Medical diversification leads to successful year for Clamason
1 min read
The boss of a leading pressings specialist in the Black Country has reported seeing his business diversify into the medical sector and post successful annual results despite the economic downturn.The company, which employs 100 people at its 65,000 sq ft site in Kingswinford and a further 20 at its factory in Slovakia, is set to turnover £11m in 2010, with the possibility of taking on more staff to cope with new contracts across its extensive customer base.
Clamason managing director Philip Clarke, whose father founded the business back in 1947, said: "We've had to evolve massively over the last five years and part of our success is being able to identify new opportunities and how we can transfer our core strengths and apply them to new areas."
Praising the help the company had received from the business help agency MAS-WM and specialist adviser Rodger Cooper (pictured on the right) he went on: "It takes a lot of time and money to diversify, especially if sales are volatile and market prices are diminishing. We completed a synchronisation project to install and commission a second line to expand our capacity for producing the springs used in the 'Solostar' insulin pen. The installation also gave the ability to offer 100% quality inspection through the use of state-of-the-art in-line cameras. Our annual sales for this project alone have risen from £800,000 to £1.5m over the past 12 months, with the potential for even higher turnover in the next two to three years."
However, automotive remains Clamason's biggest marketplace where it is a partner to first tier suppliers, such as Delphi and Visteon, currently manufacturing anything from parts for engine control units and brackets for cabling to heat sinks and passenger safety equipment.
Technical director Paul Edwards Pictured on the left) said heavy investments had been made in new presses and other equipment. As well as brand new projects, this has also resulted in customers transferring up to 500 sets of existing tooling to Clamason as they either out-source their in-house manufacturing or reduce their supply base.
