Disrupting the precision metal pressings and stamping marketplace has helped a Black Country manufacturer increase sales by 60% over the last three years.
Clamason Industries, which provides a single-source design, development and value-added engineering solution, saw orders hit £30m in 2018 for the first time in its 70-year history and is now setting its sights on a three-year expansion plan.
Growth is expected to come from its global client base across automotive, medical, assisted living and industrial products, with the latter covering anything from telecoms and power distribution products to electric bikes.
Supporting these ambitious expansion plans is a £1.1m investment drive into new presses, technical cleaning capability and the launch of a new corporate identity, website and digital media campaign.
“We have had huge success in doing things differently and challenging clients to change their thinking around component design,” explained Neil Geoghegan, Managing Director of Clamason Industries.
“Our approach is to start working with customers earlier to see if our ability to design for manufacture and our capability to produce precision parts could solve production bottlenecks. For example, we have enjoyed major success in redesigning aluminium castings to be suitable for the pressing process, saving our clients time and money, with the added benefit of being more environmentally friendly.”
He continued: “Investment in the latest press technology and intelligent tooling means we’ve got dozens of other examples, including how we offered one firm a way of onshoring its component from China.
“Since 2015, we have added £12.5m of revenue and this is just the start. Our facilities in Kingswinford and Slovakia give us a global footprint that will help us attract more customers, which will contribute to our expansion plans.
“There is still the spectre of Brexit hanging over us and, whilst we would like to see a deal, we are looking at a range of measures that might help us cope with the short-term upheaval of a ‘no deal’.”
Clamason Industries, which holds IATF 16949 and ISO 13485 quality accreditations for the automotive and medical sectors, employs 290 people across the two plants.
The company operates over 11,000 sq metres of dedicated production space in the UK and Slovakia, offering customers access to a wide range of presses, starting at 20 tonnes and going up to 300 tonnes, with the largest providing a 3-metre bed.
Significant automation has also been installed to speed up lead times and encourage lights-out manufacturing, whilst investment in new technical cleaning facilities means the company is just as adept supplying parts for insulin pens and dry powder inhalers as they are precise components for car entertainment systems.
Ian Davies, Sales Director at Clamason Industries, continued: “We are looking to the future and wanted a new corporate identity that reflected our growth plans and where we want to go.
“After much deliberation we teamed up with Nutcracker Design, who has done a fantastic job of transforming the brand and developing the ‘C’ icon in a way that showcases our precision capabilities.”
He went on to add: “The UK website (www.clamason.com) is now ‘live’ and we are just waiting on final translations before we launch Slovakian and German versions. Digital marketing is definitely a big focus as we look to grow sales both at home and overseas.”
Rob Hupperdine, joint Managing Director of Nutcracker Design, concluded: “It’s a real Black Country affair and we are delighted to have played a small part in creating a new identity for Clamason Industries.
“The branding reflects the company’s capabilities and position as a global specialist in pressings and stampings, whilst the website, SEO work and new digital media campaigns will help support its drive towards significant growth in the coming years.”
For further information, please visit www.clamason.com or follow @clamasonind on twitter.
