Barkley Plastics Ltd

Barkley Plastics Are Showcasing the Range of Capabilities Offered by the MAN Group

Barkley Plastics Ltd — 28/05/2019

With a foundation stretching back decades, The Manufacturing Assembly Network - or MAN Group - utilises their collective knowledge, technological expertise and vast industry experience through collaboration with a range of leading companies.

One such company is Barkley Plastics, known around the world for their injection and plastic moulding capabilities, as well as their long-standing reputation for precision toolmaking. Barkley Plastics work within a range of different industries, many of which are based within automotive production.

From interior products and parts for cars, to fire alarm systems and cleaning equipment for industrial and retail settings, the company has established themselves as the go-to group for all plastic moulding solutions.

Customers rely on Barkley Plastics largely due to their total-care approach to service. Matthew Harwood, Business Development Manager at Barkley Plastics, explains how each customer is handled on an individual basis and is taken from initial concept all the way through to final completion.

“Everything we do is bespoke,” says Mr. Harwood, “we make our customer’s designs, and then work closely with them to bring it all to fruition.”

Mr. Harwood goes on to discuss how Barkley Plastics are constantly inventing new machinery and implementing the latest technology, all to ensure that the tailored services they offer to customers is truly first-rate and ahead of the market. They’re also equipped with an 85,000 sq. ft manufacturing facility - one of the largest facilities for toolmaking in the UK.

Though they’re approaching their 55th anniversary, Barkley Plastics are always investing in the future. Currently, they have three apprentices who are gaining valuable, hands-on training. Mr. Harwood states: “Our hope is that this will get the younger generation into an industry where they can get their hands dirty, learning valuable skills along the way.”

Barkley Plastics also look to the future in terms of the UK’s environmental wellbeing. They’re actively making real adjustments to their vehicles and manufacturing systems in order to do their bit towards schemes like Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone policy.

You can hear about all of these developments - and much more - at the upcoming Made in the Midlands 2019 expo. Showcasing for the first time, Barkley Plastics will be ready to talk to anyone about their bespoke services, as well as promoting the MAN Group’s Design & Make 2019 challenge, where students are given the chance to gain first-hand experience of a career in engineering and manufacturing.

Breaking the mould

Barkley Plastics Ltd — 12/04/2019

If straight talking is a virtue, Mark Harwood deserves the status of a saint.

He talks about the many highs – and occasional lows – the plastics injection moulding specialist and toolmaker Barkley Plastics has been through in its 55-year-old history, but when we turn to what lies ahead, the boss and owner of the family firm is in no mood to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes.

“Am I optimistic about the future? Well, I would be if the national living wage wasn’t always creeping up. It hammers us, as it has a knock-on effect throughout the factory.

“And we’ve also got the repercussions of being located in a proposed clean air zone. These two factors are going to present serious challenges so if you ask me if I am confident for the future, I am not going to lie – it’s going to be tough.”

This exchange is just a snippet of our chat in the firm’s offices in Highgate and this was the only negative tint to a largely positive discussion about Barkley Plastics, a firmly established and highly respected name amidst the Birmingham manufacturing fraternity.

We are accompanied by Mark’s son and the firm’s business development manager, Matt, who joined the family operation 10 years ago this year. The two Harwoods, along with fellow director Peter Tedd, preside over a company which is turning over £7 million – “we’ve been at that level for a while,” admits Matt – and manufactures from 40 hi-tech moulding machines which produce millions of units for the automotive and consumer goods industries.

An average of £200,000 a year is invested in updating the machines (they are never more than 15 years old) and staff levels have risen steadily through the years. In many respects, not much of the original formula has changed since the company was formed in the 1960s – “same precision tools, same lasting high quality,” says Mark. Much of this revolves around the automotive industry with the majority of parts they produce ending up in Nissan, Mini and JLR vehicles.

This continues the legacy started by making Jaguar E-Type lenses, the light covers on the back of the cars, more than 50 years ago. Flashing beacons and interior components are still made for many car makers, not to mention door handles for JLR and rear lamp items for Nissan.

A speciality is light guides, which are installed in many new cars to create ambient lighting. “We are producing exterior and interior lighting units for the 300,000-plus Qashqais made each year and around the same number of steering column components for Mini,” confirms Matt. “Furthermore, we are doing a lot of retail and medical-related tooling and moulding at the moment. Items to help with deep vein thrombosis, and components for Vileda mops and cleaning products are two such examples. “We also provide Honeywell with various electrical security items. We are capable of making almost anything for any industry but the automotive sector has always been and remains our biggest market.”

Barkley Plastics is in many ways an old-fashioned Birmingham manufacturing powerhouse. People continue to assemble and inspect the components off the machines provided by state-of-the-art robots and staff clock in and out of their shift as they always have. And the mood on the factory floor is good, with apprentices being shown the ropes by experienced hands and many of the machines in full throttle. There are 126 members of staff on the payroll, and men and women over a wide age range operate the machines and assembly stations.

