More than £1.5m has been invested in new technology and factory improvements by firms from the industrial group Midlands Assembly Network.
The Midlands Assembly Network (MAN) – a collective of ten manufacturers in mechanical, electrical and electronic engineering – is using the manufacturing technologies showcase MACH 2012 to display the recent investment in new machinery and processes to improve speed, quality and capacity.
Precision components firm Brandauer is the biggest spender after investing £750,000 in two new high-speed fully automated Bruderer power presses.
It represents the largest single investment in the company’s history, with the new machines able to produce two billion parts per year, with the increased capacity opening up the potential for £2.5m worth of new sales.
The BSTA 510-125B2 will be on display at Bruderer’s stand at MACH before being transported to Brandauer’s Newtown factory for installation ready for the start of production in May.
Tool making and injection moulding firm Barkley Plastics has channeled nearly £450,000 into the purchase of a new Hurco VMX64T CNC machine and a Battenfeld Microsystem 50, which will give the firm a high-precision, micro injection moulding facility.
Together, the investments will help strengthen its presence in its core markets of automotive, construction products and white goods, not to mention an exciting new project in alternative energy.
Gerry Dunne, chairman of the Midlands Assembly Network (MAN), said: “MACH 2012 is one of our most important exhibitions and this is reflected in the major announcements we are making as a group.”
He continued: “There’s a lot of talk about manufacturing being on the up… All of us are seeing major increases in enquiries and, significantly, a move towards the repatriation of work and projects back into the UK.”
The Midlands Assembly Network is made up of ten companies, including Advanced Chemical Etching, Alucast, Barkley Plastics, Brandauer, FW Cables, Lightning Aerospace, PP Electrical Systems, SMT Developments, Westley Engineering and Wrekin Circuits.
Other investments being unveiled at MACH 2012 include photo etching firm Advanced Chemical Etching’s announcement that it has extended its production facility in Telford by 15,000 sq ft.
Electro-mechanical and electro-pneumatic control systems manufacturer PP Electrical Systems has invested more than £1m into the latest automated cable preparation and crimping technology and is about to build a new logistics centre.
