Festival of Business: the Olympic lift for 'Made in UK' "I didn't get to drive one unfortunately, but it's exciting for the workforce," Sartorius said. A great deal of research and development comes with a project like that - a production car going at 268mph needs brakes that meet massive forces. It helped us get recognised throughout the industry. More recently, the company has completed an order to make parts for the Olympic Torch. It's great to be involved in something seen by billions of people - it reflects that we still have a manufacturing economy in the Black Country and we can see our parts used all around the world. After overcoming a period of fallow trading in 2009, Sartorius says his order book is full and exports - to Eastern Europe and Korea, for example - are booming. And he insists he's far from alone. The company's membership of a networking and referral group of non-competing local manufacturers - the Midlands Assembly Network - gives Sartorius a sense of the mood in the region. We had to widen our horizons to pick up new work. Now our industry seems quite busy so I'm happy there's work around for everyone at the moment," he says. Plenty of companies are as busy as Alucast, he says, but access to finance continues to be a problem for smaller manufacturers - a point made by the Manufacturing Advisory Service. "We've got flexible arrangements and I'm happy we'd be supported by our bank if we want to expand - but there are businesses that struggle," he said. One complaint is that even a signed order from a manufacturing giant sometimes isn't enough to convince a bank to finance work, and small manufacturers in the area also highlight a lack of understanding of their industry among lenders. The region's Local Enterprise Partnership is working on a scheme with manufacturers such as Jaguar Land Rover and banks including HSBC, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland to "dispel some of the myths surrounding lending to the auto industry." Paul Heaven, the regional growth body's chairman, says financing issues are preventing small firms from "developing new tools, taking new staff on or in ramping up capacity to cope with new contracts." The desire is to get big manufacturers to share more detailed investment plans with the banks, including information on how they work with suppliers. Banks will appoint industry specialists to look after small manufacturers and play a bigger role in funding decisions. Sartorius welcomes the idea: "If a big business can help with an assurance over the work, it underpins the bank's assessment of the borrower. It gives comfort to the banks from a big successful business that ticks a lot of boxes. It has to be positive. More good news for Midlands exporters comes in the form of the repatriation of manufacturing in response to rising prices in emerging markets. The number of companies bringing production to the UK might help offset some of the loss of sales in neighbouring markets caused by the debt crisis. "A lot of the European users are thinking about sourcing more locally," Sartorius says. But won't strengthening sterling be as effective a brake on export growth as Alucast's Veyron calliper? "It's a threat, but one we can counter by producing efficiently, to a high standard and on time," he said. Sartorius admits his company could do with a better "pipeline" of future orders, but believes a bigger customer base will follow investments in machinery and a scheme to put his entire staff of 100 through a "lean" manufacturing course to improve efficiency. He hopes the quality standard that will follow will help win work from Jaguar Land Rover's i54 engine plant. The biggest challenge is always your next order. We're always looking a couple of months ahead. We need to raise our game to be more technically proficient and we're working on that. You can't rest on your laurels.