automation into their CNC machining and diecasting operations. In March 2020 the company opened a world-class new foundry to create a platform for future growth. MRT collaborated with MTC in the design of this facility using 3D visualisation tools. The scale-up of the new facility was dramatically accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, as MRT have tripled output over the past year to respond to global demand for castings used in critical care ventilators. In January 2021 they were awarded the MakeUK Manufacturing Matters award, in recognition of their response to the situation.

Phil is an enthusiastic advocate of lean manufacturing and the application of new technology in production environments. He is a past Chairman of the UK Cast Metals Federation, and an active member of various trade bodies.