Samuel Taylor Ltd

Samuel Taylor exhibit at Railtex 2015

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 10/05/2015

Worcestershire precision engineer Samuel Taylor (STL) is on track for growth by diversifying into the rail sector.

STL will be exhibiting at the UK's biggest rail event, Railtex exhibition, NEC, Birmingham on the 12-14th May. Show organisers expect more than 10,000 rail professionals and 430 suppliers over the show's 3 days.

Rail opportunities
The rail revival worldwide has been quite spectacular, fuelled by rising energy costs, governments across the globe have recognised the efficiency advantage that investing in rail provides.
According to the rail delivery group, the UK rail industry helps increase the output of the Country by £10.5billion.
In a study compiled by Siemens, research claimed in major US cities such as Los Angeles, high speed rail had helped create 55,000 new jobs and more than $3billion in new wages through the high speed innovation.

Whilst the high speed debate brings out strong feel on both sides there is no denying the immediate benefit to the engineering sector. Samuel Taylor are one such company that want to be able to take advantage of these opportunities.

UK advantage

Carl Siviter, Sales Manager, said, "UK manufacturing at the moment is a very competitive market to source from, even more competitive than Germany."Exhibitions like Railtex provide a platform to explore emerging and growth markets.
Whilst the UK is extremely buoyant because of its automotive sector, Carl suggests caution and believes manufacturers need to have a diverse customer base.

As a business with more than 100 years history, cautious optimism is probably a good way of describing Samuel Taylor.

Carl adds, "The UK has a very good supply-chain and we have capacity to supply much more into the rail sector. We have to make sure we are not losing out on business that should be won by UK businesses.
"Samuel Taylor are exhibiting to demonstrate their own capabilities to the sector but also to learn what opportunities exist in the sector and meet likeminded people."

Carl recently returned from a business visit to China where the business secured a contract, demonstrating the international demand for UK engineering.
In the 21st century OEM's and tier one suppliers are no longer geographically bound, companies can source from anywhere in the world, UK businesses have a lot of heritage and skills. With rising wages in developing countries, combined with innovations in automation and a strong economy the UK is now an attractive place to do business and can compete globally.

Samuel Taylor will be at the railtex show on the 12th may until the 14th may, please visit us at the show or visit www.samueltaylor.co.uk

Taking British engineering into the future with composite solutions

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 19/09/2012

Greater use of bimetal and trimetal bonded composites could solve many problems and generate significant cost savings for British engineering companies, claims contacts materials specialist Samuel Taylor Limited (STL).

Alastair Gordon, STL Managing Director adds that many British engineers are unaware of the cost of contact problems and that when the issues are discovered often a lot of time and money has already been wasted. He is urging firms to think now about qualities they are likely to need in contact and other metal parts and how to save both time and money by speaking to suppliers.

“Bimetals, which consist of silver and copper are our legacy products”, explained Mr Gordon. “They consist of a silver cladding onto a copper substrate. More recently we have introduced bonded trimetal composites which consist of silver alloys, copper and nickel 200. The nickel is there to provide a very thin weldable backing, the copper to provide an effective heat sink and to allow for an absolute minimum of expensive silver alloys. This allows switches which traditionally used say 0,3mm of silver alloy to run just as well but with only 0,1mm or even 0,05mm silver alloy – giving huge savings in cost".

The belief at STL is that British firms have still to realise the benefits of trimetal bonded composites to replace solid welded or bimetal rivet constructions for their contacts. However there is still scope for greater use of bimetal bonded composites using other materials and in other applications, such as the fuse industry. The desire of STL to utilise such knowledge and work with other firms has lead to numerous successes in diverse projects such as the development of electrical parts for hybrid cars and even adhesively bonded products designed and successfully tested, to destroy Improvised Explosive Devices on the battlefield.

More specifically, within the fuse industry, most high performance fuses use fine silver elements which are designed to blow at very specific fault conditions. Needless to say the actual requirement for the silver is in very limited and specific area of the fuse element and STL has market leading position in the design and manufacture of this edge to edge bonded composite which concentrates the silver only where it is needed.

Regarding hybrid and electric vehicles, the company is working on aluminium and copper composites used to link lithium ion batteries and producing more efficient heat sinks for electronic devices used in the control circuits.

Another early stage working prototype has been the creation of a new bonded composite material including a ceramic-like material which does not expand with heat but retains the conductivity of copper. This material is designed to withstand high temperature fluctuations without moving and cracking the joints between the busbar and the high power thyristors. A thyristor is one of several controllable semi conductor devices that can act either like a switch, rectifier or as a voltage regulator and is very much in demand for EV and hybrids.

Samuel Taylor’s understanding of materials has been applied to the defence sector. This involved the creation of customised products which could, it claims, make better use of the Munroe Affect than products currently on the market to safely destroy Improvised Explosive Devices or IEDs. In this case STL combined the use of copper a relatively dense but inert element with magnesium which burns at very high temperatures to create something of a fast moving fireball capable of penetrating more than 500mm of sand and cement and exploding anything volatile in its path.

Even the use of two or three different materials combined into one single stamping is another of STL’s successes, saving its customer millions of pounds by using only the expensive material where it is actually needed. In this example of STL’s out of the box thinking created composite parts made from steel and phosphor bronze assembled and stamped at more than 100 parts per minute using STL’s own inhouse design and build presstooling.

All projects indicate the understanding Samuel Taylor Limited has of composite materials coupled with an out of the box thinking style of thinking – knowledge and experience which the company is keen to exploit for other Engineering businesses.

Samuel Taylor Announce ISO 9001 Recertification

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 23/06/2021

Manufacturer of precision stamped components, assemblies and strip bonding of precious bi-metals, Samuel Taylor Ltd, has received the recertification of ISO 9001:2015.

ISO 9001:2015 is an international standard dedicated to Quality Management Systems

Bogdan Dumitru Quality Manager, said: “In my opinion, quality systems and quality teams help to build a manufacturer’s reputation. Our customers look at how well defined our systems are, how in control we are before they even consider using us, often it represents a defining factor with regards to them choosing to work with us or not. Whilst we always strive to improve, we feel that what we now have in place, provides a strong platform from which the company can achieve future growth.”

The Made in Group would like to congratulate the team at Samuel Taylor Ltd for their recent achievement.

Focus on quality and inspection key to STL success

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 25/10/2019

Earlier this year, Redditch based presswork and metal contact specialist Samuel Taylor Limited (STL) became one of the first manufacturers in the UK to attain the conversion from BS18001 to ISO45001 standard certification for Health and Safety.

The achievement was no mean feat but looking beyond the headlines, it becomes clear that this is part of a much bigger picture, one of a companywide philosophy of putting quality and inspection first and a desire to continuously improve.

STL Quality Manager Bogdan Dumitru tells us more…

“I joined the company nearly 3 years ago as an Operations Analyst, conducting risk analysis and control plans, before gradually getting more and more involved with quality” comments Bogdan.

“After taking over the running of the 6-person strong STL Quality Assurance (QA) team in 2018, I decided to focus on the integration of the Health & Safety and Quality Management systems into one single system.

“The Quality Assurance and Health & Safety systems were overlapping, so it made sense to bring them together. As a result, it is easier to maintain and audit, less time consuming and more efficient. I believe achieving ISO 45001 is partly a reflection of our success in doing this. Furthermore, by integrating them, it gives us the opportunity of also obtaining an environmental accreditation. Rather than starting from scratch for this, we already have a solid foundation” adds Bogdan.

The STL QA team have also modernized every day procedures, moving towards more comprehensive documentation of manufacturing processes.

Bogdan continues: “We are continuously upgrading the way that we record what we do, such as better documentation of standard operating procedures. The company is well established and has always benefited from a hands-on director approach. As a result, whilst we all fully understand and communicate our KPI’s, we should also ensure that we record it to the extent required”.

Comprehensive documentation will be key to ensuring that the company is successful, should they continue pursuing to gain the IATF Automotive qualification, according to Bogdan.

“We have automotive customers already, and whilst it is not mandatory for us to have the IATF Automotive qualification, it will mean being audited less by customers and enhances our credibility. We are already operating with the required best practice procedures, we simply need to enhance the way that we record information relating to production planning and processes, as well as the efficiency and effectiveness of what we are doing. Of course, we know what we are doing and already evaluate how efficient our processes are, but documenting this more comprehensively will without question continue to benefit us”.

There is a tangible desire for continuous improvement within the STL company culture, embodied not only by the philosophy of the QA team, but also by the organisation’s ongoing commitment to supporting the team with investments in new technology.

