Category: News & Updates

It’s fair to say that UK manufacturing has had to endure a huge amount of turbulence over the past few years; so, it would be safe to assume that all is not well within the industry. However, that simply isn’t the case, with plenty of statistics coming from a range of credible sources, which highlight how the industry is not only surviving, but thriving. In this piece, we aim to give you an overview of some of the key manufacturing statistics for 2020, in the form of some simple and easily digestible graphics.

UK Manufacturing Stats 2020

The following statistics were taken from Make UK (formerly known as EEF) and show that UK manufacturing currently:

Smart Factory Technologies

Smart factory technologies are already well embedded into most major manufacturers internal processes throughout the UK. In the Annual Manufacturing Report 2019, a whitepaper that was resourced by the team at The Manufacturer.

When it comes to adopting the new technologies, there has been some resistance from businesses across the UK, and the research carried out by the Manufacturer backs this up. When posed the question of where their business is on the smart factory adoption journey, there were mixed results:

• 27% Currently have no plans to implement

Skills and Training

When it comes to skills and training within the manufacturing industry, it’s no secret that many businesses are left frustrated by the lack of resources available to ensure young people have the transferable skills that are applicable to the sector. There is particular focus from employers around the UK on the fact that the Government is not taking enough action to ensure there are sufficient education routes into manufacturing.

• 51% believe the Apprenticeship Levy is a tax on employment and is inefficient at driving apprenticeships
• 57% said the education system is a disaster for the industry, and it requires an overhaul
• 71% believe apprenticeships are developing into a real alternative to higher education

Growth and Exports

From a business owner’s perspective, growing a business will always be high on the list of their priorities. Whilst growth of individual manufacturing businesses is a necessity for the wider UK manufacturing industry, it’s important to remember that Brexit could make things significantly harder when it comes to exporting goods on a regular basis. Despite Brexit placing more pressure on manufacturers than ever before, respondents to The Manufacturers survey were generally optimistic about the future. At European Springs, we are always on the lookout for the very latest news that could affect our position as one of the UK’s leading spring manufacturers, so be sure to check in our blog regularly. Our team offer expert insights on the major issues affecting the manufacturing and engineering sectors, whilst also bringing you some of the key statistics from the industry.

The manufacturing industry is constantly on the move, and due to the ever-changing nature of the sector, there are always plenty of new developments to keep an eye on. We tasked the team here at European Springs & Pressings with finding some of their favourite emerging stories from within the industry for this blog.

Here’s a selection of our favourite stories coming out of the manufacturing sector in 2020!

Can Supercomputers Boost Efficiency?

There’s no denying that supercomputers have completely revolutionised the way many employees work across multiple industries, but just how much of an affect do they have on the manufacturing industry?

A recent article from Industry Week questions if supercomputers can genuinely boost efficiency, taking a closer look at some of the benefits supercomputers can have in a whole host of sectors.

The article also takes an in-depth look at how supercomputers can help throughout the entire design and manufacturing process by gaining insight from a leading research group. Be sure to read on to find out more about supercomputers, especially if your business is interested in investing them in the near future!

The Electric Vehicle Dream – Is It Achievable?

The rise of electric vehicles on our roads is national news on a weekly basis at present, but it’s worth considering how close to achieving the ‘electric vehicle dream’ we actually are. Whilst there has definitely been an uptake in the amount of electric vehicles used in the UK, there is still a fair few issues stopping the majority of the public purchasing electric vehicles.

In this particular piece, The Engineer has pieced together an expert panel to discuss some of the most pertinent questions surrounding electric vehicles. Taking a look at issues such as a lack of charging infrastructure around the UK hampering uptake of electric vehicles, this article is certainly thought-provoking and highlights some of the major issues that need to be addressed before electric vehicles are commonly seen on our roads.

You can find out more about electric vehicles in the full article by heading over to The Engineer!

How Will Machine Learning and AI Impact the Manufacturing and Engineering Sector?

Machine learning and AI are impacting the manufacturing and engineering sector more than ever in 2020. Both machine learning and AI are now embedded in many of the workflows within businesses around the world, giving companies a whole host of information to improve their internal processes.

