C Brandauer & Co Ltd

New £800,000 Wire EDM Cell set to generate growth for Brandauer

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 19/12/2013

The acquisition of £800,000 ofstate-of-the-art technology is already paying off for one of Birminghams leading precision component manufacturers.

Brandauer, which is part of the Midlands Assembly Network (MAN), has acquired two GF AgieCharmilles wire EDM machines to support its strategic expansion and desire to win contracts in new markets.

The installation of the two Cut 3000 machines gives the company the ability to offer tolerances of 1 micron,whilst providing faster and more flexible production when making technical changes to problematic tools.

Despite only being operational for three months, the machines have already played their part in helping the 151 year-old firmmanufacture £200,000 worthof progression tools for projects that range from surgical device blankstomicro-surveillancecomponent applicationsfor clients in the life protection sector.

Rowan Crozier, Sales and Marketing Director, explained: This is an important milestone for us and reinforces our desire to be a world leader in precision components.

These machines are very rare in the UK and are a direct response to what our existing and new customers want and expect from their suppliers.

He continued: Our newWire EDM cell has been specified to a world-class level, with temperature controlled environment, new flooring, lighting and additional space added. The new technology ensures we can achieve exacting quality faster than ever before.

The other big selling point is the technical flexibility. We can make the required technical improvements to problematic tools both quickly and seamlessly and this will be a major attraction when we are bidding for potential tool transfer opportunities.

Brandauer, which has been assisted on the acquisition by business and tax advisors Chantrey Vellacott DFK, has been developing a complex component tooling set for use in zero emission, remote power generationthatcan be used as a back-up power supply in countries where regular interruptions occur.

It has now had the prototype part approved for pre-production and the firm plan to be manufacturing more than 60,000 units per month for shipment and assembly in China in late 2014.

This should be worth £720,000 alone next year, with the potential to eventually surpass £1m, as volumes increase to cope with demand.

Rowan continued: Our marketplace is extremely competitive and we have to be the bestso investment in staff, new technology and machines is vital.

Last year we spent a similar amount on two high-speed Bruderer presses and also installed new laser marking capabilities to ensure we could offer full traceability of parts. If you stand still, you will quickly get overtaken in this sector.

Paul Fenner, partner at Chantrey Vellacott DFK, added his support: Brandauer has achieved really strong growth and enjoyed great success exporting into new markets across the globe.

Weve worked alongside the company as auditors and tax advisors for some time, so weve witnessed their success at close quarters.

The latest major investment outlines Brandauers strong growth and its confidence in the UK and international markets and were pleased to be supporting the continued expansion of the business.

Brandauer is hoping that the wire EDM machines will play a big role in a number of collaborative opportunities the Midlands Assembly Network is working on both at home and overseas.

The company has been involved with MAN since its inception in 2006 and is now one of ten members that include Advanced Chemical Etching, Alucast, Barkley Plastics, FW Cables, Grove Design, Mec Com, PP Electrical Systems, SMT Developments and Westley Engineering.

Together they employ over 650 people and turnover in excess of £65m, providing access to world class manufacturing in precision pressings, casting, etching, injection moulding, wiring looms, toolmaking, PCB assembly and electrical control systems and assemblies.

For further information on Brandauer visit www.brandauer.co.uk or follow @cbrandauer on twitter. For more details on MAN go to www.man-group.co.uk or follow @man_group_ on twitter.

Brandauer’s covid response results in product breakthroughs into consumer markets

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 23/09/2020

Last month’s Cable Clips focused blog investigated the manufacturing cycle of the range, how they’re used by the end user, and how the handy clips started off the development of a dedicated ‘own products’ offering.

In recent months, cable clips have become a wider commercial success. The covid-19 pandemic saw what could be referred to as a revolution in home improvement and DIY projects. The cable clip range became a go-to product for consumers during this time.

Brandauer’s response was to pivot and reposition for short-term needs for not only this burgeoning DIY community, but also for other, more immediate needs. These are detailed below and summarised in the latest Brandauer video:

Home improvements soar

85% of UK residents have undertaken home improvements since lockdown according to an Aviva survey. Decluttering proved to be the most popular task and with the shift to remote working, temporary and improved working space within the home was a nationwide priority.

Brandauer has seen that these impressive numbers reflect the demand for its cable clips range – Used predominantly for cable tidying in home offices.

From computer hardware, audio equipment and television sets, plus many other electrical equipment found at home and especially within office spaces, the cable clip has become an ideal solution for keeping those loose wires and cables neat and tidy. The easy to use clips supplied in strips can be snapped off, peeled, and stuck with ease. With a variety of sizes, no cable diameter typically used at home is unaccommodated, and the final step of fixing the wire in place is as simple as pressing down with your finger.

Simple purchasing for the end user became a must in recent months so Brandauer opened up the entire range for one-off and bulk purchases through its re-stocked ebay store. Finding what the consumer needs via a platform they’re comfortable with is something Brandauer will continue to support. But it wasn’t only cable clips that ebay users were adding to their baskets.

The DIY community get creative

The immediate need for PPE for both the NHS and frontline workers, as well as the aforementioned DIY enthusiasts was another area that Brandauer happily assisted.

The ebay store has been used to list a number of new product developments. Most notably Brandauer’s own facemask nose clip and the visor designed and manufactured in collaboration with the MAN Group, that saw an initial 20,000 donated to the NHS before becoming commercially available via Brandauer.

Brandauer secured funding to help it develop a solution for easing global shortages of PPE and became one of the first companies in the country to be awarded Innovate UK-backing through its Covid-19 Business-Led Innovation in Response to Global Disruption competition. That resulted in the development of the nose clip product.

Much of the funding went into developing Brandauer’s ‘Quick Clip Tool’ that will add a quick changeover capability to a progression press tool, something that has never been offered to the PPE marketplace before. The possibility of its own nose clip production was now a reality for Brandauer.

Whilst essential to the global shortage of necessary PPE, by opening up availability to the ‘at home’ DIY community, the nose clip has been a hot product for those creatives making their very own masks at home. Again, ebay became the go-to platform for the community.

Feedback on all of Brandauer’s own products has been tremendously encouraging since lockdown, but none more so than that of the manKIND Visor.

The manKIND Visor feedback makes a huge collaborative effort worthwhile

Let’s take a minute to look at some of that feedback:

“The visors will certainly be put to good use! They are strong and decent which is great compared to some that we have had!”

“I can personally recommend these visors. I’ve bought enough to see me through for at least a year. or maybe longer, because they are washable!”

“Everyone found them more comfortable than others”

“Just wanted you to know that out of all the visors I have tried, this one is the very best. It’s so easy to put together, but more importantly, for me anyway, the visor wraps around the face far more than any others I have tried and therefore offers far more protection. I will be ordering more of these and will use this type from now on.”

“Thank you for the donation of 150 visors for Dougie Mac, Donna Louise and Approach, enabling us to continue to support our patients and service users during this time.”

Again, the ebay store is open for any consumer looking to purchase visors and Brandauer also has a new space on the website for trade enquiries.

Our covid response

Brandauer has been fully operational during the covid-19 lockdown but pivoted its focus towards helping the industry and the nation in its fightback against the pandemic.

Brandauer has restructured and redeveloped product lines, focused on growing markets and needs, and taken the time to think creatively around problems that need the likes of Brandauer to step in.

Brandauer promise to remain positive in its response to covid-19 and is determined to show the world how UK Manufacturing has come together, reacted, and is now stronger than ever before.

Brandauer would love to hear how you have responded so tag us on social media and let’s share some good news.

MAN's collective approach

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 20/06/2011

A unique manufacturing collaboration is setting its sights on new opportunities in renewable energy after landing more than £5m of contracts in the sector.
MAN, which is a group of nine manufacturing firms from across the West Midlands, has seen demand for its technical expertise and innovation reach new levels from companies involved in LED lighting, wind and solar power and alternative fuels.
More than 50 local jobs have already been created as a result of this new drive and this figure could be trebled over the next year if the pipeline is translated into firm orders.
PP Electrical Systems is leading the way in this field after benefitting from the surge in printing of special photovoltaic inks onto semiconductor substrates used in the production of solar cells.
The Cheslyn Hay-based company design and build the electric and electronic systems and cabling for the automated lines – some up to 10 to 15 metres long - used to manufacture these cells, with the vast majority being exported to Asia.
This work now accounts for 15% of the firm’s £24m annual turnover and will only grow with the addition of further orders from LED light manufacturers.

Manufacturers turn to ‘tool transfers’ to boost quality and secure long-term supply

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 31/10/2012

Growing demand for tool transfers is helping a UK precision component manufacturer expand and take on more staff.

Brandauer, which celebrates 150 years in business in 2012, has seen a surge in the number of companies looking to transfer complex tooling in order to solve production issues and bottlenecks.

The Birmingham-based firm has already completed multiple projects in the last eighteen months and is currently exploring a number of other enquiries for potential customers in the automotive, medical and alternative power generation markets.

Managing Director David Spears believes the growth in this service has come from an increasing demand for secure supply, the need for additional capacity and a unique ability to solve challenging tooling requirements.

He points to an ongoing relationship with one of the world’s largest manufacturers of components for domestic appliances, who has benefitted significantly from tapping into Brandauer’s tool transfer service.

“We’d been talking to Otter Controls for a considerable length of time, as they had been identified as an ideal potential client for us,” explained David.

“As the relationship developed, we were presented with a challenging tool transfer opportunity concerning two specific electrical connectors for use in the base of kettles.

“After a swift industry bench-marking exercise, we were selected as the preferred solution and started work on the transfer, a sizeable task and one that was made more difficult by the fact that ongoing global supply requirements still had to be fulfilled.”

He continued: “The transfer process commenced with a free 15-hour tool inspection service, developed to diagnose any issues with the existing tool and to ensure they could run in our presses.

“During this process, we identified a number of dimensional problems, which were causing issues with quality and on-time delivery.”

Otter Controls and Brandauer immediately set up a cross-functional team to agree key milestones and continuous improvement targets to be met throughout the tool development plan.

Improvement activity commenced, encompassing design, quality and tool issues identified at the initial inspection phase.

These were resolved by drawing on its multi-sector technical expertise, an in-house tool-room and wire-EDM machine, which allowed it to produce replacement tooling elements to tolerances of within 2 microns.

