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MRP Electronics, Across the board

Manufacturing in Action, Source : The Manufacturer
Published : November 2005

MRP Electronics is one of the UK’s leading contract electronics manufacturers. Nick Fairhead, sales director talked to Jayne Flannery about how the company intends to maintain that position

Life is tough for the typical contract electronics manufacturer (CEM). Technological advances are occurring at a logarithmic rate and printed circuit boards are becoming ever more complex. Lead times meanwhile are being squeezed all along the supply chain. This is particularly the case with new product launches, where time to market can be a critical factor. Globalisation continues at an unremitting pace and cheap labour in low cost base economies is more accessible than ever before. How can British CEM’s survive, let alone prosper in this trading environment?

Nick Fairhead is sales director of MRP Electronics, that specialises in surface mount printed circuit board (PCB) assembly work. He believes the company has found the answer. MRP he points out, is no ordinary CEM operation. “What differentiates us is our continuous programme of investment in modern placement, manufacture and test equipment, especially the AX equipment we have just added. We think our technology is now among the best in the world and it is supported by a production engineering and test engineering team that are second to none. We are very proud of the level of expertise within the company which shows in our track record of prototype development through to finding new and better ways to manufacture existing products.”

MRP’s trading history speaks for itself. The Bedford-based manufacturer has just completed its 18th year of successful trading. It is also celebrating the same anniversary to mark an 18-year partnership with its first customer, Cal Controls, alongside whom MRP is still working happily to this day. “We recognise and respect the lifetime value of our customers,” he said. “We want all our customers to be like Cal Controls and that is something we can achieve through superior levels of quality, service and technology. We want to be setting new standards of innovation and excellence not just now, but in five or ten years time.”

A current beneficiary of MRP’s attention to customer service is Alpha Dot, an industrial ink-jet printer manufacturer with whom MRP has a close relationship dating back over three years. The partnership has been supported by a Manufacturing Advisory Service project which has seen MRP achieve on time delivery to its customer with 99.7 per cent of all orders.

As the relationship between the two companies has deepened and strengthened, returns have dropped from an initial rate of 1.4 per cent to below 0.4 per cent this year. A dedicated manufacturing cell takes care of all Alpha Dot’s requirements and support and innovation in the design process has enabled Alpha Dot to largely automate production of one PCB that previously relied on costly manual labour, by converting it to surface mount technology.

As part of an overall strategy to remain at the cutting edge of the industry, Fairhead believes that investment is vital. MRP took the decision last year to purchase an AX series surface mount pick and place machine from Assembléon. Since then, the state-of-the-art machine has been upgraded with additional robot heads, board loaders and un-loaders, along with extra feeders and feeder trolleys.

It has been a significant investment for MRP – last year alone, the company invested over £1 million back into the business. In return, MRP can boast of a dramatic increase in both SMT capacity and flexibility. The AX, in line with a Philips Emerald, now regularly achieves a run rate of over 40,000 placements per hour. The extra feeders and trolleys have reduced further the actual machine time required to manufacture a batch of PCBs, while changeover from one job to the next has been reduced dramatically.

The machine offers outstanding placement accuracy. Specified to place 01005s, the AX has enabled MRP to cater for the most complex and demanding PCB requirements. It has become routine for MRP to manufacture PCBs up to 20 layers with over 3500 SMD placements including 45 BGAs on a single board. This level of placement accuracy has also proved invaluable when manufacturing lead-free PCBs. Lead-free alloys do not flow as easily as leaded paste, which means components cannot self-align during reflow. As a result, manufacturers with lower specification or older machines risk a significant rise in manufacturing defects when they transfer to lead-free production as part of the new regulatory environment.

Superior technology like this is just one aspect of the added value that customers are offered. “Working with us there are no protracted lead times and the flexibility of our operation means it is possible to make late change specifications to production runs. If a company shifts its manufacturer overseas and there are failures, it must be prepared to test and support products internally. Complex production requirements need a close working relationship without the constraints of communication and language problems or different time zones. We also work very hard at supporting our customers with design for manufacture and ways in which they can manufacture existing products more cost effectively.

He is delighted that MRP has been able to win contracts back from both China and Korea. “There may be a place overseas for high volume, high labour, low technology manufacture, but we are much better placed to meet the needs of the higher end of the demand spectrum and when you consider total costs, I am convinced that in most cases, we also offer better value.” he concluded.

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