Earlier this year, STL announced a £500,000 investment as part of a focused effort to increase capacity and efficiency. The additional production capacity needed better and faster QA tools to maximise the investment payback, so STL moved to invest in their first Keyence Image Dimension Measuring System.

The investment ensured that the QA team can now perform high-precision measurements, automatically record data, and generate reports with the push of a button, improving quality assurance, enhancing in-house inspection capabilities and efficiency, as well as dramatically reducing QA inspection times.

“The Keyence machine came in addition to our CMM, which is also a great piece of kit. Put simply, it eliminates human error. The challenge is to make sure it is well programmed, and it understands what it is supposed to look for, which is our job to ensure happens” adds Bogdan.

“We strive to better ourselves every day and the quality team all share this view with me. I involve my team and do my best to empower them. I am fortunate to have colleagues that have been working for this company for over 20 years and the retained knowledge is immense. We should be tapping into this as part of a cohesive unit”.

STL are a truly global company both in respect of their customers and supplier base. The importance of developing close working relationships with suppliers to ensure the required levels of quality is also an area that Bogdan and his team have paid a significant amount of attention to.

“Good quality suppliers are essential, and we benefit from a great supply chain. We spend a lot of time making sure that suppliers share our values of continuous improvement and buy into this. We have processes that help us monitor suppliers with the ability to invest time in supporting them when required, explaining why we may need things done in a certain way. We build relationships based on trust and mutual respect. It also helps that we have a multilingual workforce that can communicate with suppliers across Europe and beyond, overcoming challenges that may have been caused by things getting lost in translation”.

Moving forward, quality assurance will continue to play a huge part in determining the future success of STL. Bogdan concludes: “In my opinion, quality systems and quality teams help to build a manufacturers reputation. Our customers look at how well defined our systems are, how in control we are before they even consider using us, often it represents a defining factor with regards to them choosing to work with us or not. Whilst we always strive to improve, we feel that what we now have in place, provides a strong platform from which the company can achieve future growth”.

Corporate Social Responsibility audit success for STL

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 04/09/2023

At STL, we are committed to maintaining the highest health and safety and environmental standards, holding the ISO 14001:2015 environmental standard and being one of the first manufacturers in the UK to achieve ISO 45001, demonstrating our ongoing commitment to maintaining a world class, safe working environment.

Recently, STL were successfully audited by a key customer who are an industry leader in smart metering, grid edge intelligence and smart infrastructure technology.

The thorough corporate social responsibility themed audit focused on health and safety and employee wellbeing, with STL achieving excellent results and feedback.

STL welcomes audits such as this from our customers as a demonstration of our commitment to continuous improvement. Alongside six-monthly BSI audits, these activities run smoothly as part of our ongoing operations.

Paul Booth, Factory Manager at Samuel Taylor Limited comments: “Achieving the best possible health and safety and environmental standards is the result of a real team effort by all our shop floor employees and our partner Bob Hughes at Temple Quality Management Systems.

“It is driven by our desire to minimize the negative environmental impact of our operations whilst reducing waste, associated costs and increasing efficiencies across the business. For example, we have succeeded in implementing a robust environmental management system that follows best practices for waste management. This included implementing a systems directive; computer-based tracking of all information required for the standard, along with weekly uploads of documents to prove these items are in practice”.

Naturally for a precision engineering company, we also set ourselves high standards with regards to process quality. From our first certification of BS5750 in 1986 to the current ISO 9001:2015, STL has understood and implemented the improvements in product and process quality, as they became available.

Quality is the philosophy at the heart of what we do.

STL generate a buzz at Middle East Electricity 2019

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 27/03/2019

Precious metal contacts and precision stampings specialist, Samuel Taylor Ltd (STL), recently returned from the Middle East Electricity 2019 EXPO at the World Trade Centre Exhibition in Dubai.

There was a high level of interest in STL’s contact know-how and product range at the company’s first ever show appearance, as part of the UK Pavilion, organised by BEAMA.

The Middle East Electricity 2019 EXPO is the world's leading trade event for the power generation, transmission & distribution, lighting and solar industries.

Carl Siviter and James Cameron staffed the booth for STL and commented, “We had positive and wide ranging discussions with customers old and new during the 3 day event and would like to thank everyone who came to our show stand. We hope to be there again in 2020”.

Historic manufacturer celebrates 125 years in business with focus on battery technology innovation

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 04/03/2024

A 125-year-old precision engineering firm is celebrating their historic milestone by pioneering new production methods for busbars that are found in the next generation of battery technology.

Redditch based Samuel Taylor Limited (STL), manufactures precision stamped components and welded contact assemblies; specialising in the sophisticated bonding of bi-metals such as AlCu (bonded aluminium and copper strip) within the development of battery busbar technology.

2024 marks the company’s 125^th anniversary year.

Since the early 2000’s, STL has been exporting to a global customer base, complimenting the bonding of base and precious metals with precision stamping and the manufacture of electrical contact rivets and welded contact assemblies.

One of STL’s success stories involves producing the dual thickness, contacted busbars used in smart meters. Utilising this core competency, STL recently innovated to manufacture busbars for world’s first fully electric British hyper car and is now utilising decades of metal bonding expertise to explore a variety of other applications within next generation battery technologies.

This is a far cry from the company’s origins. Founded in 1899 by Mr Betts - great grandfather of current owners Alastair and Robert Gordon - the company, based in Lionel Street Birmingham, produced what is known as ‘Sheffield plate’; hot bonded bi-metal plating consisted of silver and copper for products traditionally found in the jewellery industry, handheld mirrors and cigarette cases.

At this time trade would have been extremely localised, with a customer in London plausibly holding the ‘export’ status of some of STL’s existing overseas customers in Europe, North America and China today. 1899 was a notable year for other historical engineering events, as Charles C. Wakefield began the lubricating oil company which would become Castrol, Guglielmo Marconi successfully transmitted a radio signal across the English Channel and the first motor bus appeared in London.

Around 1927 the company diversified into producing electrical contacts utilising its’ expertise in bimetal bonding, supplying markets for electrical switchgear amongst others – thus making it one of the first engineering firms in the UK to do so. Interestingly, only five years later, the 132 kV National Grid started operating as an interconnected set of regional grids.

The 1950’s saw STL commence work on rail focused projects, typically precious and semi-precious metal stamping of components and metal assemblies used in electro-mechanical switches as well as sophisticated bonding of base and precious metals. The company has seen remained a valuable supplier to the industry, supplying small order contacts and items for refurbishment of existing rolling stock. In many cases this would be where the historical supplier has gone out of business or no longer supplies the market, but increasingly this is also for new designs.

As the company grew through the ensuing decades notable milestones include the acquisition of gauge making firm Birmingham Engineering Company Limited in the mid 1950’s, the attainment of the company’s first ISO accreditation in 1988 and the introduction of in-house design and manufacture of press tooling in 1996.

In the early 2000’s STL successfully diversified to produce the dual thickness, contacted busbars used in smart meters – developing core competencies that would enable further diversification into new markets moving forward.

Investment in high-speed rivet sub assembly was made in 2013 and at around the same time, STL commenced the supply of metal contacts into the aerospace sector. 2015 saw further investment totalling £450,000 in the commissioning of a new multi-slide press to increase its production capacity for terminal blocks and circuit breaker components – also including automated box packing equipment and camera technology, which allowed extended manufacturing through evenings and weekends for the high-volume quantities involved in these markets.

Reflecting the company’s ongoing commitment to maintaining a world class, safe working environment, STL became one of the first 100 companies in the UK to achieve the conversion from BS18001 to ISO45001 standard certification for Health and Safety in 2019.

Alongside this, the company announced investments totalling over £500,000 in new machinery and factory space. The investments were part of a focused effort to increase capacity and efficiency and include the purchase and commission of a Forming Machine, an 80-ton Press and an Image Dimension Measuring System. This afforded STL more flexibility in the housing of production machinery and as part of a factory modernisation project, the company also took on an additional 500 square metres of factory space.

By 2020, following the promotion of its’ busbar technology developed for smart metering at several international trade shows, STL were successful in winning work with a leading automotive technology company, specifically for the development of busbar technology. STL’s expertise in metal contacts and the manufacture of precision stamped components and sub-assemblies secured a significant contract to support vehicle electrification, a first for the Redditch manufacturer who specialised in the sophisticated bonding of bi-metals within the development of battery busbar technology.

In late 2020, STL secured Innovate UK funding as part of the ‘Catalysing Green Innovation: Securing the Future of ZEV’ competition.

The funding enabled STL to engage within a collaborative Innovate UK project titled ‘EVBus’, working alongside The Welding Institute (TWI Ltd) with the aim of investigating an innovative Copper to Aluminium bonding technique for use in zero emission vehicle (ZEV) busbars. This represented the start of a working process that culminated in STL being able to create a proprietary cold-cladding process that they can now use to produce AICu aluminium-copper bimetal strip.