As the volumes were forecast to double, a critical tool spares programme was established and all production schedules were successfully met.

Once additional capacity was secured, Brandauer was able to increase safety stock levels and remove the need for excess premium shipping costs.

“When undertaking a project of this magnitude you have to give the client complete peace of mind and I think we achieved that by working together with Otter Controls personnel to manage the process in-house, from the inspection through to the re-development and then full production,” added David.

“With the capability of producing around 1 million parts per week using these tools, the client has seen improved accuracy, control and excellent on-time delivery performance.

“Confidence was so high, we went from shipping via its UK Headquarters to delivering direct to its Shenzen-based manufacturing facility.”

During the tool transfer, Otter Controls also engaged Brandauer as a technology partner for the development of a new welded contact production process.

A project manager and hand-picked team of engineers were quickly assembled and sent to Austria for three months to learn about the process and bring the machine back to Newtown, where it was in full production for 24 months.

Production rates were improved to 280 strokes per minute, with all significant waste eliminated and material costs reduced by nearly 40% as a result of this new production method.

The process was so successful that the same machine is now up and running in Otter Controls’ Derby facility.

Brian Smith, Group Operations Director at Otter Controls, concluded:

“From the initial fact finding with Brandauer, it was clear that the company demonstrated great levels of professionalism across all areas of the business, including exceptional tooling and design capabilities.

“Its attention to detail - whether project management, knowledge transfer, materials, continuous lean improvement and zero defect philosophy - created a learning environment from which both organisations continue to benefit from.”

Brandauer, which currently employ 53 people, is on course to smash the £10m turnover barrier for the first time in its history and currently exports 80% of its precision parts and stampings overseas.

Brandauer taps into Japanese technology with £600,000 high-speed press investment

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 11/07/2019

Investment in a new high-speed press is set to help a Birmingham metal stamping specialist capitalise on 20% growth over the last twelve months.

Brandauer, which recently secured a Queen’s Award for International Trade, has spent £600,000 on a Yamada Dobby NXT 80XL as part of a three-year plan to boost its capacity and provide additional production flexibility.

The state-of-the-art technology gives it patented repeatability on quality and a 100% reduction in press setting time that frees up manufacturing space to take on new contract wins in the plumbing sector, automotive motor laminations and fuel cells.

It is the first machine it has purchased from the Japanese-based press specialist and it tops off a £2m modernisation of its Birmingham facility that has also included a new GFwire cut EDM machine, 2 Andmar surface grinders and anOGP Smartscope Vantage 250 to help with quality inspection.

Don Walters, Operations Manager at Brandauer, commented: “We first came across the press at Blechexpo and were impressed with what we saw in terms of its speed, the repeatable quality and how user friendly it appeared.”

He continued: “Our visit to its showroom in Italy gave us the chance to see the Yamada in all of its glory and we worked with its experts to configure the machine so it delivers the accuracy and performance we were looking to achieve.”

Established in 1862, Brandauer is one of the West Midlands best kept manufacturing secrets, producing millions of high tolerance metal pressings and stampings every week for customers in the plumbing, automotive, domestic products, electrical, medical and renewables sectors.

It took just 9 months from the order being placed for the Yamada NXT 80XL press to be installed and commissioned, with the machine now working on components that use material ranging in thickness from 0.2 to 0.8mm.

The 1.5m metre bed is the largest the company currently has available and it can operate at speeds of between 100 and 800 strokes per minute.

Karl Jeavons, Press Shop Team Leader at Brandauer, went on to add: “The quality is second to none and we run off thousands and thousands of parts every day, thanks in part to the double link motion mechanism that delivers Yamada’s patented repeatability, whilst also helping to prolong the life of the tool.

“What has really impressed us is how easy the press is to set-up and use, reducing the set-up time in some instances from 3.5 hours to 6 minutes. This is due to the simple user interface, which is capable of storing up to 1000 different set-ups. Once the initial setting work is done a semi-skilled setter can take over for all future runs of the same product.

“This massively frees up resource, giving us the ability to move our engineers on to different projects so that we can run jobs simultaneously.”

He concluded: “Other benefits that the Yamada delivers, includes proven low maintenance, excellent standard-fit equipment and SMED and Industry 4.0 capabilities to futureproof the press going forward.”

Building on the first installation, Brandauer’s world class manufacturing environment has been assigned as a technology showcase partner for Yamada Dobby, with a number of open houses planned for later in the year.

For further information, please visit www.brandauer.co.uk or follow @cbrandauer on twitter.

Brandauer Receives £500,000 Funding for Green Motor Technology Project

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 13/11/2020

Made in the Midlands member C. Brandauer & Co Ltd is set to play a significant role in the development of cleaner mobility products, for use in all vehicles from scooters to buses.

Brandauer has been selected to be part of a new consortium led by Oxfordshire-based automotive tech company Saietta after it won a grant to fast-track production on new electric propulsion motors.

It is hoped the technology will be available for mass-market adoption, with Brandauer saying it marked a "step change" in how the sector can make electric vehicles go faster for longer.

The firm will use its stamping and progression toolmaking expertise to produce busbars and laminations for use in the state-of-the-art motors.

It has secured £500,000 of new R&D funding with the potential to generate up to £1 million of new sales in the first year following project completion and more revenues to follow as manufacturing volumes increase.

Saietta will work closely with Brandauer and AEV, a specialist in the manufacture of electrical insulating resins, varnishes and compounds, on refining the process for core motor component manufacturing and motor assembly.

The research contract will enable Saietta to ramp up production capacity to 150,000 motors per year and hire up to 250 engineers in the first round of recruitment.

Rowan Crozier, Cheif Executive at Brandauer, said: "Providing cleaner transport is a major global opportunity for the UK and we are delighted to be part of the Saietta consortium to help bring important new technologies to market.

"We are heavily involved in providing specialist busbars and laminates to a number of clients in the electrification field and this latest project will give us the perfect platform to use our expertise to make a major difference in supporting the development of greener vehicles."

Wicher Kist, chief executive of Saietta, added: "This is a significant day for Saietta.

"By quickly scaling up operations we can fully capitalise on the commercial opportunity that we know exists.

"Based on the conversations we've had, and the projects we're already involved with, we know that the mass production of our technology will allow us to power a new generation of electric vehicles, in markets around the world, bringing a new era of mobility."

(Source: Business Live)

Birmingham engineer seals Royal Approval with MBE

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 03/01/2024

A West Midlands engineer, who has put the region on the international manufacturing map,
has been recognised in the New Year’s Honours List.

Rowan Crozier, CEO of metal pressing, stamping and tooling specialist Brandauer, has been
awarded an MBE for services to manufacturing and enterprise.
The engineer has helped steer the Birmingham company through the pandemic and towards
a record-breaking £9.3m year, sending millions of precision components to more than 26
countries every week.

He is also a passionate ambassador for developing the industry professionals of the future,
revolutionising the firm’s apprenticeship scheme, and working with In-Comm Training to
launch the UK’s first Precision Toolmaking Academy in late 2022.
"I am genuinely shocked to receive this award; you just never expect to be an MBE growing
up and certainly not for, in my opinion, just doing my job" commented Rowan Crozier, who is
also an Export Champion for the Department for International Trade.

"This is an accolade for my family and my teams at Brandauer and Support Staffordshire,
who have worked so hard to support me and help us emerge from the pandemic in a
stronger position than the one we entered. Importantly, both organisations have strong
platforms from which to maximise future opportunities.”

He continued: "It is especially refreshing for manufacturing to get the national recognition it
deserves. Industry is so important to the economic success of the UK and hopefully my MBE
shows our engineers of the future and their parents that you can achieve the highest
personal honour by following a passion for Science Technology Engineering and Maths
(STEM)"

In addition to his manufacturing role, Rowan has been a trustee for Support Staffordshire
since 2018, an organisation that provides support to over 1000 other charities and
community groups operating in Staffordshire, groups that in turn provide a wide variety of
essential services to local residents.

The group offers advice and guidance to other charities on vital matters such as funding,
training, new policies, and volunteer recruitment.
He shares his experience and knowledge with the board and has helped support them
towards a new strategy that will ensure the charity’s future sustainability.
Organised fundraising events, such as Horse Racing days, have also improved links
between businesses and the third sector in the area, generating more than £20,000 of vital
funding for Support Staffordshire in the process.

Rowan, who lives in Lichfield with his wife Zoe and children Tom and Evie, concluded:

“I nearly missed out on the MBE notification, as we had moved house, and it went to my old
address. Thankfully the new owners sent me a picture of the letter saying it looked important
and the rest is history!”
For further information, please visit www.brandauer.co.uk

BRANDAUER MAKING THE HEADLINES

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 12/01/2018

2018 has got off to a flying start for Brandauer, with new orders secured and a number of exciting projects started.

We have also had the eyes of the UK media on us this week. It all started on Monday when our CEO Rowan Crozier was invited to reflect on the EEF Executive Survey for Wake Up To Money on BBC 5 Live and BBC Radio 4s Today programme.

This was followed by a visit from the BBCs Kamal Ahmed on Wednesday; this time encouraging ONS figures on UK manufacturing growth was the subject. The well-known Economics Editor spent more than two hours at our Birmingham factory, touring the wire EDM facilities, the toolroom and the press shop, before looking at some of the reasons behind our recent growth.

The coverage was fantastic with Brandauer appearing on the 1pm, 6pm and 10pm editions of the National News, as well as having a blog written on the visit (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42633509). Rowans insight must have gone down well, as the story was also featured on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 4. You can watch the coverage below:

It was great to be able to tell our story to the world and the BBC did a great job of promoting UK manufacturing and one of the SMEs playing a small, but vital role, explained Rowan, who has also been interviewed by The Guardian this week.

They say PR is difficult to measure. Not in this instance. There was an audible buzz of excitement around the factory and, in just one day, we registered 2561 website sessions 95% of which were new visitors. This compares to a daily average of around 80.

Brandauer continues to work with Cucumber PR and Start 2 Finish Marketing on a co-ordinated marketing and promotional campaign designed to drive enquiries, penetrate new markets and position us as one of the worlds leading presswork specialists.