Even most of the flooring we walk over was made by the firm – PVC tiles called Plasfloor. “We are primarily a sub-contractor making our customers’ products but we do diversify into our own innovations,” explains Matt. It is accurate to point out that the thriving operation we see today in this corner of Birmingham can be attributed to an advert in the local paper back in the early 1960s. It was then, in 1963, that Mark’s father, Maurice Harwood, along with three others, answered an appeal placed by local entrepreneur John Barkley for local tool makers.

Mark takes up the story. “The three of them were doing a lot of moonlighting while working at Lucas. John Barkley, who didn’t know anything about engineering but saw a bright future for plastics, put out the ad for tool makers. They knew how to do that. “The company was incorporated in 1965 and at the time was based in Hallam Street in Balsall Heath.

“My dad and the other three were told that a milling machine, a grinder and other bits of equipment were needed so they started making their own tools. Wheels for shopping trolleys of the sort used by the elderly were the first items made.

“A couple of years after the company was incorporated, John Barkley passed away so my father and his three colleagues from Lucas got together and bought Mrs Barkley out; they kept the same name because it was at the top of the telephone directory. The firm upsized to our premises here in 1968.”

Many incarnations and investment decisions later, Barkley Plastics now boasts an 85,000 sq ft facility full of plastic injection moulding machinery that is working 24 hours a day to keep up with demand, while the dedicated tool room is also flourishing with a series of new projects in the pipeline. The factory has seen some famous products go through its shop floor, including the iconic 70s Homepride Flour Men, the Big Yellow Teapot for bluebird toys, paintball products, skateboard wheels and parts for the Raleigh bike.

Barkley Plastics’ five decades in business have certainly been eventful, covering the automotive boom of the 1970s and MG Rover going under to the global recession of 2009 and the subsequent reshoring phenomenon. In the 1980s the company set up another factory in Nechells which was purpose built to make more of the same products to come out of Highgate. “Unfortunately, overheads were killing it,” remembers Mark, who joined the firm in 1978. “It only lasted about 10 years and then we brought over all the machines and expanded the Highgate part of the business.”

Another milestone in Barkley’s history has been its involvement in the Midlands Assembly Network, a group of nine sub-contract manufacturers that work together to win work at home and abroad. The company was a founder member of the unique collective and has benefitted hugely from sharing best practice, learning about new processes and collaborating on apprentice training programmes. Barkley is now owned in its entirety by the Harwood family. Maurice had bought his partners out and after he passed away, Mark and his mother became the shareholders.

Mark, who is 58, aims to “semi retire” when he is 60. “I am trying to build a team for the next five years as part of a succession plan,” he says. “Matt and other team members will be directors and Peter will become managing director. I will chair the company.” Which brings us back to those dark clouds – statutory wage increases and the tax demands for operating in a clean air zone, whilst trying to remain competitive to a demanding customer base. As far as Brexit is concerned “there’s no point discussing it because no one knows what’s going to happen.”

He adds: “We’re still getting lots of work in and we’re still investing for the future. Defence is a sector we are looking at very closely.” As far as Barkley is concerned, Mark is happy to deflect the fact that plastics is something of a dirty word with the ocean-polluting issue at the forefront of the environmental agenda. “What we produce is not disposable packaging. This is very much a focus. In fact, we are developing new bio-degradable plastics and we are actually working with a company to produce ecofriendly packaging for dishwasher tablets.” And what else does the future hold? “We are looking to develop more cutting-edge engineering over the next five years. We have developed specialist processes which very few moulders in the UK, let alone in the Midlands, have.”

Suddenly the future is looking bright again. Barkley Plastics has evolved with demands before and it looks set do so again.

MIM member Barkley Plastics marks 55 years in business with new press investment

Barkley Plastics Ltd — 18/03/2020

Birmingham-based Barkley Plastics is celebrating 55 years of business by increasing its capacity to help take on new orders it has won in interior parts and lighting for the automotive sector.

The latest installation of £250,000 in new presses and robots takes Barkley’s total capital machinery spend to over £800,000 in the last five years, and highlights the firm’s desire to move into more cosmetic and technical products that require industry-leading processing accuracy.

Mark Harwood, Managing Director at Barkley Plastics, said: “Things have never been quiet over the last 55 years, but I suppose that’s UK manufacturing for you.”

“We’ve already tried to stay one step ahead of what the customer wants, and this is reflected in the latest process that gives us additional capacity and production control to take on more automotive work.”

“There will also be news of a ground-breaking development in injection moulding before the end of the year.”

“The £250,000 investment is a perfect birthday present for us and will immediately be put to use on supporting a new project that will see is manufacture a selection of small, high-volume JLR parts that will go across its range of vehicles.”

“There’s no getting away from the fact that the capital spend is vital, but our people continue to be crucial to our ongoing success. We’ve got more than ten people who have been with us for forty years and David Challinor, the son of one of the founding members, only retired at the end of the years having given us 48 years of service.”

(Source: British Plastics)

Pete Tedd, Technical Director at Barkley Plastics, said:

“The increasing range of new electric and hybrid vehicles presents some exciting opportunities that suit our expertise, whilst work is being undertaken to increase our shares of the construction, electronics, medical, and retail sectors.”

