Member Article

Harwin secures ‘world first’ with £500,000 BRUDERER investment

A Portsmouth electronics component specialist has signed a deal that will see a ‘world first’ head to the South Coast in 2014.

Harwin, which manufactures high reliability connectors and innovative PCB hardware, has invested £500,000 into a high-performance automatic stamping press to help it increase efficiencies and attack new opportunities in aerospace, instrumentation and industrial markets.

The company has strengthened its 30-year relationship with BRUDERER to order a new BSTA 280-75 with a BSV-75 high-speed servo feeder.

The world first comes from the integration of a planetary gearbox into the shaft of the main motor, which will allow Harwin’s engineers to have full control of tooling development to produce test runs of new products.

Paul McGuinness, Operations Director, picked up the story: “This new technology basically removes the need for a separate development press, as we can put new tools through at the lowest stroke rate and at full press capacity – allowing us to identify any issues before flicking a switch on full production.

“There are lots of advantages…increased efficiency, reduced costs, less space required and even gains in terms of logistics since tools have to be transported less.”

He continued: “We are continually investing in our new product development programme and this new acquisition will help us develop the next generation of connectors and in particular our EZ-BoardWare range.”

The order has been secured by BRUDERER’s UK operation, which employs 11 people at its technical and sales office in Luton.

It has been working with Harwin for over three decades and has been in discussions with the manufacturing team to develop the innovative solution that will see the high-speed press, servo feeder and planetary gearbox unveiled at MACH 2014 next April.

“This is a really exciting project and we’re delighted to bring a world first in machine technology to the UK, which will help a forward looking manufacturer expand and create jobs,” explained Adrian Haller, Managing Director at BRUDERER UK.

“We listened to what Harwin wanted and, by working with experts at our parent company in Switzerland, came up with a solution that met their exact requirements.

“The company will benefit from a high-speed press that offers great versatility by catering for both the development of new tools and full production.”

The Harwin deal could prove to be the catalyst for a record year for BRUDERER UK, with the management team keen to build on annual sales of £3m in 2013.

Investment in a range of new presses coincides with greater confidence in the manufacturing sector, with automotive, aerospace, electronics and medical all benefitting from increased funding towards capital machinery.

McGuinness concluded: “A large part of our focus is on developing high reliability components that go into innovative applications, such as nano-satellites, top-tier autosport and even NASA’s Robonaut”.

“This BRUDERER machines gives us the capability to continue to lead from the front, not to mention a host of efficiency and cost savings as we continue to invest in our UK manufacturing facility.”

For further information on BRUDERER, please visit www.bruderer.co.uk. More details on Harwin can be found at www.harwin.com

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Russ Cockburn .