Brandauer’s ‘lamination’ expertise set to be in demand at Southern Manufacturing

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 23/01/2019

Brandauer is heading to Southern Manufacturing in February (5th to 7th) in a bid to build on its reputation as a world leader in electrical steel laminations.

The Birmingham metal pressings specialist, which reported a 20% increase in sales in 2018, will be showcasing its ability to produce products that are just 12 to 130 mm in diameter, 0.1 to 0.65 mm thin and consistently accurate to within just 20 microns.

Visitors to Stand E190 will be able to see first-hand laminations that are used in some of the world’s most ambitious products, including electric vehicles, renewables, life protection or aerospace applications.

The company can manufacture loose, bonded or interlock laminations, t-segments and ultra-thin components from its 45,000 sq ft world class facility in the heart of the West Midlands.

“Our expertise has even stretched to providing components for the PD-100 by FLIR (formerly ProxDynamics), a personal reconnaissance system with a rotor diameter of just 1.2cm,” explained Graham Allison, Technical Sales Manager at Brandauer.

“The so-called ‘Black Hornet’ is a tiny drone used in law enforcement, with the military and in search and rescue and we have played a crucial role in making it a reality.

“It’s stories like this that we are looking to tell at Southern Manufacturing, a show that has proven hugely successful for us in the past. We’ll have our technical experts on hand to discuss your electrical steel lamination requirements, as well as a number of applications where our components are being used.”

Brandauer will also be displaying EloPin®, a groundbreaking press-fit product that allows the solderless connection of terminal pins to a PCB.

Although easy to insert, it is designed to have a high push-out force; this ensures high mechanical stability and a secure, gas-tight connection. It also has high elastic recovery to prevent accidental breakage.

Typical applications include engine compartment accessories, overmoulded hybrid parts, vehicle comfort systems, driver assistance technology, in-vehicle network and infotainment systems.

“We have just sealed a near £1m order for EloPin® and are currently working through a number of quotes to supply customers in five different sectors, who also want to take advantage of this technology,” added Graham.

For further information, please visit www.brandauer.co.uk or follow @cbrandauer on twitter.

Introducing the products of the future

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 20/01/2021

Alex Walton has always been passionate about making and fixing things. From an early age, he spent time with his ‘inspirational’ Grandad, playing around with his traditional engineering tools and learning the basics of putting objects back together again.

It is this diversity that the former apprentice loves most about his current role at Brandauer, that and the fact he gets to see the fruits of the team’s labour in the shape of parts that are saving lives and creating cleaner mobility.

“I never quite know what each day will bring and I really love that variety,” explained Alex, who started his career with Alstom in Stafford, before moving to Brandauer via a short stint with a materials handling firm in Tamworth.

“My first point of contact on a project is when the order lands and then, working with the engineering and production teams, we come up with a timing plan. At this stage, we might review the feasibility of the drawings, suggest some cost optimisation modifications, and then agree on a final blueprint to go into the toolroom.”

He continued: “From there I have to monitor progress through all departments until we get a product that is ready to be shipped to the customer. This involves talking to pretty much every element of the business and ensuring we are meeting the timings, quality and managing the cost.”

The former Walsall Academy student singled out the ability to communicate with people in different roles and reading technical drawings as being two of the main benefits.

“My one bit of advice to young people is to give your all in every job you are given to do. The early ones may not be glamorous and what you want to do, but you’ll learn from them and pick things up that you’ll be able to use as you progress.”

Alex, who completed his HNC in Mechanical Engineering in 2016, concluded: “Manufacturing is a great career and I love being at a small business, who let you get really involved in lots of different things. It gives you great satisfaction knowing that you are making parts that have a positive impact on people’s lives.”

Established in 1862, Brandauer has invested heavily in the development of its apprenticeship programme and, working with In-Comm Training, has created more than ten engineers over the last three years – 20% of the current workforce.

Made Futures was created to encourage people to get jobs in manufacturing, in support of those who have lost their jobs over the course of the 2020 pandemic. There's still time to sign up and be part of the exhibition by filling in the form here.

NO FEAR OF BREXIT AS BRANDAUER CONFIRMS ITS COMMITMENT TO A HOST OF 2019 EUROPEAN APPEARANCES

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 28/11/2018

Brandauer’s decision to increase its presence on the exhibition circuit during 2018 paid dividends as awareness in its design and tooling capability for the manufacture of precision metal components spread far and quickly throughout the UK and the rest of Europe. Brandauer recently reviewed its business performance over the past 12 months which confirmed its best results in 10 years – testament to the efforts placed on increasing awareness of the brand and its expertise.

To continue this trajectory, Brandauer has already identified a host of exhibitions which would help cement its position as one of the largest contract presswork and stamping companies in Europe. Despite the uncertainty still surrounding Brexit, Brandauer is adamant that the majority of those exhibitions will take place across Europe, looking for partnerships in the biggest manufacturing regions in the EU.

Brandauer know that things will change. The most appropriate matters to consider at this stage may be access to the market, the movement of people, plus currency and foreign exchange revisions, none of which deter Brandauer from remaining proactive or changing the purpose or planning of its exhibitions.

Opportunity is still huge in Germany, Italy and other big EU manufacturing regions – Brexit or no Brexit, Brandauer will be part of that discussion on export, innovation and new partnerships across Europe.

Brandauer has built up a skilled and flexible workforce, intensified relationships with top universities and industry partners and has an enviable history spanning well over 150 years of engineering excellence on its side. Brandauer is confident that this investment in excellence will carry a lot of weight in any decision-making behind the supply of components as critical as those manufactured at Brandauer and in the UK, whether at home or for projects overseas.

UK manufacturing is still considered to be at the forefront of industry-best design, process and quality, and for proactive manufacturers like Brandauer, there are no plans on slowing down.

Brandauer are in fact planning to increase its investment in the best stamping technology, ensuring that it will (in-turn) continue to compete and thrive with new trading partners in the EU. Strategies for the continuous upskilling of employees and its unique approach to tackling the skills-gap put Brandauer well within pace of any competition, anywhere in the world.

Brandauer exports 75 per cent of its turnover, mostly to non-European markets and so its position and knowledge on exporting under different regulations, time zones and altering currency exchange rates will be crucial in how it partners and works alongside EU customers under any Brexit deal.

Brandauer has always believed that successful exporting can only be secured by innovation and that that can only be achieved by having the right talent, skills and capabilities. This ethos remains as Britain’s decision to leave the EU gets closer – It’s obvious then that UK manufacturers should showcase their expertise and processes at every opportunity.

Making use of well-established and well-run exhibitions in Germany, Italy and Sweden during 2018 gave Brandauer all the confidence it needed to infiltrate the market in the same way during 2019. CWIEME and Blechexpo in Germany sandwich a revisit to Pordenone in Italy for Coiltech, making-up the three exhibitions already secured from May 2019 onwards.

CWIEME reaches more than 100,000 specialised engineers, procurement and business professionals from 50,000 companies worldwide. Connecting and informing the global market, it showcases innovation and new technologies – Areas that Brandauer has identified as crucial in its business model for growth and for showcasing its current precision stamping capabilities.

Notably, CWIEME is a leading event for the supply of electric motor, generator and transformer components. 2018 was a major year for Brandauer and for business opportunities in these areas.

Electrical steel laminations became a regular subject of conversation during the exhibitions across Europe in 2018 and Brandauer remain keen on continuing that conversation. Especially as the market’s growth trajectory continues to be on the up and demand for high quality, micron-precision components becomes a necessity. CWIEME kicks-off Brandauer’s exhibition presence in Europe during 2019 on May 21^st-23^rd at Messe Berlin.

Coiltech in Italy is an exhibition where Brandauer has previous experience and success. Much like CWIEME, visitors from all over the world attend with a keen interest in the innovative materials, components and machinery available for the production of electric motors, generators and transformers. Coiltech takes place over 2 days in Pardenone in Italy from September 25^th.

Blechexpo in Stuttgart is just under a year away, but it has been identified as an ideal opportunity to exhibit for Brandauer, because nowhere else in the world are the process sequences for processing sheet metal, pipe and profiles so well represented.

The tooling capabilities of Brandauer will likely turn heads at Blechexpo, as its 3 unique standards will emphasise the flexibility, expertise and complexity Brandauer has to offer. Blechexpo takes place between 5^th-8^th November 2019.

The three exhibitions secured across Europe will be preceded by Brandauer’s presence at Southern Manufacturing & Electronics in February, considered the most comprehensive annual industrial exhibition in the UK and importantly, a major pan-European showcase for new manufacturing technologies, tooling and components.

Brandauer look forward to standing with fellow UK manufacturers and welcoming business opportunities with local and European markets. Southern Manufacturing & Electronics in Farnborough takes place between February 5^th-7^th2019.

Brandauer continues to invest, continues to scope out business overseas and continues to stand alongside the biggest market-players on the European stage. The most important thing for Brandauer is that it continues to act upon its vision – an aim to be recognised as the leading independent high-precision metal component specialist in Europe.

If you would like more information on Brandauer’s presence at any of the exhibitions mentioned, you can call a precision metal stamping expert on +44 (0)121 359 2822 or email sales@brandauer.co.uk. Full exhibition details and links below.

‘Green’ contract win for Brandauer helps it celebrate Queen’s Award success

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 27/01/2020

A Birmingham metal pressings specialist has capitalised on its Queen’s Award success by securing a new contract in the renewables field.

157-year-old Brandauer unveiled its involvement in a new project to create wind energy during the official presentation of its International Trade Award by the Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands to its 60-strong workforce and family board members.

The company has been working with British manufacturer FuturEnergy to develop thin gauge generator lamination T pieces that help power AirForce1, a 1kW horizontal axis upwind turbine system designed for use in domestic homes and isolated industrial applications.

It’s the firm’s latest foray into the renewables sector and further evidence of its laminations expertise, a driving force in over £1.5m of new export business in the last twelve months.

Rowan Crozier, CEO of Brandauer, commented: “This is a very memorable moment in our history and underlines how parts - manufactured in the heart of Birmingham - are positively impacting on people’s lives all over the world.

“We currently make components that are used in 90% of the world’s kettles, in recon drones that save lives and edge connectors for the dimming of rear view mirrors in half of global car models.”

