Driving Darvick's growth journey
From manual to modern: how WMG helped drive Darvick’s growth journey
Based in the Black Country, Darvick is a leading manufacturer of bespoke testing machines that push high-tech components to their limits.
Founded by husband and wife Darren and Vicki Wilkes, the company works with clients across aerospace, nuclear engineering, transport and more, designing machines capable of testing new materials and components under extreme conditions.
As the team grew and workload increased, outdated processes and data systems became a major bottleneck. To overcome this, Darvick partnered with WMG’s SME Group through Made Smarter West Midlands, to upgrade their lab management system to fly closer to its sky-high growth ambitions.
Challenge: High-tech machines, low-tech systems
Darvick’s testing machines are cutting-edge, requiring significant engineering expertise to design and build, which contrasted sharply with how the company stored its data, across spreadsheets, Word documents and emails.
“Being a small business, it was difficult to find the time to search for a new system while also keeping the company going. But as we grew our team, certain processes just began to take too long and we hit a point where modernisation was the only realistic way for us to grow.”
– Vicki Wilkes, Commercial Director, Darvick.
Through their strong local network of other SMEs, Vicki and Darren learned how Made Smarter West Midlands and WMG could support businesses like theirs to modernise and scale.
Solution: Finding the right path forward
After Darvick reached out for support, Denis Pelych, Digital Manufacturing Advisor for WMG’s SME Group, visited the company to explore potential improvements and digital solutions.
Denis identified that to improve processes and capture testing data more effectively, Darvick needed to adopt specialised software to manage project workflows: a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS).
“It was clear that Darvick needed to make its data capture systems as advanced as the machines it was building for its clients.” –Denis Pelych, Digital Manufacturing Advisor, WMG.
After evaluating several options, Darvick selected Xybion, a flexible LIMS with strong UK-based support.
“With each test being different from the last, we needed software that could easily adapt to each one.” – Vicki Wilkes, Commercial Director, Darvick.
Darvick was guided through the application process for a £17,000 match-funded grant from Made Smarter, helping to fund the adoption of the new LIMS, Xybion, to improve productivity, traceability and quality-management across its testing work.
“Having Made Smarter cover some of the costs through its grant was great. It reduced our initial outlay significantly and meant the decision to modernise was made so much easier.” – Vicki Wilkes, Commercial Director, Darvick.
“WMG’s perspective on the right kind of software for our needs was very useful. We needed a fresh pair of eyes to look to reassure us that we were making the right decision.” – Vicki Wilkes, Commercial Director, Darvick.
Impact: Streamlined data leads to scalable operations
As Xybion is rolled out across its laboratory testing, Vicki and Darren are confident that the new system will boost productivity and improve how testing data is captured and managed.
“Our new LIMS is exactly what we need to take Darvick to the next level, the informed advice we received helped us take the right steps to make it happen.”- Vicki Wilkes, Commercial Director, Darvick.
From implementing Xybion, Darvick is set to benefit from:
- 10-20% projected testing revenue increase over the next 3 years
- 20-30% productivity improvement on sales and delivery of testing machinery
- Unlocking 2-3% extra net profit short term, to fund R&D investment
Efficiencies unlocked by Xybion, will generate additional profit: providing essential funding to develop the next generation of test machines capable of testing materials at ultra-low temperatures, such as those required in liquid hydrogen applications.
“With Xybion in place, it will position our business as being forward-thinking and enable incredible innovation across a wide range of sectors, which we think is a great proposition to offer to new staff.” - Vicki Wilkes, Commercial Director, Darvick.
From their partnership with Made Smarter and WMG, Darvick is now considering taking on interns through WMG’s Internship Programme; embedding skilled and enthusiastic graduates into the business to bring fresh insights and drive progress.
“We’d love to recruit tech-savvy test lab apprentices into Darvick and get the next generation of staff into the business.” - Vicki Wilkes, Commercial Director, Darvick.
Are you an SME looking for support to grow your business? Spark your success story today, by getting in touch with WMG’s SME Group.