A world-first in ‘crimping’ technology has been installed at PP Control & Automation — a Black Country manufacturing out-sourcing specialist — to help it cope with increased demand.
The company, which works with 13 of the largest machine builders around the world, has invested nearly £250,000 in a new Artos CRX33-GVM that has been modified to meet its exact requirements by Harrogate-based Cablespeed UK (
www.cablespeed.co.uk).
The machine will allow PP to operate faster and with greater reliability.
It comes at a perfect time for the business, after it enjoyed a £4 million sales surge in 2018 and put plans in place to build on recent contract wins in food processing, mobile phone technology, printing and the dairy sector.
Ian Knight, PP’s chief information officer, said: “Before this recent investment, we had two Artos machines that were delivering repeatable quality and world-class connectivity — so important in machine building.
“The latest addition has a slightly smaller footprint that provides shorter handling distances for processing cables, which will provide greater accuracy.
“In layman’s terms, we can now process cables at over 5m per sec, which means we are 20% faster while still maintaining the same accuracy.
“A lot of our strategic partners are ramping up volumes, as we prove that we can offer them additional capacity and cost-effective out-sourcing services, so this latest technology is going to be crucial.”
CEO Tony Hague said: “This investment is our latest commitment to automation and underlines the importance it plays in making our manufacturing processes as productive as possible.
“We are seeking strong growth both in the UK and further afield, and the only way we can do this is to embrace the latest technology and ensure that we employ and develop the best talent in our industry.”