A specialist provider of point-of-use solutions for industrial manufacturers and the facilities management markets is reaping the rewards of a strategic manufacturing partnership, after seeing its sales increase by 60% in the last year.
Solihull-based Inventor-e, which has created 10 new jobs in the past 12 months, has collaborated with PP Control & Automation to out-source the build of its SmartStores Secure access-controlled cabinet (for product issuing, returning and re-stocking).
A world-class manufacturing cell created at PP’s ‘state of the art’ factory in Cheslyn Hay has increased its capacity to cope with new orders from high-profile clients, such as Babcock International and Rexel.
The move has also been responsible for reducing lead times by 20%, while PP’s design engineers have worked with Inventor-e specialists to explore new configurations to its systems.
Inventor-e sales director Andy Ingram said: “Strategic out-sourcing with PP is allowing us to globally scale our business with a trusted partner, without the significant direct cost of setting up our own manufacturing facilities.
“The relationship has given us a lot of food for thought on future builds, and we have already used PP’s design and engineering expertise to improve our solutions and reduce costs.”
Tony Hague, CEO of PP (
www.ppcanda.com), said: “This is an ideal example of how important ‘out-sourcing’ can be for technology disruptors looking to scale up quickly.
“Inventor-e is continually developing new solutions for point-of-use vending, and that’s what it needs to do to stay at the forefront of the market.
"The company wants a manufacturing partner who can not only grow with it but also contribute its own production knowledge to develop solutions that will improve the end service for the customer — something we have a proven track record of doing.”