Engineering expertise, from problem to practical solution.
Van Driel combines engineering consultancy with
real manufacturing, fabrication and site capability. We can help you
understand the problem, develop the solution, turn it into a practical design and then
manufacture and install the finished article, rather than hand over a drawing and
move on.
Problem · Engineering · Design · Manufacture · InstallationNorfolk · East Anglia · UK-wide
The starting point
Engineering problems rarely arrive as perfect drawings.
They arrive as a concept, an existing component, a part that has
failed, a sketch on the back of something, an operational problem nobody has yet
written down, or a requirement with no design attached to it at all.
That is the normal condition, not an exception to be apologised for. A consultancy
that needs a complete specification before it can begin is of limited use to the people
who most need one, and in our experience the specification is usually the thing
the engagement is meant to produce.
What we need to start is whatever you already have. What we produce first is a clear
statement of what the problem actually is, which is frequently not the problem as
originally described.
A part that failed
Send it, or photograph it. The failure mode is the single most useful piece of
evidence available, and it routinely contradicts the assumed cause. Reverse engineering
from a worn or broken original is ordinary work.
A concept with no drawing
An idea, a requirement, a sketch, a photograph of something similar. We develop it
in CAD to manufacturing intent and agree it with you before any material is committed.
A design that will not make
A drawing that is easy to draw and expensive to manufacture. Design for manufacture
review against a real cutting, forming, welding and inspection route, with the
cost of each decision attached.
Who you are dealing with
Mark Van DrielCEng MIET
Engineering & Technical Lead
Consultancy work here is led by a Chartered Engineer. Requirement
review, technical assessment, design development and design for manufacture are his
work, and the first free conversation is with him rather than with a salesperson.
Chartered status is an assessed standard of engineering competence and
personal accountability for the judgements that follow from it, a
registration held by the individual engineer rather than by the company.
When people actually ring an engineering consultancy
Rarely because they woke up wanting consultancy. Usually because one of these four
things has happened, and each needs a different first move.
01
The part no longer exists
A component has failed, the machine it belongs to is twenty years
old, the original manufacturer has gone, and there are no drawings. Most firms
offering reverse engineering sell it as a scanning service, and
measure the part very precisely.
Measuring it is the easy half. The question that decides whether the
replacement lasts is why the original failed, because a part that
wore out in service was frequently marginal by design, and a faithful copy
reproduces the fault on the same timescale. We establish the duty first, then
produce the drawing and the manufacturing route, then make it. If the answer is that
the original was under-specified, the replacement is not a copy.
Typical outputDrawings, a manufacturing route and a
replacement part, usually improved rather than copied.
02
It is designed, but it will not make economically
A drawing exists and the quotations coming back are higher than the
budget, or nobody will commit to a lead time. That is usually not a supplier
problem. It is a design for manufacture problem: a detail that is
straightforward to draw and awkward to cut, form, fixture or inspect.
We review the design against a real manufacturing route (ours) and cost each decision. A tolerance that could be opened, a weld that cannot
be reached, a fold sequence that needs a tool nobody has, a machined face that could
be a fabricated one. This is the review a consultancy without a workshop cannot
do properly, because it requires knowing what things actually cost to make rather
than what they ought to.
Typical outputA revised design that can be made, with
the cost of each change stated.
03
Something keeps failing and nobody knows why
A bracket that cracks, a guard that will not stay aligned, an
assembly that comes back from site every time. Technical problem
solving here starts with the failure itself rather than with a redesign:
the fracture surface, the wear pattern, the loading the thing actually sees as
opposed to the loading it was designed for.
The assumed cause and the real cause differ often enough that
starting from the assumption is the expensive route. Where the answer turns out to
be metallurgical or structural beyond our competence, we will say so and tell you
what kind of specialist you need.
Typical outputFindings, root cause where it can be
established, and the options that follow from it.
04
There is a requirement and no design at all
A process has changed, a machine has moved, a new product needs
handling equipment that does not exist. This is project engineering
and engineering design support: developing a requirement into a
concept, a concept into manufacturing-intent CAD, and CAD into something installed
and working.
It is also where engineering improvement projects
sit: throughput, quality or cost problems on existing plant where the
constraint turns out to be an engineering one rather than an operational one.
Typical outputA requirement, a design, and a working
installation, or an honest view that it should not be built.
All four run through the same five stages below, and all four can stop at any stage. What
changes is where the effort sits. On an obsolete part it is in establishing the duty; on a
cost problem it is in the manufacturing review; on a repeated failure it is in the
assessment. Recognising which of the four you have is most of the first conversation, and
it is why that conversation is free.
The difference
From advice to a working installation
Most engineering consultancies stop at the drawing. The drawing
is where the risk starts.
01
Problem
What it actually has to do, what it has to fit, what it has to survive and who has
to sign it off. Established before anything is drawn.
02
Engineering
Assessment, root cause where there is one, and the options that follow. The point at
which a bad idea is cheapest to abandon.
03
Design
CAD development to manufacturing intent, reviewed against how it will actually be
cut, formed, welded, machined and inspected, and what each costs.
04 · Our own shop
Manufacture
We make it, in-house, with the same engineers accountable throughout. No handover to
a supplier who was not in the room when the decisions were made.
05 · Our own team
Installation
Fitted at your premises, UK-wide, by people who know why it was detailed that way.
The stage where most engineering advice has long since stopped.
This is the whole commercial
argument, and it is a narrow one: when the organisation that gives the advice also carries
the manufacturing and installation risk, the advice is about what can actually be built and
fitted. You are not tied to us for the manufacture unless that is what we agree, but
being able to take the job all the way through is the reason most customers come to us for
the engineering in the first place.
