The company behind the self-adhesive cable clip has been acquired by one of Birmingham’s longest-established manufacturers.

Brandauer, which is a specialist in metal pressings and stampings, has purchased CB Cable Clips in an undisclosed deal that will safeguard three jobs, create two new positions and see all customers, IP, stock and assets transferred over.
Under new ownership, it is expected that the business has the potential to double its £110,000 annual sales over the first 12 months and will complement Brandauer’s own product range, which currently includes turnkey precision tooling, motor laminations and Elopin press-fit connectors. The deal is the first acquisition that Brandauer has ever completed in its 157-year history, and is part of an ambitious growth plan that will see it achieve £10m turnover by the end of 2020.
“We have been manufacturing the CB Cable Clip range under a subcontract agreement for more than 40 years, so are synonymous with the innovation and the production process,” says Rowan Crozier, CEO of Brandauer. “When the possibility of selling was sounded out, it seemed the logical decision to incorporate the business into Brandauer. We knew the quality and customer service expected, we knew the delivery patterns and, most significantly, it was another product we could add to our growing range.
“We are already looking to double the size of the team and believe there is an opportunity to access new markets and customers,” he adds.
Brandauer will manufacture and supply the CB Cable Clip range of self-adhesive aluminium cable clips. Since the invention came to market in 1972, over 566 million clips have been produced and used across the world.
For further information www.brandauer.co.uk

A company-wide commitment to quality and exacting standards is paying off for Alloy Wire International as it secured a host of new orders following a trio of accreditation awards.

The manufacturer of ‘high performance’ nickel alloys, which is owned by all of its employees at facilities in Brierley Hill and Yorkshire, has secured £150,000 of contracts to supply customers in the aerospace and energy sectors.
Management at the company is putting the recent success down to the fact that Alloy Wire has just been re-approved to the aerospace and defence standard AS9100 rev D and the ISO 14001 environmental standard, not to mention becoming one of the first in the UK to achieve ISO 45001, a new international accreditation that covers all aspects of health and safety.
For further information www.alloywire.com

The Coventry-based Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) has hosted a visit by top level officials from the US state of Michigan, all of whom were keen to learn about the MTC’s capabilities in advanced manufacturing.

Included among the group were senior representatives from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, along with manufacturing experts from the US Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation and the Advanced Propulsion Centre. The visitors were keen to learn about the MTC’s progress on light-weighting, in particular.
For further information www.the-mtc.org

Last week, specifically 15 April, holds a special place in the history of the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA), as it was on that date in 1919 that the association was founded and the first meeting of its members held.

To mark the centenary, members past and present have been contributing to a book ‘At the Heart of Manufacturing’, which charts the history of the association from inception to the present day.
The book is also a record of how much technology has changed over the past 100 years; some of the manufacturing techniques of then would be unrecognisable today. The book was carefully put together by looking through historical records and recounting recent years. Every member of the MTA has received a copy of the publication, which was launched at the MTA’s centenary dinner in February.
For further information www.mta.org.uk

The Trumpf UK open house will take place at the company’s Technology Centre in Luton on 4-6 June.

Visitors will be able to speak with technology experts and see the latest-generation machines, lasers and software in action. The event is also a forum for manufacturers to see how they can benefit from Industry 4.0 and explore the potential of networked production using TruConnect solutions that allow step-by-step integration. Trumpf will bring this concept to life with an autonomous laser-cutting demonstration featuring ‘Active Speed Control’ on the new TruLaser 5030 10 kW fibre laser cutting machine.
For further information www.trumpf.com/s/open-house