Polishing and surface finishing subcontractor Anopol grows with MAS help

The company, which employs 39 people at sites in Birmingham and Hampshire, and which processes parts for Apache helicopters, nuclear reactors and medical implants, saw sales exceed £3 million last year. Backed by strategic and financial support from MAS, it achieved this by identifying new markets and investing in total quality and service. It has seen export sales expand to become almost 35% of sales, with growth seen across the automotive, medical, semiconductor and aerospace sectors. MAS has been working with Anopol for nearly five years, providing assistance towards productivity improvements that resulted in savings of £30,000 on waste and increased efficiency by 23%. It has also provided funding towards the firms ISO 9001 and 14001 programmes and, most recently, support in addressing its social media strategy. Anapol's main subcontract services are pickling and electropolishing of castings, forgings, pressings, wirework and welded assemblies, with the company also offering passivating and the supply of cleaning chemicals for stainless steel direct to the customer. Recent investment of more than £250,000 has seen it purchase a new 'blacking' process and moved forward diversification into treatments for new metals, such as tungsten, titanium and zirconium. In addition to its surface finishing service, the company has also seen major interest in its plant design and installation service, with the last three projects delivering more than £1.2 million in revenue. Recently appointed managing director David Cass says: "The downturn affected us in terms of reduced orders, but, thanks to the diverse nature of the business, we were able to face the challenge and emerge stronger than before. "During the recession, we put in place a strategy that focused on improving productivity, spotting opportunities in new markets and really pushing our expertise in designing and manufacturing bespoke electro-polishing and pickling facilities." "Working with our business partner Delmet in Italy, we have been successful in landing new contracts, including specialist equipment for the pharmaceutical and medical implant sector. "The latest high profile order has seen us design and install a new pickling plant that surface finishes hot water storage cylinders in a fully enclosed environment, with no operator contact to chemicals and in-cycle treatment of all waste water from the pickling process." "Using all of our years of experience, we came up with a solution in just four months that reduced processing lead times from hours to minutes and is completely safe and friendlier on the environment...there are also massive returns on investment for the customer." Says chairman John Swain: "A lot of our success has been down to our desire to continually evolve, so that we lead the rest of the UK in electropolishing and pickling. This means we are able to offer solutions to some of the most complex projects imaginable; just take the surface finishing we are currently applying to corrosion resistant enclosures to keep electrical gear secure or the top end grills we surface finish for the Bentley Arnage." Image: L to R - David Cass, John Swain, Rachel Eade (MAS-West Midland Auto)