He continued: “The Queen’s Award reinforces all of the amazing things we do and the outstanding engineering expertise our staff, many of whom have been with us for over 25 years, bring to the table.

“We are very passionate about UK manufacturing and this prestigious award gives us the confidence to go out there and represent industry in this country against our international rivals.”

Brandauer, which exports 85% of its £9.2m turnover, has seen demand for its lamination services grow from the automotive electronics and search and rescue sectors.

Its relationship with FuturEnergy is the first contract secured to supply complex laminations for a product/system set to be used in power generation and renewables.

Working with the client, the pressings specialist developed a family of carbide inserted progression tools that not only stamp the profile, but also stack the components during the stamping process.

Tooling was highly complex with changeover modules allowing a number of different profiles to be stamped. Keeping the parts orientated flat and without excessive break on the edge of the part required significant R&D and the ability to leverage knowledge gained from multiple sectors.

The process has also benefitted from a £600,000 investment into a new Yamada Dobby NXT 80XL high-speed press.

“This is a very important contract win for us and initially came through our involvement with the Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN). It gives us the opportunity to work with a specialist in renewables to help it bring an exciting new green technology to market,” continued Rowan.

“There is a lot of demand for a small compact turbine that offers excellent performance and we fully expect volumes to increase as the AirForce1 becomes more popular.”

Stuart McLeish, Operations Director at Stratford-upon-Avon-based FuturEnergy, concluded: “Our technology is manufactured completely in Britain and Brandauer has added real value to our supply chain - first supporting us on the design, then the development of the tooling and then establishing production of the specialist laminates.

“It’s willingness to invest in new equipment and a considerable amount of R&D time proved to us its desire to be involved and we look forward to exploring how we can continue to make the most of each other’s strengths.”

For further information, you can visit their Microsite or follow @cbrandauer on twitter.

Brandauer presses forward with utility cost savings

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 28/03/2017

The boss of one of the UKs leading presswork specialists is urging his fellow manufacturers to take a closer look at their utility costs after his firm saved £10,000 in just two months.

Rowan Crozier, CEO of Birmingham-based Brandauer, believes it is a hidden cost that can quite easily be eradicated if the right expertise is sought and if companies arent afraid to ask questions.

His firm tapped into the expertise of Control Energy Costs (CEC), a specialist in utility management, procurement and support services, to explore the process and was amazed how quickly they were able to identify pricing issues, incorrect billing and opportunities for smarter energy management.

This led to over £10,000 of savings within a few months of the relationship starting, with the option to save thousands more when the supply contracts are up for renewal.

We manufacture millions of components for the automotive, domestic goods, electronics, plumbing and renewable sectors every week so you can see how energy is a massive overhead for usthe fact costs are rising all the time can really impact on our ability to compete globally, explained Rowan.

There are some things we cant do anything about, but there is a massive opportunity for us to look at our combined utility costs of electricity, gas and water to see if there are ways where savings can be made or supply issues that can be addressed. This is where CEC has been so important.

He continued: We knew each other through our membership of Made in the Midlands and were approached by Liam Conway of CEC to see if they could carry out an initial audit to prove the value they could provide over an energy broker. It seemed like a good idea so we agreed and were delighted with the £10,000 savings within two months of working together.

CEC work with more than 450 manufacturers across the UK every year, providing companies with a full utility management, procurement and site works service covering electricity, gas, water and associated costs.

Its team of analysts provide an initial, no-obligation audit and then work with the customer to identify existing issues and opportunities to reduce bills or secure better supply contracts.

Unlike energy brokers, the company earns its fees by taking a share of the savings based on the results it achieves.

Mark Stephenson, Analyst for CEC, is leading on the Brandauer contract: The nature of its business is energy intensive so there are lots of ways we can work with the management team so they are getting the most out of their utility costs.

Weve immediately secured a £5000 refund due to a wrong agreement and topped this off with a £4200 mid-contract saving. There will be even bigger reductions to come when we get to the renewal stage and we can look at securing the best supplier deals.

He went on to add: There was also a couple of billing issues weve put right and Im going to be continually monitoring the relationships and chargesall of this will be done with very little input from Brandauer, ensuring staff stay focused on their day jobs.

Rowan concluded: If wed have realised how easy the process was wed have done it ages ago. Manufacturers are always moaning about rising costs, this is one way of negating some of them.

The additional money will be spent on growing our motor lamination business and the launch of Elopin®, new technology weve developed that allows the solderless connection of terminal pins to a PCB.

For further information, please visit www.brandauer.co.uk or www.cec.uk.com.

Brandauer £1m project in Electrification Laminations

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 20/10/2020

Birmingham-based stamping specialist and Made in the Midlands member Brandauer is pressing the button on a £1m project that will see it develop a new process to support the UK’s acceleration into electrification.

Brandauer, which already produces components for use in more than half of the world’s cars, has secured over £300,000 of funding from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund run by UK Research and Innovation to help it set-up a high volume e-machine stack line to produce thin laminates required by the automotive and aerospace sector.

Working in partnership with WMG and supported by Jaguar Land Rover, the 158-year-old manufacturer believes there is an initial £500,000 opportunity it can secure once the methodology is in place, with the longer-term projections being of a marketplace worth between £60m and £70m.

Engineers and academic experts will be working to create an in-line adhesive dispensing process to support the volume challenge, whilst the second part will see them work towards the integration of an advanced stamping line capable of creating 0.1mm laminations with very narrow iron bridges.

“This project is a game-changer for our business, but importantly a game-changer for the UK power electronics, machines and drives (PEMD) supply chain and its ability to supply an increasing demand for e-components from tier 1s and carmakers,” explained Adam Burgoyne, New Product Introduction & Quality Engineer at Brandauer.

“Our laminations business is growing, initially focused on aerospace and defence work. However, the really big opportunity is in electrification and, to put us in that global arena, we need to be able to stamp extremely thin laminations to a high quality and large volume.”

He continued: “This is what we’ll be working towards over the next twelve months, bringing in the knowledge of WMG and the guidance of JLR. Taking on a project of this magnitude during Covid-19 is a big challenge and has been made possible thanks to the financial support secured from UK Research and Innovation.

Brandauer, which developed its own range of nose clips for face masks and a new visor to support the fight against Covid-19, will start by developing its own in-house methodology, transferring expertise from applying lubricant surface coatings to stampings during manufacture.

This will reduce the company’s cycle times, whilst also improving its productivity and allowing it to grow its capacity by 50%.

The second stage will use the existing design of a rotor/stator stack with 0.2mm laminations as a base, before changing the material thickness to the required 0.1mm. Proving out stamping feasibility and preparing for manufacture will take place, with narrow bridge trials completed to identify the exact production process and the required state-of-the-art manufacturing techniques.

“There is a clear market signal, with our sales engineers regularly fielding £10m enquiries per annum for this capability,” added Adam.

“This isn’t just about Brandauer though. This is about creating a process and technology that will deliver the UK a vitally important technology, which will not only drive the sector’s growth in electrification but will also support the net carbon 2050 target.”

Brandauer is one of the West Midlands’ best-kept manufacturing secrets, producing millions of high tolerance metal pressings and stampings every week for customers in the plumbing, automotive, domestic products, electrical, medical and renewables sectors.

It is part of a new manufacturing cluster that has been established to target £multi-million electrification opportunities over the next twelve months and includes Alucast, C-MAC SMT, PP Control & Automation and industrial automation specialist Balluff.

For further information, please visit www.brandauer.co.uk or follow @cbrandauer on twitter.

BRANDAUER SHARES ‘INNOVATION IN MANUFACTURING’ TITLE WITH JAGUAR LAND ROVER

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 14/12/2018

Brandauer proved that SME manufacturers can compete with the big boys on technology at a prestigious awards ceremony held last night.

The metal pressings specialist beat off competition from tens of firms to be named joint winners of the ‘Innovation in Manufacturing’ title, sharing the accolade with Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).

Judges for the West Midlands Tech Awards, organised by BirminghamLive and CoventryLive, pointed to the Birmingham-based company’s investment in bringing its own product to market – the first time in over 100 years.

EloPin®, a groundbreaking press-fit product that allows the solderless connection of terminal pins to a PCB, is promising to revolutionise the world of automotive electronics and the first contract, worth nearly £1m, has already been secured.

As part of the ‘new product’ journey, Brandauer also invested heavily in Visi Vero CAD/CAM software and Microsoft Dynamics Navision, a state-of-the-art Enterprise Resource Planning system that helps to optimise processes.

“We are delighted to have won the ‘Innovation in Manufacturing’ Award and shows what SMEs can achieve when they combine industry understanding with an ability to deliver solutions to a common issue,” explained Rowan Crozier, CEO of Brandauer.

“Sharing it with a company the size of JLR is a major boost for our employees and a clear reinforcement that we are doing things right. EloPin® is proving a global phenomenon and we fully expect it to generate over £2m of revenue in 2019.”

He concluded: “The era of digital manufacturing is upon us and the West Midlands is well placed to drive adoption of Industry 4.0 so that it creates wealth and employment.”

The West Midlands Tech Awards are designed to celebrate the people, businesses and organisations who are using digital innovation to drive positive change for the regional economy and its people.

Match made in the West Midlands seals £1.5m Indian export order at Blechexpo

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 08/11/2023

Two West Midlands manufacturers are celebrating 40 years of working together with a major export order secured at Blechexpo.

Brandauer, one of the world’s leading independent metal stampers, has joined forces with Coventry’s Auric Metal Finishers to design, develop and supply bespoke EloPin push fit-connectors for a tier 1 automotive supplier in India.

The £1.5m order will see the Birmingham-based company produce up to 30 million parts annually in 2025 and will help create new jobs in the region.

“This contract involves a very complex component for use in motive control systems and the customer was struggling to source the technology in India, so they turned to the West Midlands for inspiration,” explained Rowan Crozier, CEO of Brandauer.

“We have significant experience in push-fit connectors and were able to tweak our EloPin product to come up with a solution. Better still we can complete all the tooling at our new Precision Tooling Academy we run with In-Comm Training.”

He continued: “The relationship with Auric Metal Finishers was also key to the deal. We understand the way each other works and, its unique ability to deliver reel-to-reel precision plating, ensured we could deliver the finish that was crucial to the end application.