“We’re predominantly a sub-contractor, but over the last few years we’ve been looking to develop our own range of products, such as the Plasfloor floor tiles and an anti-static ESD option.”

Barkley Plastics Injects Diversification and International Opportunities in Expansion Plans

Barkley Plastics Ltd — 19/04/2022

A leading plastic injection moulding and toolmaking specialist has appointed a new senior management team to help it target diversification and international opportunities.

Matt Harwood has become Managing Director of Barkley Plastics, taking over from his father Mark who has become Chairman of the Birmingham-based business.

The former logistics and business development manager will be joined at the helm by Operations Director Steve Smith and the duo are already setting their sights on maximising an £120,000 investment in automation and increasing its involvement in medical, construction and white goods.

This will reinforce the firm’s traditional expertise in automotive, where it continues to produce tools and injection moulded parts for customers including Aston Martin, BMW Mini, JLR, Nissan and Toyota.

“2022 is a massive year for the business as we look to bounce back from the pandemic and the supply chain issues affecting the automotive sector,” explained Matt.

“My Dad has been with the business since the late 70s and MD for the past 14 years, so we all felt the time was right for him to move upstairs and let a new management team build on the excellent platform he has built.”

He continued: “There’s a lot of challenges to contend with, but also a lot of opportunities as we look to take our toolmaking capabilities and injection moulding expertise into new markets, not to mention building on the success of our own interlocking floor product ‘PlasFloor’ by bringing a new home and garden range to market.“Investment is a big thing for us at the moment. We must explore ways we can be more productive and efficient to help us offset rising energy prices and ensure we deliver competitive products to our global customer base.”

Barkley Plastics, which is a founding member of the Manufacturing Assembly Network, has one of the largest toolmaking facilities in the UK, producing high precision tools capable of delivering 50 million mouldings for distribution domestically and throughout Europe and the
rest of the world.

Employing 100 people at its Highgate factory, it can support its expanding client base with initial design and product development, right through to manufacture and assembly, with over 40 modern moulding presses – ranging from 5 to 650 tonne – able to produce the most
intricate of components.

The latest investment, which has been supported by WMG and the Made Smarter Programme, has seen the firm purchase six-axis collaborative robots that can work alongside an operator.

This will help improve efficiency and allows the company to utilise staff elsewhere on the production line.

Steve Smith, Operations Director, went on to add: “The focus is undoubtedly on strengthening our automotive partnerships, whilst at the same time using our two-shot moulding, injection moulding and toolmaking expertise to win complementary work in new markets.

“We’ve already had some significant success with this approach, with fire safety products exported to Eastern Europe and a new tooling project to help develop EV/Battery technology for agricultural and off-road vehicles. There’s even a project we’re doing to supply products
for underwater boat lighting.”

He concluded: “I think that highlights our engineering knowledge and the vast range of manufacturing capability we can offer. That’s something we’ve got to leverage going forward.”

Barkley Plastics is a member of the Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN), a group of seven sub-contract manufacturers and a specialist engineering design agency.

Employing more than 1700 people across 12 different factories, MAN can offer every engineering discipline imaginable, including aluminium casting, automation and control systems, forging, plastic injection moulding, precision machining, high-volume pressing, tube
manipulation and welded assemblies.

In addition to Barkley Plastics, its membership includes Alucast, Brandauer, Grove Design, James Lister & Sons, Kimbermills International, PP Control & Automation and Muller Holdings.

For further information, please visit www.barkley.co.uk or follow @barkleyplastics on
twitter.

Barkley Plastics shines a light on automotive

Barkley Plastics Ltd — 06/11/2014

Plastics and Rubber Weekly

20th June 2014

The creative use of lighting is seen as a growth area by the worldwide automotive sector as it can enhance interior aesthetics, help to highlight shapes and contours and create better sightlines within vehicles.

UK-based Polymer Optics, which specialises in optical design and outsourcing its manufacturing work to a number of moulders and toolmakers, approached Barkley Plastics for both the tooling and moulding project for a new light guide that features a single point light source with even light distribution. The guide has specialist design features which further improve aesthetics. Barkley was also required to determine quality, component assembly and testing for the new component which incorporates a single LED unit that illuminates a 500mm long injection moulded light guide evenly. Previously, this task had to be achieved by a continuous string of LEDs which would not achieved the tight curvature offered by the new unit but required a large space envelope within the car.

Matt Powell, Polymer Optics operations director, says: We have reduced costs significantly for our customer with our design concept through the specially added features and via the advanced manufacturing techniques that Barkley Plastics brought to the production. All of these factors have enabled us to win the design and manufacture for another vehicle.

Mark Harwood, Barkley Plastics managing director, adds: Next year we celebrate our 50^thyear of business and from the beginning the automotive sector has been a key and constant part of our growth. Key meetings and contracts with BMW, were a key part of last years activities and a raft of automotive work, including optical, has come through for us this year.

Harwood declines to go into detail on the current optical project, saying our core moulding process for this product is somewhat proprietary.

But he adds: What I can say is that it requires some very experienced technical staff and a fine balancing act between the machine capacity and the size of the injection screw. We are pretty confident it cannot be replicated elsewhere and we look forward to establishing some intellectual property in this area.