Pressmark

Pressmark Investment in Metal Pressings Continues

Pressmark — 03/05/2019

Despite the automotive sector showing 2019 Q1 passenger car registrations down year on year and UK passenger car production down too, Pressmark have continued to invest in their future. Given the tough market conditions and the uncertainty of BREXIT, the company have had to invest in building stock levels to cover any risk that may happen if and when BREXIT happens. This scenario has had an impact on cash that was budgetted for other investements, such as upgrading software and investment in staff education, but it didn't stop the business in taking the strategic opportunity to further its offering to the market.

After succcessfully applying for an ERDF grant, Pressmark "pushed the button" on the investment and work is now underway to build the foundations for the 500 Tonne progression press. Les Wilkins said, "This technology, at this size, is something we don't currently have and will compliment the other 26 presses that we have on this site. Our last press investment was an AIDA 200 Tonne progression press and this is now running at 65% capacity, just on automotive pressings." Wilkins went on to say that "Given the work we are currently quoting for, this 500 Tonne progression press is spot on. We've already managed to fill some capacity from August onwards, so we can't afford to let the project slip at all." Although Pressmark have a variety of presses, one even a 1,200 Tonne press, this new investment fills a gap in the market which they have not been previously able to take advantage of.

Coming up to the 3rd anniversary of new ownership, the busness has grown significantly, especially given the downturn in the sector. With a strong focus on strategy, the new 3-strong team, which includes Wilkins, has ensured that the business has turned around its fortunes and is clearly heading in the right direction. John Nollett, CEO, also a member of the MBI team said, "We had a vision and a strategy prior to investing in the company and although we still have a way to go, we are on target to acheive our goals. Although this year has been tough, it has allowed us to focus on other areas of the business that were previously under capitalised." With the first two years under their belt, the company has seen 20% year on year growth, not only from market growth, but from the addition of new customers in new sectors.

Looking at this hole in the ground and the excitement on the teams faces, you can see this is going to be yet another success story for this passionate and focussed team.

Pressmark Pressings joins leading Midlands industry network

Pressmark — 24/11/2017

Pressmark Pressings has joined the leading Midlands manufacturing and engineering membership group Made in the Midlands (MIM).

The decision to take membership is part of an ambitious growth strategy that will see the businesses work towards £10m of annual sales, a 33% increase since the current management team completed the MBI just over twelve months ago.

Like many other fellow members, we have joined Made in the Midlands to win new business, collaborate, raise our profile and source Midlands based suppliers, explained John Nollett, Chief Executive of Pressmark Pressings.

We join an industry network of movers and makers that is proactively bringing together the regions engineering talent to challenge the status quo that UK manufacturing is on the retreat. It is quite the opposite, with the last twelve months seeing a further resurgence in domestic output and increasing interest in our ability to design, add value and innovate.

He went on to add: The Midlands is the heartbeat of UK industry and we should do everything we can to attract trade and investment to the area, as we look to provide sustainable growth and new jobs.

Established in 1972, Pressmark Pressings is a specialist in high quality metal pressings and resistance welded assemblies, traditionally supplying white goods and automotive although the order book is now growing to encompass industrial products and construction.

On its current site in Carylon Road, the firm has 26 large bed presses, ranging from 150 to 1200 tonnes allowing for the production of different size products in both standard metals and exotic alloys.

The company, which has created over 25 full time jobs since the MBI, also boasts a strong production engineering capability, working with customers on tooling design to ensure components are produced efficiently and cost effectively.

Pressmark Utilise Sensors to Collect Data and Improve Business Processes

Pressmark — 17/08/2021

The Manufacturing Information Platform (MIP) created by WMG, part of the University of Warwick, has been helping Pressmark collect data to improve its manufacturing processes. So far the technology has helped the business analyse machine downtime, discover the bottleneck and change the process in order to become more time-efficient.

Atherstone-based high-quality metal pressings firm Pressmark has been continuously improving business throughout its longevity, regardless of challenges brought on by the pandemic. With the knowledge and capability of supporting a wide variety of clients, the firm strives to improve its customers' experience through collecting data and reducing downtime where possible.

In an article published by WMG, they said: “At Pressmark Pressings Ltd, we are using this data to show a dashboard of the production rate compared with targets. This helps the management team see where issues are arising that impact productivity. This is critical in the very challenging environment as industries recover from lockdown restrictions.”

WMG provided Pressmark with sensors that have been installed on the company’s press machines. This new automated software is allowing Pressmark to collect data about them, specifically temperature, vibration, and cycle accounts and thus showing where variants are to be calculated when the machines are most efficient.

The data collected from the sensors has already proven to be making a difference in the business. For example, Pressmark noticed unnecessary downtime in production due to materials not being readily available at the machine when it was ready to go. However, with the help of sensors, they will be able to send a signal to the materials handling area to ensure they are with the machine at the right time. John Nollett, Managing Director of Pressmark, said:

“Understanding what is going on in the process and what we can do to improve it is invaluable to the business. It allows us to create a better experience for our customers and understand what stage our machines are at. The sensors tell us more about the number of vibrations coming from a machine, the more vibrations indicate that there may be an issue with the tools or machine deteriorating. This gives us time to plan ahead and provide maintenance for the tools or the press. Automating our products in this way leaves less chance for error than with a manual process”

The integration of modern technology with older, more traditional equipment has been having a positive impact on Pressmark. From reducing downtime to becoming more efficient and saving on cost. On top of giving the company the chance to change its manufacturing processes, this change has also made the company more competitive and gain the capacity to provide to more customers. However, this isn’t the end of automation at Pressmark, as they also plan to utilise cameras in the future to quality check products and more.

Productivity investment plays its part in PRESSMARK’s sales success

Pressmark — 29/11/2017

PUSHING up productivity has been a core strategy for components maker Pressmark Pressings since a new management team bought into the business last year.

Investment in new machinery will now add the equivalent of 140 working hours a week as new owners chief executive John Nollett, chairman Les Wilkins and finance director Alan Gardner continue the firms transformation.

Turnover is on track for £9.5 million in 2018 .......read more here