Tapping into the new found popularity of ‘Made in the UK’ is boosting the fortunes of Aldridge-based electronic components specialist, One-LUX.
One-LUX, which designs, assembles and supplies LED lighting control solutions, is on course to hit the £5m barrier for the first time in its seven year-history after reshoring the manufacture of two new products.
Related articles:
- £1m extra to GROW offshore wind opportunities
- Reshoring success sees HT Brigham support record deal
- Industry challenged to see if they have a growth mindset
Backed by support from the Business Growth Service, the company has successfully identified supply chain partners in the UK to help it assemble and bring to market the OMNI-LED and UNITY-LED ranges.
Both products are designed to provide peace of mind and the required illumination to aid safe evacuation and are poised to bring in an additional £1m of sales in 2015.
Glynnis Murray, who founded the business in 2008, explained: “We’ve always designed our products in-house but previously offshored high volume lines to the Far East to ensure we remained competitive against our rivals.
“However, in the past year we noticed a desire from our customers to buy British made products and this, when combined with demand for shorter lead times, made us consider exploring manufacturing closer to home.”
She continued: “Working with the Business Growth Service’s Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), we mapped out our supply chain requirement and were signposted to a number of firms who could meet our requirements.
“We were pleasantly surprised at how competitive local suppliers were and, combined with the greater control we now have over lead times and quality, it’s going to be a major bonus as we expect demand for OMNI-LED and UNITY-LED to be significant.
“Our decision to place production with a UK sub-contract manufacturer has already created five jobs there, with more to come.”
One-LUX, which employs 25 people at its 10,000 sq ft facility, is also working with MAS on the introduction of Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI) into the new ranges.
Bosses at the company used mentoring support from Business Growth manager Jas Bahra and GROW:OffshoreWind funding to bring in an electronics specialist to help with prototyping, functionality and integration.
This ensured that the firm’s products now sit on building management systems and can be remotely operated and tested.
Bahra added his backing: “This is a true reshoring success story and has the potential to create a lot more than the five jobs it has already generated.
“The management team is now in a perfect position to take advantage of greater supply chain control and improved flexibility.
“It is also tapping into support from Birmingham and Wolverhampton Universities to utilise 3D printing, and we’ve played an active role in integrating numerous standalone systems, reducing paperwork and increase traceability in the process.”