“Export continues to be a major source of revenue and we are delighted that we have been able to sign another landmark deal at Blechexpo, one of the largest events for our sector. There aren’t that many West Midlands firm exhibiting here, but the two of us are doing our bit to put the region on the manufacturing map.”

David Harris, Managing Director of Auric Metal Finishers, added his support: “Our advanced reel-to-reel technology applies coats precisely where you need them and there are not many firms that can deliver that type of pinpoint accuracy in the UK.

“This has meant we have become a strategic supplier to Brandauer over the last four decades, getting involved in the development phase of projects to ensure the right finish and process is specified. Taking this approach can often eliminate unnecessary costs and reduce lead times significantly.

“There is a wealth of manufacturing expertise in the West Midlands and this latest deal with India proves it.”

Established more than 162 years ago, Brandauer make components that are used in 90 per cent of the world's kettles, in re-con drones that save lives, edge connectors for the dimming of rear-view mirrors in 55% of car models and for a high-profile male grooming products used by millions of people.

More than 70 per cent of the company’s current revenue stream comes from overseas business, with billions of components sent every year to the US, China, the Middle East and the EU.

It has been aggressively growing its overseas order book through a concerted digital marketing campaign, trade delegations with Innovate Edge and by exhibiting at international shows like CoilTech and now Blechexpo.

Rowan, who is also an Export Champion for the Department for International Trade concluded: “We are only halfway through this event and have already taken 25 new business opportunities.

“There definitely appears to be an appetite for buying British and wanting to tap into our design and innovative stamping and tooling capabilities. Come along to Hall 6, Stand 6102 to find out all about it.”

For further information, please visit www.brandauer.co.uk. More details on Auric Metal Finishers can be found at www.auric.co.uk

Brandauer Makes Its First Ever Acquisition With Purchase Of CB Cable Clips

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 27/03/2019

The company behind the self-adhesive cable clip has been acquired by one of Birmingham’s longest-established manufacturers.

Brandauer, which is a specialist in metal pressings and stampings, has purchased CB Cable Clips in an undisclosed deal that will safeguard three jobs, create two new positions and see all customers, intellectual property (IP), stock and assets transferred over.

Under new ownership, it is expected that the business has the potential to double its £110,000 annual sales over the first twelve months and will complement its own product range that currently includes turnkey precision tooling, motor laminations and Elopin ® press-fit connectors.

It is the first acquisition Brandauer has ever completed in its 157-year history and is part of an ambitious growth plan that will see it achieve £10m turnover by the end of 2020.

“We have been manufacturing the CB Cable Clip range under a sub-contract agreement for more than 40 years so are synonymous with the innovation and the production process,” said Brandauer CEO, Rowan Crozier.

“When the possibility of selling was sounded out, it seemed the logical decision to incorporate the business into Brandauer. We knew the quality and customer service expected, we knew the delivery patterns and, most significantly, it was another product we could add to our growing range.”

Brandauer is now looking to double the size of the CB Cable Clip team and it believes there is an opportunity to access new markets and customers.

Brandauer will manufacture and supply the CB Cable Clip range of versatile self-adhesive, aluminium cable clips that offer a quick, strong and economical method of fixing round, bunched or ribbon cables easily and without causing damage to clean, dry surfaces.

The adhesive is strong, durable and acts instantly for quick and easy installation for customers spanning domestic building, construction and industrial.

Since the invention came to market in 1972 more than 566 million clips have been produced and used across the world.

Rowan added: “There’s definitely some early growth opportunities for us to cross-sell to existing Brandauer customers and, longer-term, we will be branching out from the B2B marketplace and actively growing B2C platforms.

“This could be through identifying new channels and starting with growing the cable clips demand on eBay and Amazon.”

Brandauer produces millions of high tolerance metal pressings and stampings every week for customers in the plumbing, automotive, domestic products, electrical, medical and renewables sectors.

Most of the products it makes are invisible to the user, but fundamental in making many everyday items work effectively. A few examples are; electrical connectors that are fitted in 90% of the world's kettles, edge connectors for the dimming of rear view mirrors in 50% of modern day cars and over 7 million nose bridge clips per month that are used in medical/personal protection face masks in over four continents.

For further information, please visit www.brandauer.co.uk or follow @cbrandauer on twitter.

Brandauer is also one of the members of the MAN alliance of Midlands specialist sub-contractors. MAN will be amongst the hundreds of members exhibiting at this year's event. To join them, register for tickets by clicking on the banner below and don't forget that for more details on the event, visit our new website - www.madeinthemidlandsexpo.co.uk

Pictured: Rowan Crozier (centre) with members of the Brandauer manufacturing team

Brandauer Secures £500k+ funding to develop new lamination technology

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 24/03/2022

A leading metal pressings specialist has secured more than £500,000 of funding to help it develop new thin gauge laminates for use in an exciting electrification project.

Brandauer, which employs 60 people at its factory in Birmingham, is proving out a manufacturing process for creating special stacks used in a new highly sustainable motor for the light commercial vehicle/off-highway sectors.

The firm is part of the UK-ALUMOTOR consortium that is being led by Ricardo and includes partners Aspire Engineering, Warwick Manufacturing Group, Phoenix Scientific Industries and Global Technologies Racing.

£4m of consortium funding has come from the Driving the Electric Revolution Challenge at UK Research and Innovation, with the consortium tasked with delivering, testing and validating pre-production of a highly sustainable motor with up to a 12kg reduction in rare earth magnets per machine.

Mark Parsons, Innovation Project Manager at Brandauer, commented: “This is another exciting ‘win’ for us and reinforces our growing expertise in paper thin laminations for electric motor stators and rotors.

“If the UK is going to lead the world in electrification, we need to build supply chain capacity and new technology, which is why the UK-ALUMOTOR project is another important step forward in this aim.”

He continued: “The market opportunity is huge. At present, there are 63,000 electric light commercial vehicles made annually, but this is forecast to grow to 282,000 vehicles by 2026, continuing to rise to 345,000 vehicles two years later.”

Brandauer, a proven collaborator through its membership of the Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN), had previously worked with the consortium on a feasibility study for production and this has provided crucial information on geometry, tolerances, material usage and refined production processes.The new funding will help it take this knowledge and put it towards the development of tooling that will create the paper-thin laminates that engineers will then assemble into varying stack sizes for use in the stator and rotor part of the electric motor.

15 staff at the Birmingham firm are expected to be involved in the project, with the new Yamada 80 tonne press due to be used once production of the samples start. Bosses are estimating that this could be worth more than £1m per year if the component is fully realised.

Rowan Crozier, CEO of Brandauer, went on to add: “It is so important that SMEs can access funding to develop new technologies; it minimises the risk we take in undertaking R&D and can sometimes be the difference between us committing to a project or not.

“We are involved in three different consortiums all linked to electrification and it would be great to see a similar focus on other sectors like aerospace and medical that UK manufacturing can exploit.”

Andrew Lane, Principal Engineer and Project Lead for UK-ALUMOTOR at Ricardo, concluded:

“Ricardo is looking forward to working with Brandauer once again. Its ability and expertise in thin laminations for electrical machines will provide a vital part of the jigsaw in realising the UK-ALUMOTOR concept.”

For further information, please visit www.brandauer.co.uk or follow @cbrandauer on twitter

Brandauer’s covid response starts with this clever little clip

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 23/09/2020

Brandauer is the original self-adhesive cable clip manufacturer. It is approaching 50 years now since its inventor established a comprehensive range of clips, some of which are still manufactured at Brandauer today, as they were all those years ago.

Manufactured in a single production line, ready for packing and onward supply to the distributor or end-user. When received, they’re ready for use straight out the pack. So how are they made and how are they used? This video tells a great story:

The supplied ‘ready to use’ cable clips benefit a wide range of industrial, domestic and leisure applications including DIY projects, industrial lighting and signage manufacture, vending machines, computer hardware, hand driers, audio, TV, telecom and security equipment and installation, vehicle manufacture and many electrical applications.

They’re versatile little components that play a big part in Brandauer’s ongoing product strategy, as the business navigates the covid period with a reshaped product offering.

Product range

The Cable Clips range of self-adhesive solutions offers a quick, strong and economical method of fixing round, bunched or ribbon cables easily, without causing damage to clean and dry surfaces. The adhesive is strong, durable and acts instantly for easy installation.

They mirror the added-value approach Brandauer applies to all product offerings and the capability and capacity for bespoke solutions benefits from the same research and development considerations as other more complex products such as nose-clips, PPE visors, electrical steel laminations and EloPin® Press-Fit.

The off-the-shelf range manufactured and supplied by Brandauer includes: Open Arm, Buckle, Hook and Ribbon clips, all developed for easy cable installation fixing and tidying solutions. Simply snap, peel and stick. This user-friendly approach has also caught the attention of people making use of them at home and in DIY projects – Something we’ll be exploring further in the next blog, focusing on the cable clip range and its retail and DIY presence.

Wider developments

As part of a wider product strategy, Cables Clips has always been present. But whilst it was always stamped at Brandauer, it wasn’t until its acquisition last year that Brandauer could scale up this incredible product range.

Fully rebranded as Cable Clips by Brandauer, it now perfectly complements the other Brandauer owned products, from turnkey precision press tooling, motor electrical steel laminations, and EloPin® press-fit connectors, to a series of new developments created as a reaction to immediate needs since the effects of covid-19 hit the world.

The four product ranges mentioned above are now further complimented by the manKIND Visor, a Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN Group) project that saw the collaboration of manufacturers design and produce an easy to assemble face visor to meet the increased demands for low cost, high quality Personal Protection Equipment (PPE).

With 20,000 units already donated to the front-line heroes in the NHS, Brandauer has taken up the mantle of manufacturing for the commercial market, with plans in place to expand the PPE product line.

There is other covid-related product development too – a handy no touch gadget and the development of Brandauer’s own facemask nose clip – a component it has supported existing customers with for over 20 years.

£1m Precision Tooling Academy set to reverse toolmaking skills crisis

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 14/11/2022

£1m Precision Tooling Academy set to reverse toolmaking skills crisis

The UK’s first ever Precision Tooling Academy has been launched thanks to a pioneering partnership between In-Comm Training and Brandauer.