The foundation for this was the successful development of a bonding technique that overcomes the challenge of aluminium’s high reactivity to oxygen – which makes it impossible to hot weld as the metals are immiscible. The development has great potential for industry, particularly aligned with the radical changes in automotive technology and the worldwide transition to EVs usage.

Further STL developments with aluminium now include the potential to ‘spot weld’ the two materials - meaning that stampings of aluminium can have copper terminals properly attached.

By 2023, an innovative new production process developed by STL successfully enabled the production of over 70,000 busbars for the battery packs of the world’s first fully electric British hypercar. Busbars are an integral part of EV battery packs. Improving the busbar can lead to lighter packs, extended range, and greater power output.

This was followed by the development of a brand-new dual thickness method of manufacture to enable scalable production of a total of 70,000 busbars in accordance with stringent quality requirements. An evolution of this technique is now being used on prototype shunt for a different application being developed by STL and a Cambridge based design house. STL believe the new production process to be significantly more accurate than simply stamping the component out with a traditional press tool, achieving a +/-0.020 on the dual thickness tolerance on the weldable connector tab.

Presently, STL export globally across four continents supplying the smart metering, electrical, rail, automotive and aerospace sectors amongst others. The company’s long-term success can be attributed to a commitment to both a ‘quality first’ approach and an appetite to innovative, utilising its’ core competencies to solve complex engineering challenges for its’ customers.

Reflecting on 125 years in business, Managing Director and Co-owner Alastair Gordon says: “STL in 2024 has a greater pipeline of potential new products than for a very long time, reflecting the long held can-do attitude within the team in Redditch. This pipeline ranges from the unexpected to the evolutionary, with numerous confidential projects under way that highlight a bright future for the business”.

The company is also marketing its’ 125^th year with the expansion of its’ long-established apprenticeship scheme. Regarding developing the STL engineers of the future via the scheme, co-Director Robert Gordon adds: “AT STL we are committed to growing our own talent through apprenticeships. For many years we have invested in the training and development of apprentice Toolmakers within our in-house Toolroom. 2024 is no different, as we will again take on an apprentice Toolmaker. In addition to that - in what is a company first - we will expand the scheme into new roles, as we recruit for an apprentice Quality Engineer and an Apprentice Technical Support Technician”.

Metal contact specialists to exhibit at Railtex 2019: 14th to 16th May

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 11/04/2019

Samuel Taylor Ltd (STL) will be exhibiting at Railtex 2019, the UK’s premier exhibition of railway equipment, systems and services.

STL, manufactures precision stamped components and metal assemblies typically used in electro-mechanical switches as well as sophisticated bonding of base and precious metals. The company has over 120 years of manufacturing history, and over the past 60 years has developed an in-depth understanding of precious and semi-precious metal stamping for rail focused projects.

Sales Manager at STL, Carl Siviter comments: “STL has been involved in the Rail sector since the 1950’s, supplying small order contacts and items for refurbishment of existing rolling stock. In many cases this would be where the historical supplier has gone out of business or no longer supplies the market, but increasingly this is also for new designs.”

“Railtex gives us a fantastic platform to maintain awareness of STL as a key supplier to the Rail sector, typically for projects related to electro mechanical contact such as signalling or power transfer.”

“Our accumulated know-how dating back to the 1950’s can save the rail subcontractor thousands of pounds on refurbishment projects. Many of the relays and mechanical switches are still in use but not many of the original supply chain manufacturers are still around. STL’s tool storage racks run through the era of British Rail to the modern day, which helps save a significant amount of time and money for rail subcontractors tasked with refurbishing power switches as well as sourcing associated metal contacts and components. Typical refurbishment projects can require only a couple of hundred parts, but if a new design is required, we can assist in the development of that too”.

First staged in 1993, Railtex continues to enjoy strong support from all organisations shaping the UK’s rail industry and has built its reputation as its premier networking event by continuing to attract visiting managers, engineers and buyers at the highest level.

You can visit Samuel Taylor Limited (STL) on stand #B34 at Railtex from 14^th-16^th May 2019 at the NEC Birmingham. https://www.samueltaylor.co.uk/

STL set for more apprenticeship success with training collaboration

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 07/03/2013

Samuel Taylor Ltd (STL) has expanded its long established apprenticeship programme so that it appeals to a wider range of higher education students through a collaboration with Midland Group Training Service (MGTS).

The Redditch based firm specialise in engineering problem solving in the field of contact materials and innovative production engineering solutions. Currently, 10% of the STL workforce started as a home grown STL apprentice aged between 20-27 years old, some of whom have since moved into management positions.

For the first time, the apprenticeship programme also includes three female trainees, against the stereotype that the manufacturing industry is male dominated.

STL are aware of the “out of fashion” misconceptions the manufacturing industry face. The established apprenticeship programme aims to help a younger generation tap into British manufacturing opportunities.

The newly revised programme will offer intensive workshop training alongside tool making experience with specialist metal cutting machines and systems. Previously the four year apprentice programme consisted of a one day per week college course. To better reflect the use of higher education within a realistic engineering environment, the first year of the programme is now committed to a full time course at the Midland Group Training Service.

Alastair Gordon, Managing Director at STL, says “we need graduates who have done proper old fashioned tool making apprenticeships and speak a foreign language or two! Unfortunately they are hard to find, so we grow our own.”

Bob Pittaway, Engineering Training Adviser at MGTS adds “Samuel Taylor Ltd continues to use our local facilities. A skilled workforce can only be maintained by local companies such as Samuel Taylor Limited making the investment and commitment to the training of young people in the engineering disciplines.”

A recent report revealed that the Government needs to do more to protect the future of manufacturing in Britain. Sir James Dyson warned that Britain may face a deficit of 60,000 engineering graduates during 2013 if the talent of tomorrow is not sufficiently educated about the prospects manufacturing holds.

STL believe that their apprenticeship programme helps plug this skills gap because it presents the manufacturing industry as an interesting and productive career choice. Since Samuel Taylor was established in 1899, the firm has focussed on training young people towards protecting and safeguarding their skills within British manufacturing.

Samuel Taylor Ltd launch new website

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 18/02/2013

Samuel Taylor LTD, has completed a total renewal of its website to coincide with the Southern Manufacturing show in Farnborough and the forthcoming exhibition at Hanover Messe. The new website is a complete re-design, allowing the company to showcase both its materials technology of bimetallic strip, tapes and wires and its precision stamping and presswork capabilities.

Many of the recently published STL articles and editorials can also be found on the site, and are available for download. New articles will be placed on the site as they become available, including the soon to be published editorial on STL's continuing committment to its Apprenticeship Programme.

www.samueltaylor.co.uk

£500k investment set to increase capacity for precision metal pressing specialists

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 15/08/2019

Samuel Taylor Limited (STL), the Redditch based metal contacts and precision metal pressings specialist, has announced investments totaling over £500,000 in new machinery and factory space.

The investments are part of a focused effort to increase capacity and efficiency and include the purchase and commission of a Forming Machine, an 80-ton Press and an Image Dimension Measuring System. To provide more flexibility in the housing of production machinery and as part of a factory modernisation project, the company has also taken on an additional 500 square metres of factory space.

STL Sales Manager Carl Siviter comments: “The business has a track record of making investments to ensure that we remain globally competitive. This mindset led us to invest in the purchase and commissioning of a new Forming Machine, complete with tapping, feeder and automatic controls. We also purchased an additional 80-ton Chin Fong Press, with the benefit that it could also be used for development work and if needed, further short term production capacity. We operate in a global marketplace with a diverse customer base, and this level of investment will provide both extra manufacturing capacity and flexibility, as some new projects move forward into mass production”.

Recently, STL became one of the first manufacturers in the UK to achieve the ISO 45001 certification, demonstrating the company’s ongoing commitment to maintaining a world class, safe working environment. In addition to safety, STL’s focus on developing a world class working environment extends to improving quality and operational efficiency.

Carl Siviter adds: “The additional production capacity needs better and faster QA tools to maximise the investment payback, hence why we have moved to invest in our first Keyence Image Dimension Measuring System. We can now perform high-precision measurements, automatically record data, and generate reports with the push of a button. This improves our quality assurance, enormously enhances our in-house inspection capabilities and efficiency, as QA inspection times have been dramatically reduced”.

Strategically the investments also ensure that STL are well positioned for further diversification into new markets, such as automotive, electric vehicles, battery development and hydrogen trains.

