The milestone marks what has been a transformational partnership for the Midlands-based manufacturer, and one that has been worth over £50 million since PP impressed Japanese purchasing directors to make it on to Mazak’s approved supplier register in 1993. From there, the relationship has developed at pace, and manufacturing is now completed virtually just-in-time, with close communication and design input meaning lead times have reduced from six weeks per control system to just six days – despite the increasing complexity of projects.
“There are very few business relationships that last 25 years in this day and age, let alone ones where a SME can build such a strategic and mutually beneficial relationship with one of the world’s best manufacturers,” says David Fox, chairman of PP Control & Automation. “When Mazak Europe audited us in 1993 we were at just £2 million and employed about 25 people. However, we had ambitious plans and a continuous improvement culture, and the work we were doing with Toyota was enough to persuade them that we could meet their quality standards for supplying control systems.
“That decision was probably the most pivotal in our 50-year history and – some 25 years on – Mazak Europe continues to be one of our largest and most important customers,” he adds. “Today, we continue to provide the capacity for Mazak to take on new orders and expand by supporting the full design and build of control systems used in their machine tools.”
To celebrate the 25th anniversary, PP Control & Automation hosted a special race evening at Worcester Racecourse, with 30 employees from all parts of both businesses enjoying a night of racing, magic and live music. There were also representatives from Wago, Lutze and Ilme present, three important companies that make up the supply chain and provide critical parts for the machine connectivity solutions that PP manufactures.
Tony Hague, CEO of PP Control & Automation was equally delighted that senior people from its new investment partners, Ardenton Capital, were able to attend the important event: “It really gave the Ardenton team the opportunity to see first-hand how strategic and long-term our client relationships have become.”