Over £1m has been invested by the two strategic partners to create a commercial toolroom in the training provider’s facility in Aldridge, which will produce complex tooling, as well as acting as a professional training ground for the toolmakers and designers of the future.

This is a vital move for domestic industry, with the sector being held back by a severe lack of toolmakers and the very real possibility of losing these essential skills forever as older workers choose to retire.

The Precision Tooling Academy aims to reverse this trend by offering companies access to professional toolmaking courses, upskilling opportunities for qualified engineers looking to diversify their skills and a Level 6 Tool Process Design Apprenticeship to develop the next generation of talent.

Training will be unlike anything currently on the market, with up to 35 individuals in the first twelve months able to learn on live tooling projects that will be producing hundreds of thousands of parts every week and will give Brandauer and other tooling experts the opportunity to reshore more manufacturing projects from Asia, the EU and the US.

In a massive stamp of approval, a major car manufacturer has agreed to be the first company to put their engineers through the toolmaking course and has contributed to the actual development of the curriculum.

Gareth Jones, Managing Director at In-Comm Training, commented: “We have always placed employers at the heart of our approach to skills and, through our close relationship with Brandauer, identified a real demand to create and upskill engineers into world-class toolmakers.

“Lots of conversations turned into a rough plan to create an advanced training academy that is embedded into a live commercial toolroom. This would serve two purposes…provide the best possible hands-on practical and theoretical training, whilst also giving the precision stamping specialist additional capacity to meet the growing global demand for more UK made tools. A win-win and we’ve both backed it to the tune of £1m.”

He continued: “Brandauer has jointly developed the course syllabus around its own proven tooling development process, whilst we have contributed our years of expertise in vocationally balanced delivery to offer truly unique course content.

“This isn’t just a ground-breaking project for our two businesses, but for manufacturing as a whole. We immediately have provision for 35 training places, yet this could easily expand with more companies getting involved…this is open to everyone, whether you are an OEM or part of the supply chain.”

The Precision Tooling Academy has also attracted the support of Inventive Engineering & Design and Hexagon, who will bring product development, jig and fixture design and VISI die making expertise to the fore.

Unique to the toolmaking sector, the latter is an end-to-end CAD/CAM solution that is used in the design, simulation and manufacture of progressive & stamping dies and supports all parts of the process.

“This is a real industry collaboration featuring some of the best names in training, toolmaking and tool design,” added Rowan Crozier, CEO of Birmingham-based Brandauer.

“We are talking about one of the ‘great’ manufacturing disciplines and we’re in a real pinch point now where a lot of the skills could be lost forever with people retiring.

“This Academy – with more than £1m invested in a GF AgieCharmilles and Mitsubishi wire EDM machines, CNC machines, grinders and ZwickRoell material testing equipment and Hexagon scanning arm - will begin to address this issue, as well as giving us additional toolroom capacity to produce commercial tools that will help us grow.

“Return on investment for companies looking to get involved is relatively quick, with an average toolmaker recruitment fee of £6k (if you can find them) and £1k savings from every press tool set right, first time.

“Exchange rates are already boosting a recent reshoring trend that has seen us win new tooling projects back from China and other low-cost countries.”

The toolmaking programme features 12 different units, ranging from manufacturing process, costing and strip layout to understanding the bill of materials, using a wire EDM machine, part validation and problem solving to ensure the tools work when they are built.

Apprenticeships will also be offered in the form of a Level 6 in Tool Process Design, an advanced course that has been shaped in partnership with the Confederation of British Metalforming (CBM).

The latter will be a crucial ambassador and the End Point Assessment Centre for the qualification, which covers CAD training, blanking/form tools, simulation, SMED and lean and APQP/PPAP quality certifications.

Gareth Jones concluded: “Our approach is all about bringing industry and training specialists together to ensure we deliver current and future skills.

“With this in mind, In-Comm and Brandauer are both part of the Level 3 Toolmaker and Tool & Die Maintenance Technician trailblazer group, which is rewriting the way training is delivered. This should be launched in time for the September 2023 cohorts, creating a further 30 spaces for the engineers of the future.”

For further information, please visit https://in-comm.co.uk/tooling-academy-launch/.

Caption for In-Comm Precision Tooling (Group): (L-R) Marcus Gardner (Hexagon), Geraldine Bolton (CBM), Stuart Berry and Rowan Crozier (both Brandauer), Gareth Jones (In-Comm Training), Adrian Howell (Inventive Engineering & Design) and Bekki Phillips (In-Comm Training).

About In-Comm Training

In-Comm Training, which is rated outstanding by Ofsted, is one of the UK’s leading independent training providers, supporting more than 700 apprentices and 450 companies every year with apprenticeships, upskilling opportunities, and strategic consultancy to improve business performance.

Operating from three world class technical academies in the Black Country and Shropshire, it has pioneered the employer-led approach to skills, engaging with firms to understand their requirements and then collaborating with them on shaping course delivery and the latest development opportunities so you are futureproofing staff for years to come.

The strategic technical partnerships are one of its unique strengths, closely followed by a £7m investment drive that has given learners access to state-of-the-art technology in CNC machining, 3D printing, fluid power and metrology.

About Brandauer

Established in 1862, Brandauer is one of the West Midlands’ best kept manufacturing secrets, producing millions of high tolerance metal pressings and stampings every week for customers in the plumbing, automotive, domestic products, electrical, medical and renewables sectors.

Most of its products are invisible to the user but are fundamental in making many everyday items work effectively. These include electrical connectors that are fitted in 90% of the world's kettles, edge connectors for the dimming of rear-view mirrors in 50% of modern-day cars and hundreds of millions of nose clips for face masks – so important in recent times.

Royal visit marks Brandauer’s 150th year in business

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 21/03/2012

One of Birmingham’s longest established family-owned engineering companies was given a royal seal of approval yesterday as part of its 150th anniversary celebrations.

Brandauer, which started life as one of the City’s most respected pen nib manufacturers, welcomed The Princess Royal to its Newtown factory to showcase the precision components and stampings it currently sells all over the world.

Her Royal Highness Princess Anne was introduced to 11 former employees, existing staff that have more than 550 years service between them, recently qualified apprentices and the family owners, which included the co-founder’s four great-great-grandchildren.

She then viewed an exhibition of the many different Brandauer products from the past century and a half, including a tiny lithographic nib that has been in continuous production for at least 145 years, before viewing first-hand the state-of-the-art wire EDM cell, tool-room and upper press shop that is currently making vision system electrodes for a global automotive client.

The visit ended with HRH Princess Royal unveiling a plaque - made by fellow Midlands Assembly Network member Advanced Chemical Etching - to mark the 150th anniversary.

John Berkeley OBE, Chairman of Brandauer, picked up the story:

“Back in 1887, our co-founder Joseph Letière Petit produced a pen bearing the Royal Coat of Arms to mark Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, so it is a great honour for us to welcome a member of the Royal family here to celebrate our own important milestone.

“Before companies like Brandauer were established, people were writing with birds’ feathers sharpened to a point. The introduction of the steel pen revolutionised writing habits and today we are still at the forefront of innovation, supplying critical components to clean energy generation units and to ground-breaking projects, such as the Large Hadron Collider that will help transform our understanding of the Universe.”

He continued: “The Princess Royal was especially keen to learn about our commitment to training and our desire to use the 150th anniversary to inspire young people, promoting engineering skills and opportunities for the future.

“People have always been the bedrock of our business. Our longest serving employee ever was Mrs Fanny Phillips, who retired in 1961 after 71 years’ service. Today, all of our workforce, both young and old, share the same commitment to innovation and manufacturing excellence.”

Heading for a record £9m annual sales this year, Brandauer currently exports 75% of its sales overseas to more than 20 countries, including millions of components to the United States and China.

The factory tour, which was led by former apprentice and now Managing Director David Spears, featured an in-depth look at a recent international contract win with a tier 1 automotive supplier.

Estimated to be worth £700,000 per year, the order involves the production of specialist components for use in rear view mirrors on premium cars including Audi, BMW, VW and Porsche.

It utilises Brandauer’s ability to design, develop and manufacture the tool, then manage the specialist in-house stamping and heat-treatment processes needed to create an electrode clip form on a continuous metallic strip.
From here, it is then assembled by the Tier 1 customer to the mirror and the finished component carries the electrical current required to darken the glass, thus reducing the effect of dazzle from car lights and improving driver comfort.
Currently shipped direct to the US, the part will eventually find itself in hundreds of thousands of cars in more than 20 countries
Network
Brandauer – one of ten companies that make up MAN (Midlands Assembly Network) - produces in excess of 4 million parts every week for customers in the automotive, aerospace, electronics, medical and alternative energy sectors.

It offers the complete range of services required for the supply of pressed metal components, from prototyping, design and in-house tool production (or a specialist tool transfer service) through to high-quality manufacturing of difficult materials and global logistics.

In addition to the Royal visit, the company is marking its 150th anniversary with new branding, a micro-website and a host of high profile events, including a visit from Lord Digby Jones.

There has also been a book - ‘From Pens to Particle Physics’ – written that charts the historical story of Brandauer, with a special edition given to Her Royal Highness to mark her visit.

This will be used in schools, colleges, universities and elsewhere to help raise awareness of manufacturing in Birmingham and can also be downloaded from the company website.

Former Birmingham apprentice is named as one of the top 20 manufacturing professionals in the UK

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 18/11/2022

A Birmingham-based apprentice turned Manufacturing Director has been named as one of industry’s Top 100 professionals.

Stuart Berry, who joined metal stamping and tooling specialist Brandauer 15 years ago, was recognised by The Manufacturer as an Exemplar in the Innovation, Inspiring Leader and Young Pioneer categories.

The passionate advocate of engineering impressed judges with how he has used vocational learning to progress to the very top of his profession, securing a ‘First Class’ BEng Honours degree in Management of Manufacturing Systems in the process.

Judges at the high-profile event in Liverpool also praised his role in helping the company diversify into new markets, combining a strong production methodology with a commitment to the latest technology, delivering a host of product introductions for a male grooming product, nose clips for face masks and wafer-thin laminations for electric vehicles.