STL is one of UK’s leading suppliers for rail, aerospace, marine, defence and automobile sectors working with customers in Europe, China, the Far East, Middle East, South Asia and North America. STL manufactures custom-made electrical contacts using the latest technologies in bi-metal bonding, precision stamping and assembling supported by in-house design and tool making teams.

For more information please visit: https://www.samueltaylor.co.uk/

STL confirms presence at leading event for advanced battery technology

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 15/03/2019

Samuel Taylor Limited (STL), specialists in the manufacture of precision stamped components and metal assemblies used in electro-mechanical switches and sophisticated bonding of base and precious metals, are set to exhibit at the Battery Tech 2019 Expo.

Held at Telford’s International Centre on the 28^th March, Battery Tech 2019 will bring together professionals from across the advanced battery technology industry. The event will provide a unique opportunity to showcase the latest products, technologies and services covering the Battery Management Systems, EV Battery, Battery Storage, Battery Development/ Discovery, Commercial and Mobile Power Device sectors.

The Battery industry is on the cusp of a power revolution with big technology companies investing heavily in the next generation of battery development and energy storage. The emergence of electrification of vehicles within the automotive industry in particular has presented numerous opportunities to suppliers involved in the development of advanced battery technology. The world's fleet of electric vehicles grew to over 4 million units in 2018 and the Electric Vehicle Battery Market is set to reach around £100bn by 2025.

According to Carl Siviter, Sales Manager at Samuel Taylor Limited, the company is perfectly placed to add value as an important supply chain partner to companies developing the next generation of battery technology: “STL has been mass manufacturing smart meter copper busbars for some years. We see a synergy in the electric vehicle market for these types of products and are keen to collaborate and provide successful implementation of scalable manufacturing techniques for the future of battery busbar technology. We are also currently investing in our strip rolling mills to be able to provide copper/aluminium bimetal products.

STL are fully equipped with in-house design and toolmaking capability to support with new and existing projects and we are able to offer prototype samples as well as full-scale production support for presswork components and assemblies”.

Battery Tech 2019 is the only event focused specifically on battery management systems, battery storage strategies that identify how to utilise existing and future technologies and capitalise on the latest breakthroughs to deliver desired performance at a commercially viable cost across components, manufacturing, processing, chemistry and integration.

You can visit STL on stand E8, http://www.batterytechexpo.co.uk/

Over a century of success is Taylor made for Redditch manufacturer

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 08/09/2014

At the turn of the 20th century Queen Victoria was in the final years of her reign and the UK had a cast iron manufacturing base. In fact it was the workshop of the world.

The year is 1896 and Samuel Taylor Ltd (STL) was established. By 1899 it was bought by the predecessors of the current family owner-managers and 2014 marks the 115 year milestone.

Manufacturing has witnessed significant change during this time, good times and bad encompassing battles, wars, boom and bust.

One constant during this period is that Samuel Taylor has always had innovation at its heart. From pioneering the first electrically-driven rolling mill in the early part of the 20th century to becoming the first UK company to start electrical-contact welding in the 1960s.

Now in the 21st century electric vehicle components are made there alongside other pioneering products destined for the consumer market.

Director Alastair Gordon, a fourth generation owner-manager, explains: Weve adapted to change over time and most recently of course, the bust of 2008 was a challenge for the entire industry. However, weve continued to innovate and crucially weve also invested in apprentices and new equipment during incredibly tough times but that strategy has worked for us.

So in the year of their 115th anniversary there is plenty to celebrate. Samuel Taylor was included in the London Stock Exchanges 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain report last year. Illustrating how their futuristic outlook and global approach to manufacturing and delivering quality is paying dividends.

Gordon continued: We thought carefully about how to approach overseas challenges with a pragmatic and everything-is-possible attitude. By providing innovative, precision engineering products developed by highly skilled engineers we now directly export to markets in almost 30 countries across Europe, the Far East, Middle East, South Asia, America and Africa

As a world-class manufacturer, STL has built up an unrivalled reputation for quality products and technical excellence. These products are often complex electromechanical parts produced on highly specialised equipment and tooling designed and built in-house.

STL is currently reviving its traditional links with the rail industry utilising accumulated know-how dating back to the 1960s, coupled to the needs of the 21st century. Rail has been identified by government as being the greenest way for the public to travel and is therefore the focus of a huge amount of investment in projects such as the Thameslink programme, Crossrail and HS2.

Finally, in a drive for continuous improvement the company is planning to achieve TS 16949 in 2015, an automotive driven quality system focused on reducing cost and improving efficiency throughout the business.

Why a strong UK supply chain is important for vehicle electrification opportunities

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 26/10/2021

There is no doubt that the EV and ZEV battery development is becoming increasingly more important to UK based car manufacturers. Take the following announcements from major brands such as Nissan in Sunderland, Vauxhall in Cheshire and JLR at Hams Hall. As a result, the UK is seeing an increasing need for new Gigafactory locations for battery production and assembly that will power the next generation of vehicles.

“Electrical contact bi-metal materials have long been supplied by STL into the power and fuse market, typically using copper and silver combinations. Here lies another of the core processes developed over many years by STL, which could find a new outlet in the developing EV market.”

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Open all hours after investment in tooling and design

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 28/06/2012

A global increase in demand for its ability to produce precious metal contacts and contact materials encouraged Samuel Taylor Limited (STL) to recently invest £160,000 on two new AgieCharmilles EDM machines and an additional £30,000 on LogoPress software & training that seamlessly integrates with the Company’s existing SolidWorks 3D platform.

“We worked on the recent Diamond Jubilee bank holidays“, said Alastair Gordon, Samuel Taylor’s Managing Director. He explained that over 80% of its production is exported and as most of Samuel Taylor’s customers are abroad they don’t stop just because the UK is on holiday.

To meet those demands Samuel Taylor has invested heavily in new equipment which enables it to design and make high quality progression tooling considerably faster than before. It claims that few companies in the UK have the genuine in-house design and manufacturing capabilities which Samuel Taylor has recently invested in.

The GF AgieCharmilles machines, a new CUT 2000 wire EDM and a new DRILL 20, represent the very latest in advanced EDM technology.

The CUT 2000 has a small footprint essential for STL and has been designed for micro-machining and super-precision applications, and is equipped with a whole host of integrated class-leading features. These include its rigid machine base and sophisticated and precise measuring systems (glass scales) for lifelong and repeatable accuracy. The choice of Agie again follows from STL’s older generation Challenge machines which are the backbone of the STL toolmaking facility. “Good service over the years makes the choice easier” said Mr Gordon.

The new CUT 2000 has a universal single wire guidance system allowing the use of all wire diameters, from 0.30mm down to 0.05mm - which extends the flexibility and productivity of the machine. The machine is also equipped with GF AgieCharmilles’ 3rd generation Automatic Wire Changer again essential for STL which has run lights out operations for many years.

The machine features the IPG (digital) Generator which, by carefully monitoring, controlling and adjusting the energy of each spark, delivers excellent and homogenous surface finishes. The incorporation of a Smoothsurf module produces a mirror finish and eliminates secondary polishing operations. STL is running a big R&D project with the machine using carbide and “the results of the finish even surprise us” said Mr Gordon.

This new machine uses the powerful and flexible CNC Vision 5 control system. Supplied with a number of SMART modules, the control eases and speeds-up job set-ups and ensures a reliable and trouble-free machining process.

The Drill 20 is the latest generation of small, highly-productive EDM Drills from GF AgieCharmilles, and the first fast hole burner that STL has acquired.

The hole drill machine is designed for drilling parts in a range of materials (i.e. hard materials such as hardened steel or carbide). Its drilling capability ranges from 0.3 to 3.0 mm diameter through a depth of 200 mm. Particularly simple and easy to use, the integrated 3 axes (X, Y, Z) numerical control makes it possible to program a series of holes for fully automatic machining. This will result in the ability to carry pre-hardened stock blocks to help cut the lead times of tooling.

Both machines are DNC-linked for ease, reliability and speed of data transfer and, together with the SolidWorks & LogoPress software, the company can considerably improve and speed up the process of designing and producing progression tools.

“We have slashed the time required to make progression tools by half”, said Mr Gordon.

Part of reason that Samuel Taylor can reduce lead times with the new machinery and software is because it is now making greater use of virtual manufacturing. The ability to create virtual progression tooling and simulate how it will perform means it can reduce waste and save time.

“We can simulate all the required parameters for the tooling before cutting metal thus ensuring a right first time approach to tool design” said Mr Gordon.

Additionally Samuel Taylor has hired another highly skilled tool maker, to ensure that the machines and the software meet expectations and to help with the mentoring of the STL apprentices.

