MIT (Marine & Industrial Transmissions Ltd) is the prime supplier of new units, spares and servicing for marine gears, powershift transmissions and associated driveline and propulsion systems. The company has been successfully serving the marine and industrial sectors for the last 50 years. Hannah Barnett looked back at half a century of success with Finance Director Peter Fenton.
ASa veteran of sustainable practices, MIT (Marine & Industrial Transmissions Ltd) has been operating in the reuse and circularity arena since long before these were buzzwords.
“We are very much a service organisation,” explained Peter Fenton, Finance Director. “We look at the circularity of a product, so it can be used again and again. As well as repairs, we try and prolong the life of in-service transmissions. That can mean a full overhaul or selling refurbished units rather than replacing them.”
MIT was founded in 1974, at first solely as a distributor for US company Twin Disc. In 1998, Transfluid joined the list too. The company now represents more than 20 suppliers, and its key markets are largely the UK and Ireland.
In 2018, MIT was acquired by Swedish behemoth Axel Johnson International AB, which oversees 200 companies and 5,500
employees. This has marked a positive and productive turning point.
“Axel Johnson International is a large, family-owned company,” said Mr Fenton. “In our recent history, the acquisition has been the big change. But it is a very hands-off arrangement. No one is telling us how to manage day-to-day. We have a meeting once a month for about half an hour. It’s been very good for us, particularly for security through times like Covid.”
The company now has a turnover of £10 million, 52 employees, two service centres in Kent and Yorkshire, and a project office in Southampton.
Reduce, reuse and recycle
Much of what MIT does today, is driven by various forms of sustainability. This includes onsite recycling, using a hybrid or electric fleet of company cars and vans, and offering an electric car salary
exchange scheme to staff. The company is also ISO14001 certified in addition to ISO9001 and ISO45001.
MIT sells both new and refurbished units . In recognition of the energy transition, the company also offers a range of marine and land based electric propulsion solutions up to 130kW at a system level, from Bellmarine. However, it is still early days for growth in this sector.
“Our customers are definitely interested in both hybrid and fully electric powertrain solutions,” added Mr Fenton. “But in the UK market, there’s very little infrastructure to help drive that forward and no real government incentive. Like in automotive, electric in the marine sector is currently more expensive than the traditional diesel alternative because it’s a fledgling market. But we are moving in the direction of fully electric solutions, alongside our suppliers.”
As the company also promotes a successful and profitable overhaul solution aimed at prolonging the life of existing equipment, its sustainable credentials remain secure.
“When we receive a failed transmission, our expert team of engineers dismantle it and take the parts out that are still worth keeping,” Mr Fenton explained. “Those parts are cleaned and refurbished to get them back to as good as new and then we rebuild the gearbox. One of the key ways we are sustainable is by trying to keep units going for as long as possible.”
About 55% of what the company sells on is made up of refurbished products, while the sale of new units accounts for around 35%. The rest is made up by selling spares for customers to do their own maintenance to extend the life of their equipment, MIT has worked with high profile clients such as Irish Rail and the UK MOD on its fleet of fire trucks.
The company is IIP certified, a people management standard, for its apprenticeship schemes and is set to progress to the next level, including IIP Wellbeing. “We’re looking at what we can do for our staff,” said Mr Fenton. “Part of that is about sustainability. We want to keep our staff. We want to bolster their skills with training and for them to be happy in their roles.”
The forefront of change
Like many businesses taking a serious interest in their environmental footprint, MIT is in the process of putting together a comprehensive schedule of Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, complemented by an action plan to reduce them.
“We encourage our suppliers to be sustainable in the packaging they use,” said Mr Fenton. “They’re good with the product itself, a lot of it is metal. Where they do use plastics, we’ve tried to get them to use the best options available. We also try to group our logistics together.
From a financial perspective, it makes sense too. We’re always working to improve I think we’re good; but we can always be better.”
Parent company Axel Johnson International has also enabled MIT to
progress in its carbon footprint reporting All key suppliers are now required to sign up to the Axel Johnson International Code of Conduct. This covers areas such as employment regulations, sustainability and good corporate governance.
“The chairman of the company, Antonia Ax:son Johnson, is well regarded in government circles in Sweden and she’s on a number of environmental boards,” explained Mr Fenton. “She promotes sustainability reporting through the companies. So, we must comply with that, but Axel Johnson International makes it as simple as possible and we are embracing it.”
One of the chief objectives for the company is to demonstrate that sustainable practices can be financially beneficial too.
“We may be only 52 people, but we’ve got a Sustainability Manager,” said Mr Fenton. “I want us to be seen alongside Axel Johnson International as one of the companies at the forefront of sustainable change. Axel Johnson International
is very helpful in this; it offers lots of sustainability seminars online. I make sure there is always someone from our team on there.”
Unsurpassed knowledge
Another advantage of being part of Axel Johnson International is it gives MIT the ability to call on the resources of others in the group. However, from a service side, Mr Fenton remains confident none are better.
“We offer the full package,” he said. “From consultation, through supply, to service, maintenance, repair and overhaul. There is nobody else out there who does everything we do. There are companies with expertise in certain areas, but none that can match the
range and skills that we have. We’ve got technical knowledge that is unsurpassed in the industry.”
MIT will continue to develop its service team, intending to improve capabilities to take on still more diverse equipment, including increased complexity in electronics and larger projects. One of the company’s biggest challenges remains finding skilled engineers capable of working on the sheer variety of products it looks after.
“The variety of work we are involved in is vast but exciting,” Mr Fenton concluded. “I’ve got a very broad remit of stuff I look after. And we’re a very dynamic team. I really want to make a difference to MIT. I want us to push forward and develop, alongside Axel Johnson International, in digitalisation, sustainability and the wellbeing of our employees.” n
