Following the Grand Opening of its brand new 45,000ft² European headquarters in Warwick in July, Sodick Europe Ltd (www.sodick.eu.com) invited the UK’s trade press to take a look behind the scenes at the new facility.

The company, which was established 15 years ago as the European division of Japanese multi-billion-yen corporation Sodick Co Ltd, now has a turnover of £55 million and 17 distributors serving more than 35 countries — including Turkey and Russia.

The new headquarters, formally opened by Kenichi Furukawa, president of Sodick Co Ltd (and son of Sodick founder and EDM pioneer Toshihiko Furukawa), will be the operational hub for sales, service and market support for the whole of Europe.

Some 50 people are employed at the new facility, and there are plans to double that number within a couple of years.

Planning permission has already been granted to extend the building by a further 10,000m² on the three-acre site, when the need arises.

Sodick Europe CEO Peter Capp said: “By making this major investment, Sodick is demonstrating its belief in the UK as a key location in Europe and that — with or without Brexit — the UK remains at the heart of advanced manufacturing.

“Moreover, the UK has the necessary skills, and the Japanese feel comfortable dealing with the UK, as English is their second language.

“We are the market leader in EDM, with around 2,500 machines in the UK market.

“We needed a purpose-built facility to maintain our growth path — not only here in the UK but also in Europe, where we have sold 10,000 machines.

“We also needed a large temperature-controlled showroom (it is kept at a constant 21ºC), where we can demonstrate our wide range of Sodick wire-cut and sink EDM machines, our new Sodick moulding machines and the recently unveiled UH milling machines.

“There is also a dedicated area for the Sodick OPM250L additive-manufacturing/ machining centre, which combines metal additive manufacturing with milling via a spindle with an integral motor drive.

“This machine is particularly suitable for manufacturing both mould tools and parts, and we are currently using one in-house to make complex metal moulds for Sodick’s plastic injection moulding processes”.

Bigger and bolder

Mr Capp continued: “With this facility, Sodick now has somewhere outside of Japan to which our European dealers can bring their customers, as we can offer ‘state of the art’ facilities for live machine demonstrations, operator training and service training, plus sales meetings. We also have conference facilities.”

Recalling an initial meeting he had with Toshihiko Furukawa to outline his plans for the new building, Mr Capp said he was told to go “bigger and bolder” and ensure that three main criteria were taken into account.

“The first one was to find a location near the company’s previous base, so as to cause the least amount of disruption when relocating staff.

“Secondly, the site would need to cover at least three acres, to ensure ample scope for expansion.

“Finally, the showroom would need to be large enough to accommodate a comprehensive range of Sodick products.

“As part of our expansion plans, we are already looking to employ around 20 more people in all areas of the business.

“We are also looking to expand our office in Germany, where we currently have 30 staff.

“The best markets for Sodick in Europe are Italy, Germany and the UK, along with Turkey and Russia.

“We also have a large share of the market in both Poland and Hungary.”

Mr Capp said that Sodick is somewhat ‘Brexit-proofed’ as it has a bonded warehouse in Holland that holds machines worth 10-13 million euros at any one time.

UK manufacturing capability

He pointed out that the scale and design of the new building provide scope for future development; he also revealed that this included the possibility of introducing a UK manufacturing capability in the future.

“We have plans to not only assemble but also manufacture Sodick machines in the UK.

“Europe is a growing market, and it is an important part of Sodick’s sales.

“We are not yet sure what model we could build here in quantity for the European markets, but it is being discussed.

“Those decisions will be made after Brexit.”

In conclusion, Mr Capp said: “It took 10 months to build the new headquarters, and I had great support from the board of directors, who let me get on with it.

“However, now it is complete we cannot ‘pat ourselves on the back’ and relax.

“The real work starts now, as we have to justify the investment by selling more machines.

“There is no doubt that the new facility will help us to do just that.”