Many companies in the world make metal components but Mr Gordon said that very few have the skills and knowledge developed by Samuel Taylor to make the extremely sophisticated tooling required in order to remain competitive on a world-wide basis.

For more information about how Samuel Taylor creates extremely efficient, unique components and solutions please visit www.samueltaylor.co.uk

STL presses on with further investment to support new business

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 29/09/2020

Many UK manufacturers are currently seeing drastic changes to their normal working routines and customer demand. Metal contact specialist Samuel Taylor Limited (STL) is no different, as short-term market demand has been significantly reduced.

However, against this backdrop, the company is set to invest around £100,000 in two new Chin Fong OCP45 stamping presses as part of a project that will see the introduction of two new production lines at its’ Redditch based facility.

“These are unique times in business” comments Sales & Marketing Manager Carl Siviter. “However, optimism and solid engineering remain a cornerstone to the eventual recovery of manufacturing and STL are continuing to battle through the current difficult times, whilst maintaining our commitment to a longer-term plan. The ethos of supporting strategic customers is central to this, and in this instance is evidenced by our latest investment to increase capacity”.

STL identified that in ever more competitive and global markets, the cost of ownership was key to customers.

Earlier this year, the company came up with a new proposal for reducing direct cost at one of its’ strategic customers. The proposal was subsequently validated, accepted, and is planned to be implemented into mass production scale before the end of 2020.

Siviter adds: “The project scope includes tool design and build, integrated with two new production lines which will include the 2 new Ching Fong OCP45 presses. Tools and the production lines are in-house supported projects”.

The Ching Fong presses were purchased and will be installed as part of an ongoing partnership with Dudley based Worcester Presses.

Russell Hartill, Managing Director of Worcester Presses comments: “This latest investment is characteristic of the company’s approach and willingness to make targeted investments where required. They have developed an exceptional team of people that are empowered to be creative and develop innovative solutions for their customers.

Over the course of our partnership with STL, we have installed more than 10 presses, feeders and coil handling systems”.

Investment in the new production line follows a significant outlay in 2019, as STL invested £500,000 in new machinery and additional factory space in order to support both existing and new customers and as part of ongoing efforts to increase capacity and efficiency.

“We operate globally, and investment is required to ensure that we remain competitive, but it has also enabled us to broaden the services that we can offer. Between the announcement of our 2019 investments and those that we are making now, other smaller investments in new equipment have been made, such as the £30,000 purchase of a 4th Wire Eroder which has increased day to day production flexibility in our on-site toolroom” concludes Siviter.

Case Study: STL develops new Copper to Aluminium bonding technique for ZEV busbars

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 04/12/2023

In late 2020, Samuel Taylor Limited (STL) secured Innovate UK funding as part of the ‘Catalysing Green Innovation: Securing the Future of ZEV’ competition.

This represented the start of a working process that culminated in STL being able to create a proprietary cold-cladding process that they can now use to produce aluminium-copper bimetal strip.

The foundation for this was the successful development of a bonding technique that overcomes the challenge of aluminium’s high reactivity to oxygen – which makes it very difficult to bond cold.

In turn, this has great potential for industry, particularly aligned with the radical changes in automotive technology and the worldwide transition to EVs usage. This in-depth case study explores how the origins of these developments, why collaboration was instrumental and the significance of the outcomes for application within the EV industry.

Background:

Samuel Taylor Limited (STL) has been providing innovative, precision engineering products to markets throughout the world for over 100 years, pioneering the first electrically driven rolling mill in the early part of the 20th century and later becoming the first UK company to start electrical-contact welding in the 1960s.

With innovation at its heart, STL continues to lead the way with its unique combination of design capability, tool precision and manufacturing efficiency. This has enabled the company to project lead and manufacture leading edge components for the smart metering industry and focus on new areas in the growing EV market.

With a continual focus on research and development (R&D), and in the context of aiming to deliver more environmentally friendly, net zero-targeted solutions, STL – working in collaboration with The Welding Institute’s dedicated Thermal Processing Technologies (TPT) team identified a gap in the market for the manufacture of aluminium and copper bimetal connectors for the electric vehicles (EV) market in the UK and Europe.

These are particularly challenging to produce because current processes for joining the two metals together can result in the formation of excessive amounts of weak and brittle intermetallic phases, adversely affecting the structural integrity of the part. Therefore, it would require innovative thinking to create a new thermal processing technique.

STL had been considering for some time how to produce bi-metallic busbars, typically housed inside switchgear, panel boards and busway enclosures, for the EV sector. Busbars are used to connect low voltage in battery banks and high voltage equipment at electrical switchyards, as well as for high current distribution.

Several rounds of discussions identified topics of mutual interest, and STL explained their ambition to develop a new thermal processing technique for use in manufacturing busbars.

Consequently, the STL and TPT team conceived the idea of using an integral bonding approach instead of laser welding or wire bonding, both of which are used to produce connectors for the EV sector but known to have limitations. These include poor reliability caused by the number of joints required and the resultant heavier than desirable component weight, and the quality of joint achievable. When welding copper to aluminium or vice-versa, the aforementioned intermetallic phases will form, however, by making a bi-metallic strip, manufacturers can simply join copper-to-copper at one end and aluminium-to-aluminium at the other.

The TPT team then explored different ways of instigating such a project, which in turn led to the decision to bid for an Innovate UK Smart Grant. If successful, this would provide the funding for the initiative.

Project Objectives:

STL and TWI named their evolving project ColdClad – Development of an Advanced Cold Cladding Process for Electrification Applications – and set the following objectives:

Develop, and demonstrate the validity of, a new process that project partner STL could use to manufacture aluminium and copper bimetal connectors for both the electrification and power supply markets
Utilise an existing, known TWI joining technique as the basis for the new process
Market mobilisation of the process by STL following proof of concept

Solution

The ColdClad project successfully secured Innovate UK funding (via a Smart Grant, reference 71790). As the partners progressed the project over time, it became evident that the original idea for ColdClad of starting from the basis of a known TWI joining technique would not work as originally envisaged, most likely due to equipment not being wholly large enough.

However, based on collaboration and innovative thinking, the two partners worked together to develop a rolled aluminium and copper bi-metallic strip, with STL going on to create a new technique to enable the bonding of the two materials, and TWI providing specialist technical support.

Benefits

Even though the diffusion bonding process investigated within ColdClad was not suitable for STL, the information gained during the project enabled TWI to develop an optimised set of parameters for joining aluminium to copper, with the capacity for further EV associated purposes beyond that of connectors.

The new joint type that is now achievable is also suited to many different applications, offering significant future potential for both the project partners and wider industry.

The work on the ColdClad project led to STL being able to create a proprietary cold-cladding process that they can now use to produce aluminium-copper bimetal strip.

The foundation for this was the successful development of a bonding technique that overcomes the challenge of aluminium’s high reactivity to oxygen which makes it very difficult to bond cold (see Figure 2 above).

The innovative bonding technique now has great potential for industry, particularly within busbar technology found within the battery packs of electric vehicles (EV’s). This represents a significant opportunity, given the worldwide transition to EV and ZEV usage. STL are at the forefront of innovating busbar technology for use within the EV industry and welcome conversations with other organisations within the global EV supply chain.

If you have a project of this nature and would like to discuss your requirements, please contact STL via sales@samueltaylor.co.uk

Image caption: Example of a bend testing coupon of a bi-metallic sample showing a copper inlay within aluminium.

Midlands Manufacturer named as one of UK’s Top 50 Exporters in Sunday Times Ranking

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 24/07/2013

Midlands based precision components manufacturer Samuel Taylor Limited (STL) has been named as one of the UKs Top 50 companies with the fastest growing international sales in a Sunday Times Ranking.

According to the International Track 100 league table which has been published in the Sunday Times for the past two years, the Redditch firm, which is the only Midlands manufacturing business in the Top 50, ranks at number 48 with an international sales growth of 81.17% per annum. With 85% of Samuel Taylor Limiteds products being exported, the companys latest international sales figures have hit £21.6m, compared to £6.6m in 2010.

According to STLs Managing Director, Alastair Gordon, We are very proud to be named as one of Britains Top 50 SMEs in terms of international sales growth. Plus, we are the highest ranking Midlands manufacturer which is a massive achievement for us, especially considering that Advantage West Midlands rejected our efforts a few years ago. Not only did this cause substantial additional costs and lots of work for us, but it also resulted in the near failure of a major project.

With the company now having achieved its export success single-handedly, he adds, The only way for exporters to succeed is to identify the customers that knock on their door and pitch to them directly. There is lots of bureaucracy involved in the export process and many people try to stop you, but I would advise anyone to ignore them and simply go for it.

