Member Article

Brandauer eyes reshoring trend after £2m pressings contract

A Birmingham-based precision manufacturer is celebrating after it revealed a major reshoring win that will see 25 million components shipped across the world every year.

Brandauer, the presswork and stamping specialist, fought off competition from a number of international rivals to secure the tooling-up and volume production of a cable conduit retention ring for the telecoms sector.

Backed by support from the Manufacturing Advisory Service’s ReshoreUK service, the company was able to compete on the part price, whilst significantly improving the raw material utilisation throughout the production process.

The deal – worth £2m over the next ten years – involves the Birmingham firm supplying components all over the world, including China, India, Mexico, UAE and the United States.

Rowan Crozier, Chief Executive Officer of Brandauer, commented: “This is a fantastic win for us, as it highlights our ability to take on complex progression tooling challenges and move them swiftly into volume production supply.

“Whilst we were able to match our global competitors on price, it was our track record for delivering continuous world class quality that made the difference to the customer. The fact we’ve improved raw material utilisation by 45% is also a major bonus for them.”

He continued: “We’ve received a lot of support from MAS on customer service training, leadership development and sales and marketing…this external advice and funding has made a massive difference to us and certainly played a part in the reshoring win.”

This contract is just one of a number of orders that are coming back from overseas.

After knocking at the ‘German’ door for many years, the company has started to secure its first contracts over there, thanks in part to capacity issues in the European powerhouse.

“It has traditionally been very difficult to convince buyers that you can compete on price and quality, but this is slowly changing,” continued Rowan.

“Despite there being more than 50 press-workers domestically, the Germans are still struggling to keep up with demand. Our marketing material and the sub brands we created got us in the front door and then it was down to us to impress them with our capabilities, technology and ability to solve problems.”

Martin McKeever, Advisor at Manufacturing Advisory Service, added his support:

“Brandauer is a fantastic example of a small manufacturer doing great things all over the world.

“It has invested heavily in the latest machines and in developing its staff through the ‘Improvers Programme’ and we’ve come in to help address their marketing strategy and to help improve its approach to customer service.”

He concluded: “To win a £2m reshoring contract back from the United States is some achievement and has already created 3 new jobs.”

Brandauer, which employs 56 people at its Birmingham factory, is continuing to work towards ISO 18001 health and safety accreditation.

Now part of the Business Growth Service, MAS provides growing manufacturers in England with access to specialist support and guidance in helping them improve and grow.

Backed by Government, it has a team of expert advisors on the ground working with management teams to plan long-term strategies, improve processes, bring new products to market and develop their supply chains.

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