August 2005

All’s well in Wales

Buoyant growth is reported by South Wales CEM, Camtronics Vale. Under the leadership of founder and managing director Simon York, the
company is claiming a doubling of turnover from £1.5 to £3M with the
trend likely to continue. To accommodate the increase in
workload, Camtronics is looking to move to new premises.
Simon is upbeat about the future of manufacturing in the UK.
“Many customers simply cannot consider outsourcing production
overseas,” he commented. “Their work is highly specialised and is not
therefore driven by price considerations alone. We have invested heavily in high speed flexible automation in order to service this market sector.”

Camtronics specialise in low to medium volume assembly, typically at the high ‘added value’ range of the spectrum, with the company’s capability extending to full procurement box-build and test. At the centre of Camtronics’ production capability is a pair of Europlacer Vitesse placement systems. The company invested in its first Vitesse in 2003 and when business volumes dictated that more capacity was needed, the company purchased a second machine. “Europlacer’s intuitive intelligent platform gives us an edge where flexibility and quick turnaround are
key to satisfying customers’ needs,” added Simon. “But equally as
important to us is the support and expertise that Europlacer’s team has
brought to the party since day one.”

Monday, 26 April 2004

Home Grown

While tough competition is forcing many hi-tech companies to source cheaper manufacturing operations overseas, Camtronics Vale, an electronics manufacturer in South Wales, is successfully securing new work by addressing the right market in the right way...

Paul Gannon Business Magazine - WDA April 2004

View the full article -

Tuesday, 19 August 2003

R&D work stays at home

The electronics industry has hit back at claims that R&D activities are following manufacturing offshore to lower cost regions such as China.

"I certainly do not agree that product design will necessarily follow manufacturing offshore. Product design and innovation are strongly linked to an end market," said Bob Krysiak, general manager of STMicroelectronics' DVD division.

According to Gordon Aspin, operations director at TTPCom, higher level R&D has not emerged in China due to a loose local attitude to intellectual property rights. "In China companies do not enjoy the strength of legal protection for their rights that they do in other parts of Asia or the West," said Aspin.

EW asked a panel of UK-based business managers whether they were concerned about a recent report by the Institute for Manufacturing suggesting that R&D activities would follow manufacturing offshore.

All said there was no evidence to suggest that companies were moving significant amounts of R&D offshore.

"I have a number of key companies based in the Cambridge region which have an extensive client base who require a high skill base of design engineers, and I strongly believe that sophisticated high end design/niche electronic designs will remain here in the UK," said Simon York, managing director, of manufacturer, Camtronics.

"For industrial products, we still see the majority of manufacturing in the UK," added Jerry Sandys, managing director of distributor TDC.

According to Chris McAneny, Arrow's northern European marketing director, it is a complex picture which could see some low value design moving offshore, but he does not expect to see large amounts of design work move out of the UK.

ST's Krysiak called on the Government to make support for UK-based IC and system design skills a priority.

"It is imperative that 'UK Ltd' assesses its strategic position in, say, chip design and applications software and adds value in what can be called its core advantages," said Krysiak.

Richard Wilson
Electronics Weekly
Wednesday, 23 July 2003

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Wednesday, 23 July 2003

Manufacturer acquires Welsh factory
securing over 30 jobs

CAMTRONICS, the Cambridgeshire-based contract manufacturer, has secured over 30 manufacturing jobs in South Wales following the purchase of an Ebbw Vale-based company, Ikonotek.

The acquisition is part of a major expansion for the nine year old company which could also se it moving into its own product development.

''We are now in a different field'', Simon York, founder and managing director of Camtronics told Electronics Weekly.

''This was a £1m business employing 10 people it is now a £3m business with 50 people'', he added.

The firm's original site at St Ives will be carry out prototyping and pre-production work, while the volume manufacture will take place at Ebbw Vale where the company has six lines and a recently installed Europlacer SMT machine.

The company has invested a six-figure sum in the site and York said there is a contract in the offering worth £350k, ramping up to £ 1m in 2005.

York is convinced of the future for medium volume contract manufacture in the UK despite the well publicised exodus of volume production off-shore.

''Manufacturing is very viable in the UK. Some customers simply cannot consider going offshore. Their work is too specialist and it is not necessary price driven,'' said York.

In particular, he believes there are significant opportunities for the company in emerging markets such as embedded wireless systems.

There is also a plan to expand the company's sales activities to other parts of the UK, including the south east.

Richard Wilson
Electronics Weekly
Wednesday, 23 July 2003

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