Harwin Plc , which designs, manufactures, and sells electrical and electronic interconnect solutions for customers in the UK and overseas, has started production in a new manufacturing facility at its Portsmouth headquarters.
Providing an additional 1,200m
2 of factory floor, the facility is enabling the company to quickly and significantly scale-up production of its award-winning high-reliability (Hi-Rel) connectors to meet market requirements.
The company has invested £3.8 million in the new facility of which £1 million has been spent on ‘state of the art’ equipment, as the company adopts Industry 4.0 working practices to maximise efficiency.
Paul McGuinness, director of operationsm said: “Harwin leads technological progression in Hi-Rel interconnect components and the growth in customer demand means we have yet again exceeded our existing production capacity.
“This investment has come at a crucial time, as the additional factory space and equipment enables us to ramp up production to meet high-volume demands very quickly.
“The extra space also gives us the ability to hold over six month’s supply of raw materials on-site, preparing us for unforeseen supply chain challenges relating to Brexit, avoiding any order delays to our customers.”
The company, which was established in 1952 by the de Laszlo family, is certified to EN 9100 / AS9100D and has a policy of replacing production equipment every five years to keep up with the latest developments in machinery advancements to maintain reliability and operational effectiveness.
In 2016, a purpose-built 3,000m
2 factory was opened, and an R&D centre and apprentice training hub followed in 2019.
This latest investment includes a new training area to support staff with ongoing professional development, encouraging advances in skills and job flexibility to underpin the company’s continued growth.