Barum & Dewar Ltd (B&D) is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of specialist packaging solutions and the provider of choice to many Prime contractors operating in support of the UK Ministry of Defence.

Recently B&D were approached by a major IT supplier to UK MoD who had an urgent need for ruggedised packaging in order that their leading edge equipment could be deployed in time for a major exercise. As is often the case not all details of the contents were initially available and so B&D’s in-house design team worked with the information to hand and developed a prototype ruggedised case solution based on a Peli Storm case from B&D’s range of waterproof cases internally fitted with custom CNC routed foam. On site approval was swift and production commenced immediately utilising B&D’s dedicated foam facility near Southampton to provide the internal foam cushioning and all necessary labelling.

IT Client Project Manager, Andy commented: “My Company had a requirement to meet an urgent request for ruggedised and deployable cases and packaging for Military IT kit suitable for operation in all Land and Maritime environments.Barum & Dewar were suggested to me by a packaging expert, having been proven on previous projects as a competitive and trusted supplier to my team.Barum & Dewar were able to not only compete on cost terms with their rival suppliers, but almost half the delivery lead time to meet my required dates for the client. As a result we were able to not only satisfy, but shortcut our customer’s ambitious delivery dates by several days.As a result a high profile order was fulfilled to specification ahead of target and UK Defence were ready to deploy the new solution on a major exercise within weeks of receipt of the product.I particularly liked the in-house design service that Barum & Dewar offer – we were able to work with their Technical Design Team using 3D CAD to achieve a prototype solution prior to going into full production.Thanks go to David Frame and the team at B&D for the agile work they did in support of this highly successful project. ”

For B&D this was a project with time pressures from the outset but one which B&D are geared up to deal with. Everything was managed in-house from design to foam fabrication and this ability to control all aspects of the process meant that lead time was not just met be improved upon.

Barum & Dewar MD, David Frame added: “Client recognition of this type is always welcome and bears testimony to both the team we have at B&D and the importance we place on our core values. These two elements combine to ensure that the offering from B&D continues to exceed expectations and reinforces our commitment to developing long term trusted relationships with clients”

Barum & Dewar places huge importance on the quality of its products and services and ensuring it delivers on its promises.

But delivering quality is much more than focussing on the products and so the annual Quality Assessment undertaken by leading global independently accredited certification body, NQA is an opportunity for B&D’s whole Quality Management System to be thoroughly scrutinised.

Straight off the back of the Xmas and New Year break, B&D were successfully audited by NQA today and are delighted to be able to retain its ISO 9001:2008 registration.

ISO 9001 is an International Quality Management System Standard that specifies requirements within which an organisation demonstrates its ability to consistently provide product or service to meet customer and legal requirements, enhancing customer satisfaction and opening the way to continual improvement.

Barum & Dewar Ltd (B&D) specialises in the design, manufacture and supply of complete packaging solutions. The company is currently active across a wide range of industrial and commercial sectors including Defence, Aerospace, Space, Offshore & Subsea, Medical, Instrumentation, Utilities, Media and Presentation providing a single source for bespoke, customised and off the shelf packaging related products and services. A B&D 2010 Group Company, B&D are accredited to ISO9001:2008 and operate from a number of sites throughout the UK.

During recent months Barum & Dewar have been proud to have supplied a number of large specialist storage and transit containers used to safely deliver multi-million pound satellites from factory to launch sites in both Russia and Kazakhstan. These bespoke containers represent some of the best in custom design and fabrication undertaken by B&D in this demanding of market sectors.

It should not to forgotten that B&D’s principle aim as a solution provider is to ensure that the best solution is selected for each and every client application. A recent project undertaken for our long standing client, Qinetiq demonstrates this approach perfectly and of the core values that underpin B&D’s everyday activities.

Qinetiq approached Barum & Dewar in 2013 with an exciting new project and a requirement for a quantity of specialist hand carry containers initially suggesting that bespoke containers we had supplied for a previous project were what they had in mind. Once a detailed specification was received and reviewed B&D’s Tech Design team looked at all options and eventually settled on a simpler custom solution based on a standard Zarges K475 case – its existing certification and qualifications being key drivers. A bespoke integrated attenuation plate supported by specially selected wire mounts was installed to provide shock and vibration dampening. Desiccant basket, pressure relief valve, lifting points, custom fixings, data logger were all added and the container was finished with full paint and labelling.

The use of an “off the shelf” outer case from B&D’s range of distributed products as the basis for this project, whilst not anticipated by Qinetiq at the outset, helped to reduce costs without sacrificing any performance requirements.

B&D supply the full range of Zarges containers all of which can be customised as necessary.

Barum & Dewar are well known for its highly regarded satellite containers but our experience in the Space sector and innovative design capabilities are equally suited when other space related items require to be protected and placed in containers.

Many space projects can take several years to reach the point when transportation containers are required but when key client SSTL required a bespoke container solution for their GMP-T project (Geostationary Minisatellite Platform) in a matter of weeks and included some height and assembly criteria, B&D had to work fast. The container was to be used to transport safely parts of the structural engineering model of the geostationary satellite, the GMP-T.

With an assembled height of around 4m the container not only had to be robust and strong but also needed to be capable of being assembled and opened manually without the need of mechanical cranes. The container was designed in sections with each part easily man handled – the final design also enabled the empty container to be flatpacked for storage and empty shipping. The use of aluminium honeycomb panels reduced weight whilst retaining strength.

From concept to delivery in 8 weeks was a great achievement and testamony to all involved.

It has been a busy time for B&D’s satellite containers recently – whilst one was bound for Russia another was making the equally lengthy journey to the launch facility at Baikonur in Kazakhstan.

Although our bespoke containers don’t make it all the way to space themselves they do carry the precious satellites on the first part of their long journey. This initial journey from factory to launch site is a pretty dangerous one for satellites designed to operate in space and therefore the satellite containers B&D design and manufacture need to be up to the job in hand.

Thankfully, having been supplying satellite container solutions for over 20 years’ to the Space Sector, B&D not only have a highly skilled team in place but have lots of experience too. This combination provides our clients such as SSTL with the confidence to entrust their multi-million pound, technology driven, leading edge cargos to our containers. That and our excellent track record.

Now safely transported to Kazakhstan SSTL’s TechDemoSat-1 satellite has been unloaded and is being prepared for launch on 8 July 2014. It is an innovative satellite that will trial UK space technologies with the aim of winning substantial international business. It will function as an “in-orbit test facility” for innovative UK payloads and software. A large mission for a small satellite, the successful delivery and ultimate decommissioning of TechDemoSat-1 will enable UK industry and academia to qualify on board payloads and UK satellite software, thereby overcoming the problem of a lack of in orbit flight heritage that often becomes a major barrier to commercial success in the space industry.

Barum & Dewar can’t offer to get your satellite into space but we can get it safely to a suitable launch site.