21.03.2011

Youngman invests in UK plant

UK based access equipment manufacturer Youngman, has announced a significant investment in its manufacturing facility in Maldon, Essex.

The company says that rising costs and growing competition from Eastern Europe and China have forced it to rethink the company’s largely manual manufacturing methods. The review resulted in a decision to invest in further automation to create a viable manufacturing facility in the UK, rather than outsource labour intensive processes overseas.

Youngman’s production engineers identified laser cutting and robotic welding as key areas for improvement and approached ABB the automation technology company, with the task of carrying out the £2.5 million turnkey project to design and install the new equipment.

Youngman says that the improvements will enable it to compete rigorously against imports from lower cost economies, whilst aiding flexible production and reducing stockholding.
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A new robot welding station at Youngman

Youngman’s managing director Paul Bentley said: “We recognised that we needed to plan for the future as it was clear that costs were continuing to rise and the company was facing cheaper competition from both European and Chinese manufacturers. We are confident that this initial investment will help secure the future of both the company and its employees, with the added benefit of enabling the business to compete on a global basis.”

“We are committed to our vision of growing the company in a very competitive market and we believe this can be achieved by continued investment in state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities.”