Precision Engineering created the modern world. Since the Industrial Revolution, Precision Engineering has fine-tuned every aspects of our modern world. From the USB port of our beautiful looking Apple MacBook to the coffee machine, even the pilot pen we use to at our desk and probably the desk itself. With a diverse range of market supplies from agriculture, automotive, through to medical and aerospace Advanex Europe Ltd is a global corporation specializing in precision engineering solutions.
In an interview with Insights Success, Steve Barker the Sales & Marketing Manager and Ian Beardsmore, the Managing Director at Advanex Europe portray the key highlights, strengths, and uniqueness that will effectively complement the company’s profile.
Below are the highlights of the interview conducted between Advanex Leaders and Insights Success.
Give a brief overview of the company, its vision.
Advanex Europe is the European division of the Advanex Group. With a network of over 20 operations including Japan, South East Asia, and the United States. Advanex specializes in designing and supplying metal and plastic components, springs and assemblies to a diverse range of markets including Pharmaceutical, Medical Devices, Aerospace and of course Automotive. Advanex is firmly committed to developing new products and processes to help us stay at the front line of innovation with our precision components.
What are the cutting-edge automotive tech solutions offered by Advanex?
Advanex has extensive experience in bespoke precision spring design throughout our Global network. Working with some of the world’s largest Automotive OEM’s and Tier manufacturers to find the most efficient and cost-effective designs for their spring component needs. It is our ability to design components as well as the in house, automated manufacturing process that makes Advanex such a reliable supply chain partner.
What strategies has Advanex undertaken to stay ahead of the competition?
Advanex has a diverse product range that covers a variety of market sectors. The focus of the business has in the past centered around the manufacture of precision springs. However, since the early 2000’s technologies such as CoilThread® fasteners, Deep Drawn parts, precision stampings and wire forms along with our Hinge components have been added to our product portfolio providing opportunities to supply across a wide range of manufacturing sectors with a focus on the Automotive industry.
Describe the experiences, achievements or lessons learned that has shaped the journey of the company.
In the past Advanex in Europe manufactured the metal components that went into 80% of the floppy discs produced worldwide. A huge amount of business at the time but now this technology is part of history. Once these parts started to see a decline, the company had to look at developing other technologies. This is when the CoilThread® fastening technology was brought to Europe from Japan. In the time that these components have been manufactured at one of our UK sites, we have managed to increase the production speed to nearly 10 times faster than the original process.
Our global network also allows us to support customers in every major continent. We have noticed in recent years localization is a big priority for many of our customers and our large network means we have local sales teams to service these markets. Advanex Group currently operates several engineering projects on a global basis with several key sector customers, supplying locally but centrally managed to ensure global supply providing economies of scale for our customers.
Where Advanex does sees itself in the long run and what are its future goals?
Our long-term strategy has always been defined by our head office in Tokyo, Japan. The target that was set in 2018, by the then-new Advanex President Steven Shibano was to become the number 1 manufacturer of precision metal components across the world. This has provided an excellent focus, but it just shows the ambitions we have as a global network. We have earmarked the Automotive industry and more specifically the Tier Supply Chain for a large part of this growth and we are confident in growing our support in this industry as it drives forward with a transition towards electric vehicles.
What inspired Advanex to enter into this segment?
The challenges set by the Automotive industry help us to maintain an efficient and cost-effective approach to all our projects and management techniques.
Give a detailed description of your Management’s contribution over the company and the industry
Our Managing Director for the European division is, Ian Beardsmore, he began his career at Advanex as an engineering apprentice so he has always had an affinity for the company. Ian moved on from Advanex to gain experience elsewhere, within business development, specifically for automotive manufacturing companies within Europe. Later, he returned as European Sales Manager for Advanex in 2012 and was promoted to Managing Director in 2016. This time Ian has overseen a growth project that has resulted in Advanex’s European division becoming the most profitable in the Global Group as well as nearly doubling turnover in the past 5 years.
Provide one line that best describes the company and its services.
Advanex Europe is the European division of the Advanex Global Group. We specialize in designing and supplying precision metal components, springs, Coil Thread Tangless inserts, and assemblies.
Sales and Marketing Leader
It takes a leader when guiding a team of designers and engineers. And a leader should understand the importance of cultivating a team and its role in an organization. He connects with the teammates and solves the problems related to their work. With a background in mechanical engineering, Steve Barker is a Sales and Marketing Manager at Advanex. He is responsible for all sales & marketing activities within Advanex Europe covering three sites in Southwell and Bilborough in Nottinghamshire and recently opened a manufacturing facility near Prague in the Czech Republic.
Testimonials– “We involved Advanex in the development of a spring in one of our components as we were unable to find a solution with other manufacturers. Their innovative approach to the manufacturing process and assembly of this part meant we were able to win the business of one of the largest automotive brands. Without the Advanex input, this may not have been possible” Global Automotive Components Manufacturer
Steve Barker | Sales & Marketing Manager | Advanex Europe Ltd.
