FOCUS ON BENDING
The Penn Elcom team( with Steve Williams, managing director of Salvagnini UK and Ireland, on the right), in front of the new robotised bending cell.
Below: A Penn Elcom enclosure product.
A BENDING PHILOSOPHY
Penn Elcom has increased its productivity and efficiency by adopting a robotised bending cell, as well as new panel bending and press brake technology.
“ From metal bashing to smart manufacturing: how Penn Elcom transformed its production, and sheet metal philosophy, with Salvagnini bending systems.”
With a global footprint, strong product culture and a no-nonsense approach to production, Penn Elcom has grown into a manufacturing specialist in 19” racking systems, flight case hardware and specialist enclosures. But behind the scenes, a quiet revolution has been reshaping its UK factory floor, now driven by Salvagnini’ s automated bending technologies.
Founded in 1974 and known for its robust flight case hardware and 19- inch racking solutions, Penn Elcom is a British manufacturing company with an unconventional mindset. Its Hastings plant( part of a global network that includes operations in China, the United States and Europe) has undergone a profound transformation from traditional metal bashing to advanced, flexible manufacturing powered by Salvagnini bending technology.
Today, supported by a worldwide network of sales and distribution depots, Penn Elcom manufactures and delivers thousands of components monthly to over 70 countries for sectors ranging from entertainment to selfstorage and e-commerce.
Rethinking production
But it wasn’ t always this way ….
“ I used to think of us as metal bashers,” admitted Roger Willems, Chairman of the Board.“ We had power presses, hard tools, more machines than we could count. It worked— but it wasn’ t scalable and it wasn’ t smart. We had as many as 14 press brakes at one point. But even with all that capacity, we still couldn’ t keep up with demand. We were chasing volume with labour. We knew it wasn’ t sustainable.”
36 | ismr. net | ISMR December 2025 / January 2026