Whilst there are some obvious benefits that machine learning and AI will have on the manufacturing and engineering sector, the article from Interesting Engineering takes a closer look at just how large of an impact these technologies will have on the industry. It also addresses just how manufacturers can adapt to the new technologies, integrating them into existing internal processes and workflows.

If you want to find out more about how machine learning and AI will impact the manufacturing and engineering sector, why not check out the full article on Interesting Engineering?

Turning AI Into ROI

Ensuring that your business receives the best return on investment from each and every piece of technology involved in the workflow is essential. This is no different when it comes to AI, as any business owner will want to see just how effective the new technologies have been when it comes to increasing efficiency.

It’s no secret that AI can be extremely effective, no matter what the nature of your business is, so this particular piece will be of use to a whole host of businesses.

BCG have put together a six-step plan on how to drive business value through artificial intelligence, so you may find this especially useful if you have just invested in AI recently.

Tesla Announces 500^th Supercharger in Europe

Last month, Tesla announced that they have opened their 500^th Supercharger station in Europe. The charging station, located in London at the Park Royal service centre, also marks the beginning of the deployment phase of V3 Superchargers outside of North America.

It has taken Tesla 7 years to implement 500 Supercharger station’s across Europe, with a further 4200 Superchargers across the world in 24 countries. The company hopes that this landmark achievement will continue to see more road users begin to use electric cars in Europe, thanks to increased accessibility to electric power points throughout the region.

You can find out more about Tesla’s Superchargers and their rollout across Europe by reading the article on their website!

As one of the UK’s leading spring manufacturers, our team always keep up with the very latest developments from the manufacturing and engineering industries. Be sure to regularly check in on our blog to find the latest news coming out of the industry, as well as a whole host of news stories from European Springs & Pressings.

European Springs & Pressings parent company, Lesjöfors AB, are delighted to announce the acquisition of shares in Northampton based company, Metrol Springs Ltd, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of a whole manner of gas springs. Metrol Springs specialises in the manufacture of tooling gas springs, special purpose gas springs and gas struts.

Metrol has grown a reputation as one of the leading gas spring manufacturers in the UK, as they provide a wide range of standardised products including conventional gas struts. Over the years, the company has enhanced its product offering with the addition of linear actuators and a constantly expanding range of industrial hardware.

Lesjöfors identified Metrol Springs as a company of interest due to their diversified customer base in the UK, Europe, the US, and Asia, as they serve industrial and automotive customers. In total, Metrol currently exports to more than 20 countries around the world.

Speaking of the acquisition, retiring Lesjöfors President, Kjell-Arne Lindbäck, said: “With its main business areas being gas springs and gas struts, Metrol will broaden the Lesjöfors Group’s offering for both existing and new customers. The decentralized, technical and sales-orientated business culture within Metrol mirrors the philosophy we have at Lesjöfors, which will make it easy to work closely in our joint development of this business.”

Recently appointed Lesjöfors President, Ola Tengroth, also commented on the transaction: “I look forward to supporting the development of Metrol going forward along with its strong management team, which is now fully integrated within Lesjöfors.”

Metrol’s principal owners, Andrew Marks and Robert Lamb, and directors Paul Hynes and Chris Pegram, said: “We are incredibly happy for the company to become a part of a group that has a global market presence with extensive knowledge of our business concept and ethos.”

In addition, Paul Hynes and Chris Pegram state: “We appreciate the decentralized structure of Lesjöfors and are looking forward to staying on and continuing to develop the company further.” Robert Lamb is also enthused by the prospect of his continued involvement in Metrol as part of the expanding Lesjöfors team.

Taking on the challenge of securing new opportunities for growth for the three factories across European Springs & Pressings, the sales team has expanded with a further two new Business Development Managers in the UK.

Carl Whitaker will be capitalising on potential in the North of England and across Scotland. Formerly part of the technical management team at a competitor spring manufacturer, he brings valued expertise and over 20 years of sales experience to the team.