The company which is a member of several industry networks including Made in the Midlands (MIM), the Engineering Industries Association (EIA) and the Hereford and Worcester Chamber of Commerce, is currently exporting its precious metal pressings and components to over 26 countries worldwide, including the United States, China, Middle East and Europe.

On-going investments in new machinery, support equipment and staff have also helped STL to maintain its competitiveness and ensure a wide ranging expertise and experience in the development and application of component design for manufacture in the Smart Metering and Electrical vehicle markets.

The International Track 100 league table ranks Britains mid-market private companies according to their international sales, with the minimum sales threshold having just been increased from £5m to £25m.

Samuel Taylor Ltd wins its first electric vehicle contract

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 20/03/2020

A Redditch metal contact and precision stampings firm has won a significant contract to support vehicle electrification, a first for the manufacturer.

Samuel Taylor Limited (STL) manufactures precision stamped components and assemblies, specialising in the sophisticated bonding of bi-metals within the development of battery busbar technology.

Developing this technology for electric vehicles represents an area of significant potential growth for the company.

Electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) rely on robust electric motor drives, large-capacity battery packs, power inverters, and efficient distribution of power from charging source to battery and then throughout the vehicle.

Busbars, which comprise a system of electrical conductors for collecting and distributing current, provide the means to efficiently distribute power to the cells themselves and onto the vehicles’ various subsystems.

Sales Manager Carl Siviter commented: “We are already a manufacturer of high precision busbars and contacts used in Smart Metering applications, and so it was relatively straightforward to leverage this know-how to focus on automotive busbars needed for Electric Vehicles. Several innovative techniques have been used in the final tool design, which will allow for a significant level of flexibility and cost savings to be achieved.”

Following the promotion of its busbar technology developed for smart metering at several trade shows, STL was successful in winning work with a leading automotive technology company, specifically for the development of busbar technology.

Mr Siviter added: “As well as our stamping operations, STL is also known for our rolled bi-metal strip manufacture and we have several projects targeted at metal composite strips, which in future may also be used in EV busbar designs, both to aid weight reduction and simplify busbar manufacture. We had a very successful year in promoting our know-how and experience in stamping and rolling, and we will continue this activity through 2020”.

Due to a shift to vehicle electrification that is well underway globally, there is a requirement for significant battery manufacturing capacity to support future EV production.

With propulsion systems representing up to 50% of the value of a vehicle, there exists a huge opportunity for the UK, if it can position itself at the forefront of developing the next generation of low carbon, electric powertrains.

Samuel Taylor Limited
www.samueltaylor.co.uk

STL innovation produces busbars for world’s first fully electric British hypercar

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 19/09/2023

An innovative new production process developed by Redditch based Samuel Taylor Limited (STL) has successfully enabled the production of over 70,000 busbars for the battery packs of the world’s first fully electric British hypercar.

Busbars are an integral part of EV battery packs. Improving the busbar can lead to lighter packs, extended range, and greater power output.

One of STL’s success stories involves producing the dual thickness, contacted busbars used in smart meters. Utilising this core competency, STL partnered with a leading developer of EV battery modules from the offset to design and build a pilot scale stamping line for their EV battery, working to produce 10,000 initial prototypes.

This was followed by the development of a brand-new dual thickness method of manufacture to enable scalable production of a total of 70,000 busbars in accordance with stringent quality requirements.

An evolution of this technique is now being used on prototype shunt for a different application being developed by STL and a Cambridge based design house.

Aaron Ball, Engineering Manager at STL explains: “The end user specified the design of the product, which was difficult to achieve. This was a unique case, with the application being the world’s first fully electric British hypercar and the most powerful car to enter series production.

“In parallel to assisting with a completely new design for a busbar, we have also been able to innovate to create a brand-new production process. This process enables us to consistently meet the stringent tolerance requirements. There was no blueprint for this, as it is the first time that a process like this has ever been developed for busbar manufacture”.

STL believe the new production process to be significantly more accurate than simply stamping the component out with a traditional press tool, achieving a +/-0.020 on the dual thickness tolerance on the weldable connector tab.

Ball continues: “We helped the customer achieve a manufacturable route for the product that they wanted. This is the perfect example of the value in getting STL involved within the prototyping phase before mass manufacture commences. Without STL’s expertise regarding the principles for progression press tooling at the prototyping phase, it is unlikely the component could be manufactured to the desired requirements.

“The car is very specialised producing over 1500kW of power (equating to over 2000hp), as such this power requirement from the battery pack meant we could not use what is now becoming the industry standard – a lamination busbar – we instead had to create our own process to deliver the dual thickness busbar the customer needed.”

A lamination busbar involves a thin lattice structure which attaches like a web to all cells, along with a carrier plate on top which acts as a heat sink and gives the busbar rigidity.

However, a standard lamination busbar would not have been able to deliver the amount of current that is to be drawn out of the modules for the hypercar battery pack, with it being around four times higher than a performance EV. This would restrict current flow, and build up heat, leading to thermal problems within the battery.

This led to a total rethink of component production, with STL opting to manufacture the component from pure copper whilst reducing the thicknesses locally where required.

“We made certain adjustments within the stamping process to increase the accuracy of busbar production. For example, we established a customised press line to produce busbars with the ability to switch modules on and off, enabling us to deliver optimised pressure but spread over a row of two or three cells - a pattern that repeats row by row through the part.

“We also had to integrate feeding control into this process, so that we can re-strike the same stage multiple times. This meant that we could finely balance the control over those two or three impressions, vastly reducing our tab thickness variation to meet the requirements of the component. This is critical for the laser welding that happens afterwards. The sequential control and timing of this process was therefore incredibly important.

“Post processing, we are 100% inspecting every component, adding threaded inserts & fasteners as needed, plus verifying that they meet the required tolerances and that we do not have any deterioration within our production process”, adds Ball.

Whilst developing the new production process, STL’s primary objective was to meet the requirements of the end customer.

A secondary objective was to ensure the process was scalable to enable the production of between 500,000 to 1,000,000 busbars per annum and could therefore be utilised more widely within the high-volume production of electric vehicle batteries.

“The press can create four to six components per minute, or one part every ten or fifteen seconds – depending on which component we are making. We have currently set up the process to run a total of eight different components, four of which are the live components within the hypercar project.

“Essentially, what we have developed is a series of modules that can then be re-used for other purposes, using different punches, dies and configurations.

“The beauty of cylindrical cells within battery packs is that there is only one optimised arrangement, meaning the same pattern on a busbar. We can respond to differing needs because we have a fixed start point and can then tailor the process based on requirements for cell-diameter and the length of the busbar. We only need to create a module to cut the part off. This means we are well placed to produce busbars for a variety of different battery pack designs, to meet various range, performance or voltage requirements” concludes Ball.

STL to exhibit at UK’s largest battery technology expo

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 14/02/2024

Samuel Taylor Limited (STL) will be exhibiting at the Battery Cells & Systems Expo on the 15th and 16th May 2024 at the NEC in Birmingham.

You can visit us at stand 1003 where we will exhibit bonded aluminium and copper ALCu, bonded silver and copper SilCu, and “spot welded” aluminium and copper.

The Battery Cells & Systems Expo is the UK's largest battery technology exhibition and conference, bringing together automotive manufacturers, electric utilities, battery system integrators, cell manufacturers and the entire manufacturing supply chain.

Co-located with Vehicle Electrification Expo, The Advanced Materials Show, and The Advanced Ceramics Show, the event will welcome 300+ exhibitors and 4,000+ visitors in May 2024.

One of STL’s success stories involves producing the dual thickness, contacted busbars used in smart meters. Utilising this core competency, STL has previously partnered with a leading developer of EV battery modules from the offset to design and build a pilot scale stamping line for their EV battery, working to produce 10,000 initial prototypes.

This was followed by the development of a brand-new dual thickness method of manufacture to enable scalable production of a total of 70,000 busbars in accordance with stringent quality requirements.

An evolution of this technique is now being used on prototype shunt for a different application being developed by STL and a Cambridge based design house.

We look forward to welcoming conversations about this and other projects at the exhibition.

STL has been at the forefront of engineering technology, supplying intelligent, cost-effective precision engineering solutions for manufacturing industries across the world.

From sophisticated bonding of base and precious metals, manufacture of electrical contact rivets, precision stamping and welded contact assemblies, our unique blend of technology, experience and knowledge enables us to create effective cost driven solutions to address the most complex of manufacturing challenges.

Smart meter solution means significant growth for engineering firm

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 22/08/2012

A combination of engineering expertise and innovative thinking has enabled Redditch-based metal contacts and contact materials specialist Samuel Taylor Limited to win an export order to the USA worth approximately £8 million per annum.

