13th December 2017
From a strictly business perspective to incredible celebrations, we’ve had a year to remember in 2017!
We’ve got our customers, suppliers and staff to thank for that – these are some of the highlights.
This year, ambition was the word. Our efforts were concentrated on growing bigger and better. Back in April we showed how serious we were when our incredible factory extension was unveiled. An investment of over £1 million put in place to support our ambitious growth plans over the next 5 years – providing an additional 1,000 sq M+ of production space and a new automated logistics centre.
One of our proudest moment of the year came in November, when PP were presented with the Customer Focus Award at the TMMX Awards. The event was jointly held by the Manufacturer and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. As you might guess by the name, the award paid tribute to our work in developing bespoke customer solutions through innovation and engagement. The award was hotly contested and the short-listed finalists were all incredibly strong.
The judges recognised our unique collaborative approach with customers and our wider technical partners and the process that has been designed in order to deliver tangible results to our customers that have reduced total manufacturing costs, reduced production and sales lead times and created additional capacity to facilitate their growth.
The big event that buoyed all of us this year was PP’s 50th birthday. The business started all the way back in 1967 – albeit not many of us have been around quite that long!
50 years in manufacturing is a real achievement and rightly deserved recognition and an excuse for a party for all of our staff.
Our newly extended facility was the venue, and festivities included a live band, food, drinks, fairground stalls and party games – most of us should have been far too old to enjoy.
We also held a special supplier awards event to recognise the support we have had from our technical partners and how they have helped shape our business and assisted greatly in our growth over the years – many of these suppliers have been working closely with us and our customers for decades – their contribution, along with our loyal customers – cannot be overstated.
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.
