To mark its big birthday, the firm hosted a special open day to give customers and suppliers the opportunity to gain an insight into its different solutions, including the standardised robotic platform from sister division Robopod.
“When we established Mechatronic Solutions in 1988, we set out with a passion for developing advanced technologies that would make a real difference to clients,” explains founder Richard Evans. “We started on day one with a ‘right first time’ philosophy, which still underpins our thinking and development, ensuring high standards and an efficient approach to automation and new solutions for smart factories.
“The transformation over 30 years has been remarkable,” he continues. “We’ve gone from a small start-up to a firm supplying blue-chip companies in the UK, Ireland, mainland Europe and Malaysia, working with big names such as Rolls-Royce, Accord Healthcare and IAC.”
Mechatronic Solutions’ anniversary open day gave clients the opportunity to discuss potential applications and new projects, with the emphasis on payback planning, and understanding how automation can increase productivity, efficiency and reliability. Live demonstrations included the opportunity to see AIVs (autonomous intelligent vehicles) working as an interactive robotic fleet, plus digital twinning and data collection.
The future of manufacturing emerged as a key theme, with smart factory and Industry 4.0 being illustrated by the company’s latest solutions and exhibitions from selected technology partners. Special guests at the open day included Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands.
Established in a small unit in Birmingham in 1988, Mechatronic Solutions has enjoyed 400% growth in the past five years. Industry’s move towards digitised factories represents a major opportunity for the business, and more than £1 million is invested annually by Mechatronic Solutions in R&D work, ranging from additions to its Robopod suite of products to digital twinning and closer integration of artificial intelligence into daily manufacturing functions.
“Three decades in business – including the global recession of 2009 – is some achievement, and our staff have played a crucial role in our development,” says Evans. “The plan now is to maximise our global reputation and lay the foundations for another 30 years of success. A great example of this is digital twinning, which is designed specifically to automate the production of the future. It gives manufacturers the opportunity to simulate facilities in real-time so that they can see the parts and data that the manufacturing process is creating.”