The order means that the company’s turnover has increased to more than £25 million.

The company specially developed a metallic component which will be used in thousands of energy saving smart meters for an American manufacturer.

Samuel Taylor’s metal component conducts power through the meter. The part will reduce costs for American consumers and energy suppliers because it will help to reduce the cost of reading meters. Samuel Taylor’s expertise will enable more smart meters to be installed. These can be read remotely so saving the need for meter readers to visit households.

The company is making 1.5 million meter sets of the component at its plant in Redditch, Worcestershire. The part will be shipped in large quantities to Mexico for assembly.

“We had been working on a project with a Cambridge-based design consultancy for a couple of years”, explained Alastair Gordon, Samuel Taylor’s Managing Director, “when it morphed into something much bigger.”

Mr Gordon said the project was a challenge because it involved creating a part that is guaranteed to extreme consistency in order for the electronics to read the current whilst also being able to double as a 200 amp relay. He said that this project demonstrates how well Samuel Taylor can provide engineering solutions to many design problems.

“The business of switching such currents is not easy” said Mr Gordon. “There are very few people in the world who really understand electromechanical switching. That is because the subject is no longer being taught in universities.”

He added that while many companies in the world can make metal components, very few have the skills and knowledge developed by Samuel Taylor to make the extremely precise tooling required.

Approximately 35% of Samuel Taylor’s business is in smart meters and over 80% of its products are exported. Its products are often complex electromechanical parts that are produced on highly specialised equipment and tooling designed and built inhouse.

For more information about how Samuel Taylor creates extremely efficient, unique components please visit www.samueltaylor.co.uk.

A background to Samuel Taylor Limited

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 30/05/2012

Samuel Taylor Limited manufactures precious metal contacts and contact materials.

The business can be traced back to before 1895 and has manufactured and supplied precious and other metals right from those early days over 100 years ago. Samuel Taylor was acquired by the present family in 1899 and is now in its 4th generation of owner-managers.

Samuel Taylor’s long-term approach may be unusual, but it is essential to success in this industry. Our aim is to create and produce the best products possible for each application whilst always being cost competitive.

Customer specific solutions in contact and contact material technologies are provided by STL. Our services include technical consultation along with the development and manufacture of complex electromechanical parts and materials for a wide range of uses and industries.

STL supplies customers in over 20 countries including parts of Europe, the Far East, Middle East, South Asia, America and Africa. STL is a truly global supplier with the vast majority of products being directly exported.

The implementation of ISO 9000 systems has resulted in a culture of quality which is, and will remain the cornerstone of STL. The commitment to quality cannot be over-emphasised and runs through all sectors of the Company.

Redditch manufacturer one of the first in UK to achieve world class ISO 45001 certification

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 13/05/2019

Redditch based presswork and metal contact specialist Samuel Taylor Limited (STL) are one of the first 100 companies in the UK to attain the conversion from BS18001 to ISO45001 standard certification for Health and Safety.

The feat also makes STL one of the first manufacturers in the UK to achieve ISO 45001, demonstrating the company’s ongoing commitment to maintaining a world class, safe working environment.

The new ISO standard helps organizations by providing a framework to improve employee safety, reduce workplace risks and create better, safer working conditions. The process towards compliance was a team effort of STL Company Secretary Richard Pick, Quality Assurance Manager Bogdan Dumitru and Production Manager Paul Booth, as well as external consultants Temple Quality Management Systems.

However, STL Quality Assurance Manager Bogdan Dumitru emphasizes that the key to successful transition was the commitment of all employees:

“The journey to ISO 45001certification was very much an employee led approach, placing a significant emphasis on employee participation and consultation. Employee input is essential in order to develop effective ways of protecting our workforce. If employees are given the opportunity to participate in shaping safe work systems, particularly by getting involved at the planning stage, they are more likely to identify the reasons for taking a particular action, help find practical solutions, and comply with the end result.”

Company Secretary Richard Pick adds:

“Obtaining the ISO 45001 certification was a direct follow up to the OHSAS 18001 certification, which STL already held. Therefore, the transition to ISO45001 took only 3-4 months, since the back bone of the integrated management systems were already in place. ”

“We are fortunate at STL to have a talented, loyal workforce. Gaining the certification demonstrates our ongoing commitment to maintaining a safe, efficient working environment for the people that we value the most”.

Photograph caption:
Left to right: STL Quality Assurance Manager Bogdan Dumitru and Richard Pick, Company Secretary

Samuel Taylor Limited (STL) Awarded Funding for 'Catalysing Green Innovation: Securing the Future of ZEV'

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 14/07/2021

In November 2020 Samuel Taylor Limited (STL), a member of Made in the Midlands, was awarded Innovate UK funding as part of the ‘Catalysing Green Innovation: Securing the Future of ZEV’ competition.

EVBus is an Innovate UK collaborative project between STL and TWI Ltd, aiming to investigate an innovative Copper to Aluminum bonding technique for use in zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) busbars.

Joining copper to aluminum would allow for the light-weighting of electric vehicle (EV) busbars while maintaining electrical properties. Busbars are an integral part of EV battery packs. Improving the busbar can lead to lighter packs, therefore extending the range of ZEVs.

Successful bonding will allow the resulting product to be laser welded to parent copper or aluminum, thereby solving the issues currently associated with laser welding dissimilar materials.

The goals of the project are to investigate the feasibility of bonding Copper to Aluminum directly or using interlayer materials.

This work will inform the industrial process feasibility and development being undertaken by STL. STL aims to use this process to manufacture and market busbars for electric vehicles (EVs) and ZEVs.

STL already has an in-house rolling facility manufacturing Silver to Copper bonded bimetal, supplying many tons of strip for fuselink applications each year. There is a significant challenge in producing an aluminum product range, but success in this technology will assist in developing the lighter, greener vehicles of the future.

Earlier this year, Redditch based metal contact and precision stamping specialists STL announced a significant contract win to support vehicle electrification, a first for the company.

Following this, STL and TWI Ltd were selected alongside two other leading low carbon technology innovators to participate in the UK pavilion at The Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology Expo at the Messe Stuttgart, Germany in May 2021. The pavilion is managed by the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), in partnership with Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, Department for International Trade, SMMT and Innovate UK.

(Source: Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology International)

Case Study: STL develops new Copper to Aluminium bonding technique for ZEV busbars

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 04/12/2023

In late 2020, Samuel Taylor Limited (STL) secured Innovate UK funding as part of the ‘Catalysing Green Innovation: Securing the Future of ZEV’ competition.

This represented the start of a working process that culminated in STL being able to create a proprietary cold-cladding process that they can now use to produce aluminium-copper bimetal strip.

The foundation for this was the successful development of a bonding technique that overcomes the challenge of aluminium’s high reactivity to oxygen – which makes it very difficult to bond cold.

Background:

Several rounds of discussions identified topics of mutual interest, and STL explained their ambition to develop a new thermal processing technique for use in manufacturing busbars.

Project Objectives:

STL and TWI named their evolving project ColdClad – Development of an Advanced Cold Cladding Process for Electrification Applications – and set the following objectives:

Develop, and demonstrate the validity of, a new process that project partner STL could use to manufacture aluminium and copper bimetal connectors for both the electrification and power supply markets
Utilise an existing, known TWI joining technique as the basis for the new process
Market mobilisation of the process by STL following proof of concept

Solution

Benefits

The new joint type that is now achievable is also suited to many different applications, offering significant future potential for both the project partners and wider industry.

The work on the ColdClad project led to STL being able to create a proprietary cold-cladding process that they can now use to produce aluminium-copper bimetal strip.

If you have a project of this nature and would like to discuss your requirements, please contact STL via sales@samueltaylor.co.uk

Image caption: Example of a bend testing coupon of a bi-metallic sample showing a copper inlay within aluminium.

From prototyping to mass production: the benefits of choosing a supplier partner with end-to-end in-house capabilities

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 14/07/2023

In this article, STL Director Alastair Gordon discusses why an increasing number of our customers prefer working with a supplier that has the in-house capability to carry out prototyping and small-scale production of samples, followed by mass manufacture and assembly of the end-product.

During the prototyping process a key driver for customers is to achieve a speedy way of producing first samples and checking for form, fit and function.

A typical developmental process would often be chemical etching, laser or waterjet cutting of blanks, followed by forming to create the required additional shapes. This can result in mismatches of forms due to location issues.

Trying to then scale up this method of manufacture to produce 10,000 components would take several months, representing time lost.

