Working with nearby companies would have been unheard of twenty years ago, but a group of West Midlands suppliers have decided that the ‘whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ after landing £8m-worth of contracts.

The Midlands Assembly Network (MAN), which comprises nine car parts manufacturers from across the region, has used support and funding from the Birmingham Chamber and ERDF-backed Accelerate initiative to successfully develop a pro-active ‘super group’ that can win major orders from home and abroad. By offering a complete package - from tooling and design through to castings and injection mouldings - MAN has been able to compete with international rivals on cost...something that was simply impossible to achieve as individual firms.

Graham Robinson, Chairman and also Managing Director of Barkley Plastics in Birmingham, explains: ‘The initial idea was to create a network that could work collaboratively to win an assembly project from a major OEM, with the idea being that each member would bring a different skill set to the table. This was the foundation for the start of the group, but we have since diversified our approach to aggressively look at securing projects from both car makers and global tier 1 suppliers. This has worked extremely well and we have already completed £8m of orders last year, creating fifty collective new jobs in the process. Orders worth £3.5m will also be completed during the next six months.’

Nine companies - Barkley Plastics (injection mouldings/assembly/tool making), FW Cables (cable harnesses), Brandauer (precision pressings), Westley Engineering (pressings/tooling/machining), Alucast (aluminium castings and machining), Advanced Chemical Etching (chemical etching/formed prototypes),Wrekin Circuits (printed circuit Boards), PP Electrical Systems (electrical/electronic assemblies and systems) and Barton Cold-Form (cold forgings), make up the Midlands Assembly Network. Each company brings a different manufacturing capability to the mix, plus an enormous number of contacts. Together the group has shared best practice, worked on diversification projects and adopted a more aggressive approach to sales and marketing, in order to win new business.

Pete West, Project Manager at Accelerate, adds his support: ‘Historically, SMEs in the West Midlands have neglected marketing activity mainly due to a reliance on the existing customer base and lack of expertise, cash, time and resources. This is no longer an option if you want to compete internationally, especially when you consider the unfair playing field many of our firms have to contend with. The companies that formed MAN took an ambitious and calculated risk and it has paid off for them. They recognised at an early stage that they needed to find a new competitive edge and working together was one way of achieving this. What is really pleasing is that there is a real passion about the group and an ownership about making it self-sustainable going forward. With a new Chairman appointed from the member companies every six months, there are no hangers-on -  they all want it.’

A delegation from MAN has just returned from a hugely successful trip to Stuttgart Components EXPO, where its exhibition brought in many new leads to chase up. Whilst Graham Robinson is delighted at the progress to date, he’s adamant that there is still work to be done. ‘You have to keep evolving and we are no different. I think there are areas we could strengthen and we would be interested in hearing from companies involved in rubber extrusions, metal finishing, miniature turned parts and electronic assembly. A high quality testing house wouldn’t go amiss either.’

Accelerate, which is funded by the European Regional Development Fund, assisted over 1500 companies last year in implementing lean manufacturing, boosting sales, launching new products and improving quality, cost and performance. It also gave component manufacturers from across the West Midlands access to the latest technologies, including alternative fuels and telematics. Now in its twelfth year of operation, Accelerate has grown into one of the most successful supply chain initiatives in the UK. Driven by the changing face of the industry, the programme has assisted over 4000 companies in implementing best practice manufacturing systems, securing production efficiencies and cultivating workforce development. Accelerate will continue to support the evolving needs of the West Midlands supply chain, as it maximises the global opportunities of the 21st century.
www.midlandsassembly.net