Andrew Edwards completes the new sales strategy team and will be focused on sales growth across the rest of Britain. A skilled negotiator with over 30 years of experience of delivering consistent growth to bottom line profits, his multi-skilled capabilities as a former sales director and supply chain director at a leading worldwide manufacturer of precision metal stampings, metal pressed parts and pressings, enhance the managerial strengths across the UK sales team.

Stuart McSheehy, Managing Director of the Beckenham factory says: “Many of our customers will remember Steve Bate, a core member of the Business Development Team who sadly passed away last year. The timing is now right, to enter a new era and we’re excited about the next stage of our sales development. With the additional new talent, we are looking forward to seizing new opportunities, diversifying our offering and growing existing markets.”

Exhibition season will soon be in full flow and European Springs & Pressings will be flying their flag across a number of UK exhibitions this year.

Reaching audiences across a large number of sectors including agriculture, rail, electronics, mining, construction, lighting, power generation and medical technology, to name a few, European Springs & Pressings are on exhibition across the UK throughout the year.

Stuart McSheehy, Managing Director says: “We are quite unique to other UK spring makers in that we cover a whole variety of disciplines. Manufacturing tension, torsion and compression springs with diameters from 0.03mm to 65mm, pressings and multi-slides up to 130 tonnes and by having an unlimited design spectrum of wire forms, places us in a prominent position. With the stamping, coiling, multi-slide, heavy coiling, high speed stamping and assembly facilities, as well as both high and low volume production capabilities, we have a lot to be proud of, to market and shout about.

“Serving clients from across the pharmaceutical to heavy plant and equipment sector to major blue-chips to specialist niche companies, we’re active across numerous sectors and where better than to communicate our diversity than across a wide reach of exhibitions targeted at the sectors we specialise in, showcasing European Springs & Pressings as innovative, lean manufacturers with exceptional engineering expertise in the spring coiling, wire forming and pressing industries.”

European Springs & Pressings upcoming exhibitions include:

29-30 Jan, National Manufacturing & Supply Chain conference & exhibition, Dublin, Stand F04

11-13 Feb, Southern Manufacturing Show, Farnborough. Stand A135

27 Feb, Northern Ireland Manufacturing & Supply Chain conference, Belfast Stand E7

12 Mar, FAST live, British Motorcycle Museum.

20-24 Apr, MACH, NEC. Stand 6-712

28-30 Apr, CV Show, NEC. Stand 4A02.

McSheehy concludes: “These exhibitions will enhance European Springs & Pressings provenance, open up new opportunities, enable us to introduce our newly expanded sales team and add value to the sector through our quality tailored service.

“Come along and meet the team, discover our product range and explore what European Springs & Pressings can do for you.”

As another year comes to a close, we would just like to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of our customers a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

We can’t wait to work more closely with you in the New Year, and hope to see plenty of new and existing clients returning with a whole host of design requirements.

We thought this would be the perfect opportunity to highlight just a few of our main successes throughout 2019 too, so sit back, enjoy a mince pie and read on!

European Springs & Pressings Investment

Throughout the last 12 months, we have extensively invested in both our Beckenham and Cornwall sites to ensure we are capable of meeting our client’s demands on a regular basis.

Throughout 2020, we invested in three new coiling machines to treble our spring production rate per hour at our Beckenham site.

We also spent €1 million on a brand new Wafios FUL 166 at our Cornwall factor, the first of its kind in the UK and one of only two in the entire world. This innovative piece of equipment has allowed European Springs & Pressings to create CNC coiling wire diameters from as small as 0.03mm right up to 17mm.

In September 2019, we invested in the an Aqua Grinder, which has been brought in to enhance European Springs & Pressings large wire grinding quality and quantity. The installation has enabled us to increase our output capabilities by 400%, which will enable us to fulfil even more orders in the New Year.

Our final addition of this year was a 700sq metre powder coating line, which has allowed us to double throughput, improve the end quality of our products and enhanced our spring manufacturing process.

If you would like to learn more about our successful year in more detail, be sure to check out our blog that takes a look back at 2019 in more depth!

If you require an experienced spring manufacturer in 2020, be sure to get in touch with our expert team in the New Year. We have over 70 years’ experience within the industry and take great pride in ensuring that we offer a whole host of bespoke services to meet our customers exact requirements.