From military defence to self-driving cars: The Lancaster navigation company getting it just right

A Heysham-based engineering business which manufactures high-precision navigation solutions, Forsberg has its state-of-the-art fingers in plenty of pies. From aircraft and farm vehicles to self-driving cars and heavy construction machinery, if you can programme and navigate it, Forsberg has done it. Whether it's military defence, logistics supply chains, or marine projects from the equator to the poles, accuracy is king, and that's where the company thrives.

"We provide off-the-shelf and bespoke solutions for positioning, navigation, and timing challenges that companies have," says Managing Director Chris Mayne, 37. "Everything's based around precision; container ports are a good example - a lot of our products are fitted to cranes to help automated steering and positioning.

"The dynamics of the company have changed over time," adds Chris. "Since about 2002, the in-house engineering side of the business has really taken off and led to us making more bespoke products and launching our own product line in 2008, which we made as modular and adaptable as possible. We've really grown across multiple areas."

Having grown up in Northern Ireland, Chris moved to the North West in 2001 to attend Lancaster University and has worked at Forsberg since 2004. Needless to say, he finds it a fascinating place to work.

"I've had the luxury of sitting in helicopters and race cars and cranes 120-foot in the air," says Chris. "It's a really interesting industry which makes it an exciting place to work, and with life in general becoming increasingly digital, it's the kind of industry which is only going to be required more and more.

"Working across different markets allows us to share knowledge across sectors and also has its benefits in that when one has a downturn, others go through a growth: it's like pistons, with some cylinders firing when others aren't," he adds. "That variety of work is one of the main reasons why I enjoy working here.

"I also love the innovation," Chris continues. "I like to tackle challenges: that's what lights my fire, seeing a problem and working out how we're going to fix it. Ultimately, it can be tough, but the exciting bit is the next innovation and the range of challenges is so diverse, so there's always a learning curve."

Speaking of challenges and steep learning curves, coronavirus posed a unique set of issues for the company. But, having recently worked with Made Smarter, a North West pilot programme supporting Lancashire-based businesses in adopting hi-tech digital manufacturing techniques, Forsberg was well-placed to adapt and thrive.

"Coronavirus has been challenging," says Chris. "We were already going through a digitisation plan and moving a lot of our processes onto a digital platform, as well as setting up some aspects of remote learning, when Covid hit. Because we'd put those plans in place, we were in a good position.

"It's rare you get a time when the world slows down and we took the chance to accelerate our digitisation - we went through teething problems like everybody does, but the staff took things in their stride," he adds, with the business' 40-odd members of staff having adapted well. "It was great to see everybody move to address issues quickly."

While business slowed for a time due to people's budgets being hit by the pandemic, Chris says that they're now starting to see things ramping up again. "It's about being flexible and looking for opportunities," he says. "There's only so much you can control."