AES growth strategy wins approval from Lord Jones
A MOVE into global markets and investments in new equipment and staff have paid dividends for a Warwickshire electrical engineering firm.
Stratford-based Assembled Electronics Solutions opted for a realignment of the business as a ‘design hub’. A move which saw it establish a new design centre, where the firm invites other engineers to attend and openly collaborate on new projects.
The approach is typical of firms in the United States but not yet widely adopted in the UK.
The collaborative approach focuses on adding value through innovative engineering knowledge transfer and advanced manufacturing practices, rather than competing on price alone.
The firm has seen its global client base grow significantly and turnover in has risen to more than £1.3m in its first three and a half years of trading.
The approach has been commended by former Trade Minister Lord Digby Jones.
He said: “The great thing about the UK is our ability to generate ideas, develop new products and add value in the manufacturing process from our knowledge base.
“This should continue to be our focus in establishing UK manufacturing and engineering as a force on the global stage, exporting our ideas and innovations to the world. Assembled Electronic Solutions are a great example of how this theory can be put into practice.”
In the last year, AES has been involved in the design and manufacture of a variety of products. Apart from designing, testing and programming security-monitoring and safety equipment for the rail sector, the firm has also worked on high specification electronic assemblies with calibrated software for aerospace production equipment.
Having only been established in June 2009, the company has consistently defied the economic downturn by yearly increasing its turnover, including doubling the January and February revenues from 2012, and building an ever-growing and diverse customer base.
The design centre follows several other investments that were recently made by the company including new automated production and inspection equipment such as an optical inspection machine, a component potting machine and additional SMT automated electronic assembly equipment.
Nigel Maris, AES’ Managing Director, said: “The investment in technology and human resources is part of a £100k commitment to quality and capacity both for manufacture and design. The partnership approach, particularly in the design phase, helps to reduce manufacturing costs and to integrate product styling with design for manufacture. This brings its own rewards in terms of consistency in build and the time to market.”
As part of its expansion, AES has hired several new specialists, including an experienced Technical Manager who is going to head the design department, a Software Engineer specialising in graphical interfaces and communications software and an Electro-medical Designer.
