Discover the DeviceMed interview with Dawnlough CEO Brian McKeon.
Specializing in the design and manufacture of mechanical components, Irish subcontractor Dawnlough Ltd joined the Swiss Acrotec Group in 2023, with the firm intention of strengthening its development in the medical sector.
Interview with CEO Brian McKeon.
Can you give us a brief introduction to the company? Dawnlough Ltd is a subcontracting company. We work for the medical technology, aerospace and semiconductor sectors. At present, aerospace accounts for approximately 50% of our sales and medical for 40%. We have been active in the medical technology industry for around 25 years, and our aim is to expand in this field. Our location on the west coast of Ireland, home to a large number of medical device manufacturers, is ideal. We currently manufacture mainly angiology and neurology components, but also design and manufacture high-end tooling. Dawnlough Ltd was a family business before joining the MedTech division of the Acrotec Group.
What were the reasons behind your decision to join the Acrotec Group? Before Acrotec approached us, we’d already been approached by other organizations, but we’d always turned them down, as they didn’t add value to the company. On the other hand, I had no intention of retiring and still had plenty of ambition to develop the company. We had reached 100 employees and sales of €13 million, and our growth forecasts were good. But when Acrotec’s management presented their model, it piqued our interest. What’s more, the fact that a Swiss organization was interested was a sign of recognition of the quality of our work. The Group companies we visited shared similar values to our own. I also saw a very large number of possible synergies with other subsidiaries to accelerate our development. This was a decisive factor in our decision. I have absolutely no regrets about this decision today. I’m continuing to run the company and play an active part in its growth strategy.
What do you see as the current challenges and opportunities in the MedTech sector? We have several areas of focus. Until recently, we supplied a lot of tooling to medical companies, but not finished components for the medical devices themselves. Acrotec helped us build an ISO 7 cleanroom, which enabled us to expand in this direction. We also familiarized ourselves with deburring technologies and started manufacturing smaller components. In the angiology sector, we are now able, with the help of other Group subsidiaries, to handle large volumes of around 100,000 units per year, whereas our capacity was limited to batches of 10-50,000 units per year. It also works the other way round. We all have our specific skills, and that’s how synergies work. Our niche, for example, is large, complex, high-precision prismatic components, as opposed to the small turned components that many of the Group’s companies manufacture.
What specific areas are you currently focusing on to support the company’s growth? We have invested heavily in automation over the past decade, particularly in 24/7 manufacturing. For our MedTech production line, we recently acquired Swiss machines: two Bumotec, on which we manufacture highly complex instruments, and a Willemin-Macodel, with which we are very satisfied. Our new cleanroom now enables us to assemble sub-assemblies, particularly for medical instruments. We are also moving towards green energy, and today generate 40% of our electricity needs from solar power.