How we work
Five stages, and an output at each one
You should be able to stop after any of them and still hold something useful. An
engagement that only produces value at the end is a badly structured engagement.
01
Requirement review
We establish what the thing actually has to do, what it has to fit, what it has to survive and who has to sign it off. Most of the value in a consultancy engagement is created here, and most of the cost of a failed one comes from skipping it.
OutputA written statement of requirement, and an honest view on whether the problem is worth solving.
02
Technical assessment
Assessment of the existing part, process or concept against that requirement. Where something has failed, the failure mode is the most useful evidence available and we start there.
OutputFindings, root cause where it can be established, and the options that follow from it.
03
Concept and design development
Development in CAD to the point where the design can be manufactured, not to the point where it can be presented. Iteration happens here, on screen, where it is cheap.
OutputManufacturing-intent drawings, cutting lists, and a prototype where one is justified.
04
Manufacturing review
The design reviewed against how it will actually be cut, formed, welded, machined, finished and inspected, and what each of those decisions costs. This is the stage a consultancy without a workshop cannot do properly.
OutputA design that can be made, priced against a real route rather than an assumed one.
05
Delivery and implementation support
We make it, and where the scope requires it we install it, UK-wide, with the same engineers accountable from the first conversation to the last fixing. This is the stage most engineering advice never reaches.
OutputA solution manufactured, installed and working, with the drawings and evidence behind it.
Capability
What we are asked to do.
Ten things, and the list is
deliberately finite. Where a problem sits outside it we will say so at the first
conversation rather than at the third invoice.
Who does the work
Engineering consultancy at Van Driel is delivered by Mark. Enquiries go
to him directly.
01
Technical problem solving
A component that keeps failing, a process that will not hold tolerance, an assembly that fits on the drawing and not in the building.
02
CAD and drawing development
Developing a concept, a sketch or a marked-up photograph into manufacturing drawings that a shop can actually work from.
03
Reverse engineering
Producing drawings and a manufacturing route from a worn, broken or obsolete part where no drawing survives.
04
Design for manufacture
Reviewing a design against how it will actually be cut, formed, welded and inspected , and what each of those decisions costs.
05
Project engineering
Holding an engineering scope together from requirement through to installed solution, including the interfaces with other trades and suppliers.
06
Engineering improvement projects
Throughput, quality and cost improvement work on existing plant, products and processes, where the constraint is an engineering one.
07
Site engineering support
Engineering attendance, survey and assessment at your premises, UK-wide, where the problem cannot be understood from a drawing.
08
Manufacturing and fabrication advice
Material selection, section choice, joint design, weld access, finishing route and inspection method, given by people who will have to make it.
09
Supplier and manufacturing support
Specification review, manufacturing readiness and support to an existing supply chain , including where the manufacture is not with us.
10
Engineering design support
Working alongside your own engineers where you need capacity or a second opinion, rather than replacing them.
Talk to an engineer
Describe the problem. We will tell you whether we are the right people for it.
The first technical conversation is with an
engineer rather than a salesperson, and it is free. If the answer is that you need a
structural engineer, a metallurgist or a different supplier entirely, you will be
told that.
–What problem are you trying to solve?
–What stage is it at: concept, existing part, failure, or a live requirement?
–What outcome do you actually need?
–By when, and is site attendance required?
How it is charged
The initial technical discussion is free. Once we both understand the requirement,
any defined engineering, design, drawing or project work is scoped and quoted
separately before it starts, so you know what you are committing to, and there
is no open-ended time-and-materials arrangement running in the background.
Consultancy enquiries go directly to the
engineers who deliver the work. Drawings, photographs, CAD models and supporting
documents can be attached. Files are stored outside the public web root and are never
shared outside the group.
And then
The workshop behind the advice
Consultancy at Van Driel is not a separate business with a shared logo. It is the front
end of a works that cuts, folds, machines, welds, finishes and installs, which is
what makes it worth buying.
Three of these (cost, obligation and who owns the design) are the questions that stop an engineering enquiry being sent at all. They are answered here so they do not have to be asked.
Nothing. The initial technical discussion is free and it is with an engineer rather than a salesperson. Once we both understand the requirement, any defined engineering, design, drawing or project work is scoped and quoted separately before it starts so you know what you are committing to, and there is no open-ended time-and-materials arrangement running quietly in the background.
Not unless that is what we agree. But being able to take the job all the way through (problem, engineering, design, manufacture, installation) is the reason most customers come to us for the engineering in the first place, and it is what makes the advice worth having. A recommendation from someone who will have to build it is a different thing from a recommendation from someone who will not.
Yes, and it is a common starting point. The failure mode is usually the most useful evidence available and it routinely contradicts the assumed cause. Reverse engineering from a worn, broken or obsolete original where no drawing survives is ordinary work here.
You do, for work you have paid us to design. Intellectual property in information you send us stays yours. The ownership position is set out in writing before chargeable work starts.
Yes. Send yours with the enquiry. Files uploaded through this site are stored outside the public web root under randomised names and are never shared outside the group.
Yes, UK-wide. Some problems cannot be understood from a drawing, and a plant manager describing a fault over the phone is describing the symptom rather than the cause. Site attendance is part of the service. See site and project support.
You will be told. If what you need is a structural engineer, a metallurgist, a controls specialist or a coded welding shop, saying so in the first conversation costs us nothing and saves you a great deal. A consultancy that finds a way to be the answer to every question is not giving advice.
Bring us the problem, not the specification
If you already have a drawing we will quote it. If you have a failed part, a sketch or an operational problem nobody has written down yet, that is the work we are actually best at.