Customers could then get locked into an inadvisable process with no extra development work to take production into a larger scale; the result being a cost base which is great for a few samples, but no longer makes sense for production numbers in the thousands or hundreds of thousands.

At this point, a customer would look to switch supplier to a new company capable of mass producing quickly and accurately with all the issues that come with starting over again.

However, at STL we are noticing an increasing number of customers that are realising the benefit of using one supplier with the required in-house capabilities to carry out the entire end to end process; commencing with prototyping and small-scale production of samples, followed by mass manufacture and assembly of the end-product. This can be seen with some ZEV projects we are involved with.

For example, in another recent ZEV project, STL have been working with a design company to produce a sliding contact for charging stations that fit into roadside architecture. The customer had a design concept and came to STL looking for a small sample of 50 precious metal electrical contact rivets, which has then led to a next stage production of 10,000 contact rivets and in-house assembly at STL along with the contacts. The contact rivets are of course made in house by STL so no time is lost there.

After reacting quickly to the initial request for prototype rivets, by working closely with the customer at each stage of the project, STL have been able to offer valuable insight and guidance – and are now advising on how to improve the sliding contacts for the next 50,000 components to be produced.

STL reacted quickly with the prototyping of the contact rivets initially and were able to provide advice and guidance on an ongoing basis as a key project partner from then on within our manufacturing process.

Involving STL within the design phase means that the customer benefits from STL’s vast experience producing electrical contacts out of bimetals and other high conductivity materials – and advising on the most effective and consistent way of producing the desired component post sampling within mass manufacture.

STL are producing samples utilising wire EDM prototype stamping in addition to techniques other than a full stamping tool, such as (part wire erosion and) forming.

The learning curve developed can then be rolled out into a mass production environment as and when needed, which becomes a massive advantage cutting out much of the later production development usually needed.

In principle this makes a lot of sense – if your intention is to prototype and then progress onto mass production, why not learn from the prototyping process ahead of going into full production?

The overall cost of ownership within the development process is lowered by gaining knowledge at the earliest stage of a project. STL can also add value by helping with the design for manufacture improvements implemented at those earlier stages.

Utilising this approach and the in-house capabilities and specialist knowledge of a stamping partner such as STL may also interest customers that require tight control of tolerances and an emphasis on re-producibility.

Once the prototyping stage has ensured that complex bends and the required tolerances are achievable, a stamping tool guarantees that every part is produced identically – ensuring re-producibility and removing the need for any additional manual secondary operations.

In contrast, controlling multiple ‘one off’ productions typical with small scale prototyping routes can be significantly more complex to manage and less reliable in delivering the desired results.

STL has in house Solidworks CAD with multiple designers, a full spec tool room ran/ run by experienced toolmaking personnel, wire & profile EDM systems, mechanical cutting via lathes and milling machines and both low and high-volume stamping capability. This gives STL the capabilities required to be able to prototype then mass produce under one roof, working in partnership with our customers.

This could be relevant to industry sectors such as Aerospace, Medical, potentially electronic base stations for example – many of whom would not typically associate stamping as a viable route for this because of perceived investment costs.

High volume stamping could then follow on directly from low volume sampling or a low volume mass production environment for those that require it, ensuring critically that they have a cost base which enables scaling of production.

As STL can offer both prototyping and high-volume stamping in house, we are interested in speaking with companies looking for a quality partner to prototype components ahead of a high-volume stamping process. If this sounds like you, email sales@samueltaylor.co.uk

Smart meter solution means significant growth for engineering firm

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 11/04/2012

The order means that the company’s turnover has increased to more than £25 million.

The company specially developed a metallic component which will be used in thousands of energy saving smart meters for an American manufacturer.

The company is making 1.5 million meter sets of the component at its plant in Redditch, Worcestershire. The part will be shipped in large quantities to Mexico for assembly.

He added that while many companies in the world can make metal components, very few have the skills and knowledge developed by Samuel Taylor to make the extremely precise tooling required.

For more information about how Samuel Taylor creates extremely efficient, unique components please visit www.samueltaylor.co.uk.

Samuel Taylor sees year-on-year turnover increase by 10%

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 18/03/2020

Samuel Taylor, a metal contacts and precision pressings specialist, has posted a turnover of £23.8m for the 12 months to 31 May 2019, up from £21.6m, and increase of 10%.

Speaking about the news, the board of Directors said that, "The directors consider the results satisfactory, in the light of the trading climate, which include a number of macroeconomic and political uncertainties. The principal strengths of STL are its technology, agility coupled with an entrepreneurial spirit and independence allowing for a finance strategy of long termism. We consider the group to be in a strong financial position at the year end and well placed in their markets to develop the group further."

Its pre-tax profits also increased from £1.2m to £2.2m.

Metal contacts manufacturer invests £250k

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 01/08/2015

Precious metal contacts and precision metal pressings specialist Samuel Taylor Limited (STL) will shortly be commissioning a new multislide press to increase its production capacity for terminal blocks and circuit breaker components.

The total machine tool investment is £250k and along with automated box packing equipment and camera technology, will allow extended manufacturing through evenings and weekends for the high volume quantities involved in these markets. The Worcestershire based firm has been established for more than 100 years and is still family owned. STLs commitment to reinvesting in the business is part of the reason for its longevity.

Carl Siviter, Sales Manager said, "The business has made steady investments in its history, to ensure that we remain globally competitive and we continue on this proven path.The majority of STLs current turnover is non-automotive based, but this year sees the start of an internal project to achieve TS16949, both to penetrate automotive markets and to generate cost down efficiencies in the business. It is planned to have TS in place in Q1 2016. Meanwhile ISO 9001:2008 is already in place and PPAP, FMEA etc are already used extensively.

The Automotive sector is a very competitive market. The new approach towards TS for us, will help focus on driving efficiency improvement throughout the business and hopefully open up automotive for us. If you get things right at the input side you dont have to correct them later.

Samuel Taylor Limited to exhibit at Advanced Engineering 2013

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 07/10/2013

Precision metal component specialists Samuel Taylor Limited (STL) will be making their Advanced Engineering debut at this years show.

Having recently been named as one of the UKs Top 50 privately owned companies with the fastest growing international sales in a Sunday Times ranking, Midlands based STL is proud to export over 85% of its current output to regions such as the USA, the Middle East and South Asia. With a resurgence of manufacturing activity in UK, STL is keen to showcase its UK based manufacturing activities by taking part in Advanced Engineering this year.

With its core business of manufacturing electrical contact materials and sub assemblies, STL has invested heavily in new design and tool room capabilities over the past few years and has managed to widen its field of expertise into several new markets.

With manufacturing flexibility STL is able to accept high and low quantity orders and produce tailor-made solutions to customer specific requirements. Samuel Taylor Limiteds product and service range also includes rolled products, headed parts and rivets, welded contact assemblies, microprofile tapes, precision pressings, general contact assemblies and the design and manufacture of press tools.

Samuel Taylor Limited can be found in the Automotive Engineering section in the NECs Hall 5, Stand I65.

Samuel Taylor expands its workforce with new sales manager

Samuel Taylor Ltd — 01/10/2012

Materials contact specialist Samuel Taylor Limited has recently welcomed a new Sales Manager to their expanding workforce, to help strengthen and develop the firm’s presence within the metal contacts manufacturing industry.

Carl Siviter has joined the company with a view to sustain their existing customer base as well as attract new clients. He believes that he has joined a positively evolving company which he wants to help progress further.

At the top of Mr. Siviter’s agenda is to strengthen the firm’s ‘green energy’ knowledge and how it can be efficiently utilised within the automotive sector. This will consist of exploring how new material technologies and renewable energies can be innovatively shaped within the industry.

Sales Manager Carl Siviter said: “From the start of my career in R&D to my new position at STL, I have remained keenly interested in materials technology and how that is applied in the modern world. STL share the same enthusiasm about innovation and its associated challenges, and I am happy to be part of such a team.”

STL also shares this passion for innovation and creativity in modern engineering. Mr. Siviter holds a strong background in material technology and will apply his expertise towards keeping in tune with new industry developments.

He will be ensuring that he maintains Samuel Taylor’s first-class customer services so that the company can expand its prestige and position within the industry.

Alastair Gordon MD said: "I’m very pleased Carl has joined STL, he comes with a strong technical background in related but different products from our own. His International experience is also good; he has worked extensively in Europe, the States and the Far East which is where the majority of our markets are too. We wish him well.”

Mr. Siviter was drawn towards Samuel Taylor because of its rich and respected heritage. Proud to be a part of the workforce, Carl believes that he can add to their success and its well known brand through building key relationships with like-minded people. Positive values such as reliability and a positive approach is a key driver in achieving these ambitions for Samuel Taylor Limited.