19th April 2017
PP Control & Automation, which works with many of the world’s most successful machinery builders, had added a further 1,000 sq metres of production space to its existing 4,500 sq metre facility in Cheslyn Hay, in order to facilitate growth in new technology markets and interest from a wider international customer base.
With construction completed on time, work is now underway to kit out the dedicated logistics and material department with conveyor systems and state-of the-art barcode scanning to ensure goods are moved around the shopfloor quickly and efficiently.
Also planned is a new ‘clean assembly’ area that will cater for an increasing need to assemble static sensitive electronics, as well as intricate mechanical parts that have more specialist assembly requirements.
“We have very ambitious growth plans to double turnover and this will only be possible by ensuring we have a facility in the UK that can provide us with the space needed to meet our current and future customer requirements,” explained Tony Hague, Managing Director.
“The £1m investment, in the immediate light of the Brexit vote, shows our commitment to creating a world class operation and we will showcase our new capabilities to clients in the food processing & packaging, machine tool, medical, printing, semiconductor and scientific machinery sectors.
“We are confident that our four-year plan to reach £40m will be achieved and we don’t envisage Article 50 or Brexit having too much of an influence on what we do.”
PP Control & Automation, which is a member of the Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN), has become one of the world’s largest and most respected suppliers of electrical control systems, cable harnesses and sub-contract manufacturing solutions.
The company has benefitted significantly from the ‘outsourcing’ trend being employed by machinery builders keen to reduce production lead times, secure greater manufacturing flexibility and ultimately reduce overall manufacturing costs and increase profitability.
“It’s not just investment in bricks and mortar either,” added David Fox, Chairman of PP Control & Automation.
“Over the last 6 months we have been steadily recruiting new members of staff across the business – in production, engineering, sales and supply chain management.”
He concluded: “Our people, their skills and the culture they adhere to is vital to the way we do business and this is something that will be absolutely essential if we are to deliver the ambitious growth plans we set ourselves.”
PP Control & Automation will hold a special event to mark the official opening of the extension later his year, as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations.
One of the UK’s leading strategic manufacturing specialists is tapping into the UK’s unprecedented investment in upgrading the electricity grid.
As Britain accelerates investment in grid infrastructure, protection and control capacity could become a critical delivery constraint.
The appointment of a new Prime Minister inevitably brings renewed debate about the direction of the UK economy and what it could mean for business.
Ian Knight, Chief Information Officer at PP Control & Automation (PP C&A) challenges the prevailing, often vague narrative around AI adoption and reframes the conversation around a more practical starting point: operational constraints.
Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant concept for manufacturers. It is already being explored across quotation, production planning, engineering, quality, supply chain and customer service functions. Yet, for many organisations, the gap between experimentation and meaningful operational impact remains difficult to close.
A leading aquaculture specialist – that is changing the way fish are vaccinated safely – has signed a major manufacturing deal.
On paper, defined discipline-specific suppliers can look organised. However, every additional supplier introduces another handoff, and every handoff creates another point where time, quality, communication and accountability can be lost.
Very rarely does growth not surface because an OEM lacks ambition. Shortcomings arise because operating models built to support such ambition don’t evolve quickly enough.