Stuart commented: “There are some things in life that take you completely by surprise and this is one of them. To be named in The Top 100 manufacturing professionals in the UK is a massive honour, to be named an Exemplar in that prestigious field is mind-blowing.

“From the minute I stepped on the shopfloor at Brandauer, I knew I wanted to learn as much as I could and progress in industry. Sometimes it’s about finding the right company that gets you and you get them, that’s what happened here and we’ve both benefitted.”

More than 250 people gathered at The Exhibition Centre in Liverpool last night to recognise the best talent in UK manufacturing.

Stuart, who was joined on stage by Make UK’s Stephen Phipson and Donna Bruce of Northern Lights, has recently played a key role in the development of the UK’s first £1m Precision Tooling Academy in the West Midlands.

A joint project between Brandauer and In-Comm, the purpose-built commercial toolroom will produce complex tooling, as well as acting as a professional training ground for the toolmakers and designers of the future.

Training will be unlike anything currently on the market, with up to 35 individuals in the first twelve months able to learn on live tooling projects that will be producing hundreds of thousands of parts every week and, under Stuart’s guidance, will give Brandauer and other tooling experts the opportunity to reshore more manufacturing projects from Asia, the EU and the US.

Stuart concluded: “Embarking on an apprenticeship has been so good for me and that’s something I want to get across to the next generation…this Top 100 title will definitely help me to do that.”

The Manufacturer Top 100 are the most dynamic leaders and innovators in manufacturing, as nominated by a 265k-strong audience, the wider industrial community, and judged by an esteemed panel featuring leaders of industry, academic institutions and manufacturing associations.

For further information, please visit www.brandauer.co.uk or follow @cbrandauer on twitter.

CE certification for manKIND visor as manufacturing collective targets 100,000 sales

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 21/01/2021

A group of nine manufacturers, who developed a new recyclable visor to be used in the fight against Covid-19, is celebrating a major milestone in style by securing CE certification for the product.

The Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN), which comprises eight sub-contract specialists and an engineering design agency, has recently supplied its 50,000th manKIND visor and is now looking to double this figure over the next three months.

NHS hospitals, healthcare facilities, charities and a host of commercial organisations have chosen to adopt this form of protection against the virus, benefiting from the easy-to-assemble approach, comfortable fit and the ability to clean and re-use them time and time again.

The CE certification means the visor has been independently clinically tested and approved and is now eligible to be part of the Medilink Midlands ‘Big Ask’ campaign to use West Midlands firms to meet national PPE shortages.

Rowan Crozier, CEO of Brandauer and lead on the MAN project, commented: “Like a lot of companies we wanted to do something to help our frontline staff, so MAN pooled our design, engineering and assembly expertise into creating the manKIND visor.

“Over £30,000 was spent on the tooling, prototyping and manufacture and the first 20,000 were donated to local hospitals, care homes, voluntary organisations and to key workers. After that we’ve been selling them in bulk, business to business on trade account or direct to the consumer via the Brandauer eBay shop and we have seen interest from all over the world.”

He continued: “The CE certification is a big moment for us. We had already got the visors clinically tested, but this stamp of approval is crucial when working directly with some of the biggest companies in the world, not to mention Government’s across the globe.

“We can supply 1 to 5000 off a time, which means it is very flexible for smaller companies and charities. One of our largest purchases was from Make UK, who used the visors to protect their apprentices studying at its dedicated academy in Birmingham.”

All nine MAN companies were involved in the project, with Grove Design coming up with the working prototype and Barkley Plastics using its toolmaking and moulding expertise to create the headband that is critical to the success of the product.

There was no point coming up with a variant of what was already out there, so the collective came up with a visor that is lightweight, easy to assemble with a push clip feature, suitable for repeated use, can be easily cleaned (the headband can even be put in a dishwasher) and includes a full peak for better protection.

Comfort was also a priority and this is reflected in the inclusion of a ‘stretch’ headband that removes the need for a foam band and elasticated straps. Importantly, the user also has space to wear a face mask underneath it and the visor fits a variety of head sizes, making it suitable for adults and children.

This, coupled with it fitting neatly into a standard envelope size, means it is optimised for delivery to both large organisations in bulk or directly to the consumer via eBay.

Rowan went on to add: “The manKIND visor is part of a wider Brandauer approach to supplying crucial PPE, including manufacturing 70 million nose clips per annum for medical face masks across the globe.

“We’ve even successfully secured Innovate UK funding to come up with our own nose clip design and flexible tooling that will support increasing PPE demand and reshoring activities that will generate revenue for UK manufacturing.”

For further information, please visit www.mankindvisor.co.uk or follow Manufacturing Assembly Network on LinkedIn.

Brandauer’s ‘lamination’ expertise set to be in demand at Southern Manufacturing

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 16/01/2019

A Birmingham metal pressings specialist is heading to Southern Manufacturing in February (5th to 7th) in a bid to build on its reputation as a world leader in electrical steel laminations.

Brandauer, which reported a 20% increase in sales in 2018, will be showcasing its ability to produce products that are just 12 to 130 mm in diameter, 0.1 to 0.65 mm thin and consistently accurate to within just 20 microns.

The company can manufacture loose, bonded or interlock laminations, t-segments and ultra-thin components from its 45,000 sq ft world class facility in the heart of the West Midlands.

“The so-called ‘Black Hornet’ is a tiny drone used in law enforcement, with the military and in search and rescue and we have played a crucial role in making it a reality.

Brandauer will also be displaying EloPin®, a groundbreaking press-fit product that allows the solderless connection of terminal pins to a PCB.

Typical applications include engine compartment accessories, overmoulded hybrid parts, vehicle comfort systems, driver assistance technology, in-vehicle network and infotainment systems.

Graham concluded: “We have just sealed a near £1m order for EloPin® and are currently working through a number of quotes to supply customers in five different sectors, who also want to take advantage of this technology.”

For further information, please visit www.brandauer.co.uk or follow @cbrandauer on twitter.

Brandauer toasts Queen’s Award success with £1.5m export boost

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 10/05/2019

A Birmingham metal stamping company is taking on the worlds press-workers and winning after announcing a £1.5m export boost.

Brandauer, which employs 67 people at its state-of-the-art facility in the city, has secured new orders to supply customers in the Netherlands, the United States and, for the first time ever, Israel.

It has helped the family-owned business increase sales to £9.2m and has been a major feature in it recently securing the Queen’s Award for Enterprise (International Trade) - one of only sixteen companies in the West Midlands to achieve the prestigious accolade.

The management team are focused on doubling turnover to £18m by 2022 and have invested £3m in the latest metrology technology and high-speed presses from Bruderer and Yamada to achieve the ambitious plans.

Rowan Crozier, CEO of Brandauer, explained: “There has been a lot of uncertainty with Brexit and falling demand in China, but that hasn’t stopped us actively targeting international business and winning it.

“We have found that our ability to meet exacting tolerances within competitive lead times is in demand, even in the presswork ‘powerhouse’ of Germany where their specialists simply can’t match our turnaround times.”

He continued: “Launching our new products, including Elopin (solderless press-fit connector), CB Cable Clips and turn-key tooling, has also been successful and contributed to the rise in export orders.

“The Queen’s Award really is the icing on the cake and testament to the hard work, commitment and innovation all of our staff have put in to help make us a world leader.

“It’s rare for a company of our size to achieve this accolade and we know it is going to be a fantastic marketing tool when tendering for more work in the United States and targeted expansion into consumer markets.”

Most of the products it makes are invisible to the user, but fundamental in making many everyday items work effectively. These include electrical connectors that are fitted in 90% of the world's kettles, edge connectors for the dimming of rear-view mirrors in 50% of modern-day cars and 7 million nose bridge clips per month - used predominantly in medical/personal protection face masks over four continents.

85% of the firm’s current £9.2 million annual sales is exported to international markets, half of which is direct from its factory in Birmingham. This has gone up 4% year-on-year since 2015 and has seen it operate in more than 22 countries, including traditionally ‘hard to break’ territories of Israel, the USA, Saudi Arabia and Germany; the home to its most intense competition.

Rowan went on to add: “What has been really pleasing is how the surge in orders has gone across our main areas of expertise, ranging from a grab ring business ‘win’ worth £500,000 to a turnkey tooling and stamping process in the US, worth the best part of £450,000.

“The real breakthrough moment for our business though was the contract in Israel, where we are supporting the expansion of a subscription razor company by producing the stainless steel frames the blades are fixed to. The lead came from a social media video and, when ramped up, will be around £1m per year in revenue.”

Brandauer is part of the Manufacturing Assembly Network, a collective of 8 sub-contract manufacturers and a specialist engineering design agency who work together to win work at home and abroad.

For further information, please visit www.brandauer.co.uk or follow @cbrandauer on twitter

‘Apprentice Power’ helps Brandauer secure £500,000 ‘nose clip’ reshoring opportunity

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 26/03/2021

The power of young minds has played a key role in the launch of a new modular tooling approach that is enabling the rapid development of new nose clip designs for use in face coverings all over the world.

Brandauer, Made in the Midlands member and one of the UK’s leading metal pressings and stamping specialists, has employed six apprentices in the roll-out of its Quick Clip Tool modular tooling concept, which was one of the first in the country to win funding from Innovate UK’s Covid-19 Business-Led-Innovation in Response to Global Disruption fund.

Part of the Manufacturing Assembly Network (MAN), the company used £75,000 to develop a quick changeover capability to a progression tool, giving it the option to manufacture the clips in multiple profiles, widths, thicknesses and lengths.

It has given the Birmingham-based manufacturer the opportunity to win over £500,000 of reshoring business from Asia over the next five years and extends its production capacity to 100 million nose clips per year. This meets a 50% increase in demand from existing customers, as well as selling its own products direct to the marketplace.

“Face coverings have become part and parcel of everyday life and we reacted very early on to ensure our position as a critical supplier was cemented,” explained Rowan Crozier, CEO of Brandauer.

“With funding secured from Innovate UK, we decided to get our young apprentices to lead on the project, with six of them chosen to work on the design, the prototyping, the product introduction and then the actual manufacture.”

He continued: “They were overseen by the senior management team, but the intervention was rarely needed. Instead, we revelled in watching young engineers embrace a task that could save lives as well as being commercially viable for our business.”

