CONTROL & AUTOMATION
NEW OPPORTUNITIES
ESD
Investment in new ESD facility opens up £2m of
new opportunities for PP Control & Automation
One of the UK’s leading providers of
strategic manufacturing outsourcing
services has invested over £100,000 into
creating a new Electrostatic Discharge
manufacturing facility.
Five people are now
employed in this area
and all have undergone
specific training to ensure
compliance
PP Control & Automation, which works
with 25 of the world’s largest machinery
builders, is now targeting up to £2m of
new opportunities where this dedicated
and controlled environment will help it
take on more complex and delicate builds
encompassing high-end PCB assemblies
and box builds.
“It is a decision that is already paying off,”
explained Garry Myatt, Sales Director at
PP Control & Automation.
earliest possible stage to help optimise a
design that’s efficient to manufacture and
have parts readily available to ensure a
quicker time to market.”
“A number of our existing clients were
asking us for this additional capability,
so we decided that the time was right
to make the investment and bring this
service into our offering.”
He continued: “This meant developing
an environment that met the needs of
our customers and legal compliance to
the recognised standards and involved
special flooring, benches and test
equipment - all grounded to earth to
ensure that life of the electronics is
protected from potential electrostatic
discharge.
“Five people are now employed in
this area and all have undergone
specific training to ensure compliance.
We estimate that there is £2m of new
opportunities in the pipeline and, if these
come to fruition, this manufacturing cell
will increase in capacity and we’ll need to
recruit more staff.”
As a strategic outsourcer with its core
competency being ‘box build and
system integration’, populated printed
circuit boards are handled just like
another material line item by PP Control
& Automation and the requirement
is managed accordingly through an
approved vendor process.
PP C&A’s outsourcing partnerships
provides machine builders with better
production flexibility, reduced lead times
and greater control over their supply chain
and costs.
With 80% of customers on a kanban
supply agreement, implementing the right
processes and key partnerships from the
start is key, with robust planning and lean
manufacturing operations, backed by a
skilled workforce of electro-mechanical
technicians, ensuring that the business is
currently operating >98.50% ‘on time in full
(OTIF)’ service.
PP Control & Automation is also ideally
positioned to offer ‘Design for Manufacture
and Assembly’ (DFMA) in conceptual
development of ideas as well as in basic
consulting.
“Many companies continue to develop a
product design that leads to unnecessary
costs, requires an inflexible supply chain
and suffers from inefficient manufacturing
processes,” pointed out Garry, who has
more than 25 years’ experience in sales.
“This is why our Engineering, Operations
and Supply Chain are integrated at the
Garry concluded: “We’ve got a lot of
exciting diversification plans, some of
which focus on making the most of the
ESD manufacturing facility with both
existing and new clients.
“With 2019 being a record year, securing
over £3m of new orders from the
healthcare, food and drink and packaging
sectors, we anticipate further growth in
2020 from this new manufacturing service.
“A spin-out from Aston University is
already tapping into this area where we
are offering a full turnkey service, from
material sourcing through to testing.
Volumes are increasing monthly and the
expectation is there that this will be a
service that PP will take globally on behalf
of the client.”
Backed by Canadian investment company
Ardenton Capital, PP Control & Automation
is exploring the possibility of a joint
venture or an acquisition in North America.
For further information, please visit www.ppcanda.com or follow @ppcanda on twitter
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PECM Issue 44