For Circast Electronics – life begins at 40
For Circast Electronics – life begins at 40
Keywords: Electronics, Manufacturing
Warwickshire-based Circast Electronics – a company that lays claim to being the UK’s oldest established independent manufacturer of printed circuit boards (PCBs) – reached another historic milestone recently when it celebrated its 40th anniversary (Plate 2).
Comments Circast Electronic’s managing director, Andrew Hall: “First and foremost we used the anniversary to celebrate the success and achievements that Circast has enjoyed over the last 40 years. Whilst I am extremely privileged to be part of what is without doubt a Midlands and UK manufacturing success story, it has been the ongoing commitment and loyalty of our most important asset, the entire workforce, that has enabled the company to come this far.”
Plate 2Circast Electronics – the UK’s oldest established independent manufacturer of PCBs – celebrated its 40th anniversary in September 2002. Pictured in the company’s Class 10,000 clean room, which has benefited from £150K investment recently, are: (seated) Managing Director, Andrew Hall (left) and Quality Manager, Mel Jones, whilst standing is Finance Director, Ray Botwright (left) and Operations Director, Phil Bromage
“That said, the anniversary provided us with a unique opportunity to demonstrate how we aim to strengthen our position in the future within both the UK and overseas markets that we currently service”, he added.
With a largely blue chip client base, Circast Electronics – located on Sydenham Industrial Estate in Leamington Spa – specialise in the design,manufacture and testing of high value, multi-layer PCBs for the defence,aerospace, automotive, telecommunications and industrial electronics industries. The £6m turnover company not only supplies the domestic market but exports to countries such as Australia, the USA and South Africa. The company also operates a newly-established division branded PCBUK, which has been created to source medium to large batches of value-added PCBs across all technologies from Circast’s partner suppliers in the Far East.
For a company, originally set up in Coventry in 1962, it has never been better placed than it is today to service the needs of the global PCB market that the company operates in. As Andrew Hall adds: “We are respected within the industries that we service for our ability to supply high quality PCBs to often tight production deadlines. It is not unreasonable, for example,for us to be given 0 prototype PCB and produce c prototype batch within a 24 h time scale. We have this capacity as we are able to coil on the expertise of what is 0 highly-skilled workforce, operating 24 h a day.”
In fact the loyalty of the company’s entire team is something that many organisations can only dream of. As long term holders of Investors in People(IIP), some 50 per cent of the current workforce of 95 have been with the company for more than 10 years, a staggering 25 per cent of whom have “come of age“ with the company having put in more than 21 years service.
And as Andrew Hall is keen to point out: “The value of people within the organisation is not something that we pay lip service to. We not only encourage a team working culture across the organisation, but also actively invest in developing it for everyone’s benefit. Over the last two years we have invested some £40K through a company who have an exemplary record in this field and the benefits have already been significant.”
With the workforce divided into eight teams, every employee benefits from taking part in a daily 15 min meeting that enables action plans to be agreed and any concerns to be voiced. It is a culture that has further boosted loyalty and contributed to Circast Electronics achieving an almost 100 per cent on time and full delivery rate record of finished product to its customer base.
Having acquired the company as a result of a management buyout in 1996 Andrew Hall and his management team have never shied away from investing in not only people but also new technologies and equipment to meet the ever changing needs of the future. In addition to having on site a Class 10,000 clean room that boasts a state-of-the-art photo-mech facility and Hukuto cut sheet laminator,the company has recently invested over £150K in the latest automatic optical inspection (AOI) and verification technology. Housed in a fully air conditioned unit, this facility enables tolerances down to 0.000500″ to be recognised between manufactured PCBs.
It is believed that philosophies such as these have led to Circast Electronics receiving recognition from many sources. In addition to holding IIP,the company holds registration to ISO 9001 Design and Manufacture and ISO 14001 Environmental approval. A member of the Federation of Electronic Industries(FEI) and Engineering Employees Federation (EEF), Circast is also an active member of the local chamber of commerce.
So for a company that has come such a long way in its 40 year history,everyone at Circast Electronics is now looking forward to playing a valuable part in the next chapter of events. Concludes Andrew Hall: “We have a strategy in place that is focused on controlled growth and consolidation, and which will hopefully result in a move to a new custom-built manufacturing facility within the locality for the next few years. It is a strategy we intend to support by expanding our product base through the constant deployment of new processes, technologies and materials.”
Details available from: Circast Electronics Ltd. Tel: +44 (0) 1926 744400;Fax: +44 (0) 1926 744412.