Oliver Eskriett and Dean Jones were involved in the design and assembly of the progression tool, with Kaielum Kerr machining and manufacturing the different tooling elements.

Tom Crozier, a second-year Quality apprentice, was in charge of sampling and first article inspection and then it was left to Will King and Kyle Morley to run production on the high-speed Bruderer UK press.

With apprentices now making up 15% of Brandauer’s total workforce, it came as no surprise that the project was managed by New Production Introduction engineer Alex Walton, himself a former apprentice.

Dean Jones picked up the story: “You can’t beat learning on the job and one of the great things about working here is the diversity of products you work on.

“This one was special. We all know the importance of face masks to protect against Covid-19 and this is our own small way of contributing to the fightback. It’s great that it has been a real team effort from the apprentices and that we’ve been able to put what we’ve learned into really good use.”

Established in 1862, Brandauer is one of the West Midlands’ best-kept manufacturing secrets, producing millions of high tolerance metal pressings and stampings every week for customers in the plumbing, automotive, domestic products, electrical, medical and renewables sectors.

Most of the products it makes are invisible to the user but fundamental in making many everyday items work effectively. These include electrical connectors that are fitted in 90% of the world's kettles and edge connectors for the dimming of rear-view mirrors in 50% of modern-day cars.

Rowan concluded: “The modular approach of the Quick Clip Tool can be applied to all quick-turn projects and is something we’re already using to produce suture blades, disposable razor blade substrates and surgical implant componentry.

“It reduces the cost and risk for the client by shortening lead times and using existing tooling. The nose clips alone are worth up to £500k per annum to us, whilst the potential of this technology could be worth four times that.”

For further information, please visit www.brandauer.co.uk or follow @cbrandauer on twitter.

Brandauer secures prestigious Queen’s Award for International Trade

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 10/05/2019

We are delighted to announce that, for the first time in our 157-year history, we are a Queen’s Award for Enterprise winner!

Brandauer, which is one of only sixteen firms in the West Midlands to achieve the accolade, was awarded the International Trade title for our services to making and delivering millions of precision parts across the world every week.

Most of the products we make are invisible to the user, but fundamental in making many everyday items work effectively.

These include electrical connectors that are fitted in 90% of the world's kettles, edge connectors for the dimming of rear-view mirrors in 50% of modern-day cars and 7 million nose bridge clips per month - used predominantly in medical/personal protection face masks over four continents.

Export has been a major feature of our success. 85% of our £9.2 million annual sales is exported to international markets, half of which is direct from our factory in Birmingham.

This has gone up 4% year-on-year since 2015 and has seen us operate in more than 22 countries, including traditionally ‘hard to break’ territories of Israel, the USA, Saudi Arabia and Germany; the home of our most intense competition.

Rowan Crozier, CEO, was delighted with the news: “The Queen’s Award really is the icing on the cake for a great year and testament to the hard work, commitment and innovation all of our staff have put in to help make us a world leader.

“It’s rare for a company of our size to achieve this accolade and we know it is going to be a fantastic marketing tool when tendering for more work in the United States and expansion into consumer markets.”

Brandauer, which is also part of the Manufacturing Assembly Network, will be hosting a special awards reception later in the year for all of its staff, where it will officially receive the Queen’s Award for International Trade from the Lord-Lieutenant of the West Midlands.

For further information, please visit www.brandauer.co.uk or follow @cbrandauer on twitter

Funding boost for Brandauer as it targets 100 million face mask ‘nose clip’ opportunity

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 11/06/2020

Made in the Midlands member Brandauer, a metal pressings and stamping specialist has secured £50,000 funding to help it develop a solution for easing global shortages of PPE in the face of Coronavirus.

Brandauer is one of the first companies in the country to be awarded Innovate UK-backing through its Covid-19 Business-Led Innovation in Response to Global Disruption competition and is now setting its sights on increasing its capacity to produce more than 100 million nose clips for use in face masks every year.

Speaking about the goal of the funding, the company has said that it will use the £50,000 grant to develop its ‘Quick Clip Tool’ modular tooling that will add a quick changeover capability to a progression tool, something that has never been offered to the PPE marketplace before. This means the clips can be developed and manufactured in multiple materials, such as steel or aluminium and can be produced in various widths, thicknesses and lengths.face

The project will take about five months to be complete, with the aim to be completed in November 2020, and once in place at the firm’s Bridge Street West factory, will allow Brandauer to increase supply to existing customers and open up production capacity to other clients.

Rowan Crozier, CEO of Brandauer spoke about the impact of Coronavirus saying, “Covid-19 has increased the demand for face masks exponentially across the world and, following the Government’s ‘mandatory’ on public transport announcement yesterday, it appears they will form an important part of the new normal for the foreseeable future.

It is anticipated that we’ll need more than 10 million units every month for the UK alone, fuelled no doubt by the growing DIY face mask industry. With this in mind, there is a big opportunity for a company that can offer access to fast capacity and inexpensive tooling flexibility in how clips are developed and manufactured.”

Rowan went on to say, “Having supported our existing customers with this product for over 20 years we knew what was required, but needed the additional production capability to take on new projects, including the possibility of our own nose clip production.

“The solution lay in a modular tooling concept and the Innovate UK funding is going to play an important role in supporting the initial prototyping, testing and manufacture of it.

“The Quick Clip Tool, as we’re calling it, is absolutely massive for our business and should allow us to increase the number of clips we supply from 24million a year to 100million. This is an immediate £500,000 opportunity at a time when some sectors have reduced volumes.”

This latest funding boost will give it the capability to manufacture its own nose clips that are perfect for nose bridge support and improved sealing on your homemade face masks – this follows the successful launch of its own product EloPin®, a press-fit pin that enables the solderless connection of the pins to a PCB.

“UK manufacturing has really risen to the multitude of challenges presented by Covid-19 and, thanks to the support of Innovate UK’s latest competition, we will be able to help address global PPE shortages around face masks,” added Rowan.

He concluded: “The next twelve months are going to be extremely demanding, there’s no getting away from that. However, the ‘Quick Clip Tool’ has the potential to make up for some of our sectors that are taking a little bit longer to emerge from the lockdown.”

Brandauer passes 1.5bn components as it looks to put Southern Manufacturing & Electronics under the ‘Micron’

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 30/01/2018

A leading independent stamping and presswork specialist is proving that the best things in manufacturing come in small packages.

Brandauer, which employs over 60 people at its state-of-the-art factory in Birmingham, produced more than 1.5 billion components last year that were accurate to a tolerance of 20 microns the best performance in their 156-year history.

The firm has invested heavily in high speed press technology, a wire edm cell and the skills of its workforce to help it grow the number of small and technical parts it produces by over 10%...equating to more than £1m in sales.

Typically, customers are looking to purchase electrical steel laminations that are used in engines for electric cars, in aerospace projects and innovative renewables technology.

Brandauer has just launched a new video called What is a Micron to capitalise on this trend and this will be on displayed on Stand H200 at Southern Manufacturing & Electronics 2018 (6-8^th Feb).

A human hair is 50 microns thick so that gives you an idea of the parameters we are working towards, commented Graham Allison, Technical Sales Manager at Brandauer.

Increasingly, our customers are taking on more technical projects and these require small parts, often in very difficult materials to process, such as 316, 304, 301 stainless steel and many non-ferrous materials like brass and a variety of copper alloys.

He continued: We are perfectly set up to handle these and we have already secured two new contracts already in 2018. Southern Manufacturing is an ideal event to showcase our capabilities and meet potential clients from multiple sectors.

What is a Micron? film is set in the heart of Brandauers 45,000 sq ft facility in the West Midlands and uses machining engineer Steve Clorley to put the size into context against a backdrop of processes, machinery and manufacturing skill.

The four-minute video, which has already had nearly 500 views, takes the viewer through the importance of producing to exact tolerances, some of the materials involved and the end applications. It also features digital animation of the tooling process.

Graham concluded: Well also be showcasing EloPin® press-fit technology at Southern Manufacturing, which allows the solderless connection of terminal pins to a PCB.

The aim is to produce millions of components every year for customers involved in automotive electronics and those looking for increased efficiency and robustness in interconnects.

You can visit the company at Stand H200 at Southern Manufacturing & Electronics. For more information, please visit www.brandauer.co.uk, follow @cbrandauer on twitter or watch the Micron video here:

HSBC Global Connections Regional Winner

C Brandauer & Co Ltd — 09/04/2013

Following its nomination as a Midlands regional finalist and International Exchange visit to Dubai, C Brandauer & Co Ltd has been declared a regional winner in the HSBC Global Connections initiative.

Celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, Brandauer & Co Ltd is a fifth generation family-owned business that is flying the flag for UK manufacturing.
The company is a world-class manufacturer of precision stamped components to exacting requirements, exporting 75% of what it produces to China, India, the USA and the Middle East.
Supplying a diverse range of markets from electronics and telecoms to the medical, automotive, renewable and mil-aero sectors, Brandauer specialises in the development and manufacture of innovative component solutions in difficult materials.

Our unique selling point is that we always take on the impossible, says Sales & Marketing Director Rowan Crozier. Thats why customers come to us. They present a handful of prototype parts and ask us to develop a process to produce 100 million of them a year we thrive on challenges like that.
From making pen nibs when the company first started to producing components for fuel cells that will provide the power generation of the future, its been quite a journey for Brandauer and one that was rewarded when the company was selected as a regional winner in the HSBC Global Connections initiative.

I am surprised and very proud. Winning this award is down to the hard work of the entire Brandauer team. Were constantly punching above our weight and there were some real heavyweights around us last night, all worthy contestants, says Crozier.

For us to win this on the back of our 150th anniversary really is the icing on the cake and reflects the passion for UK manufacturing that everyone in the business has.

As a regional winner, Brandauer gains access to lending of up to £6bn and a financial reward of up to £120,000, funding that will provide a real boost.

Were always striving to take the business forward into the future and to win gives us a real springboard to progress our business plan, says Crozier.

Its exciting times ahead for Brandauer as it marks its 150th year of trading with the Global Connections Regional win and continues its push to be recognised internationally as a world-class independent high-precision metal component specialist.

The next five years are about strengthening our already dominant position in new technology markets, delivering increased sales and profitability through innovation and investment across the entire business. says Crozier.