A Coventry company which has thrived supplying the automotive sector is to diversify into new markets after winning funding from a nationwide government project.
Expert Tooling and Automation, which specialises in the design and manufacture of production equipment and robotic automation for the automotive sector, is expanding into the supply of automated machinery for the manufacture of medical devices and supplies.
The company, based at Banner Park, Wickmans Drive, has received a £230,000 grant from the second round of the Growing Places initiative after receiving approval from the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP).
The business will now invest a further £1.2 million in refurbishing and upgrading 10,000 sq ft of its entire 50,000 sq ft premises to meet the quality requirements of the medical sector so that it can begin to manufacture medical equipment next summer.
Twenty-one jobs for project managers, project engineers, assembly technicians and machine operators will be created when the work gets underway and 57 other jobs have been safeguarded by the funding.
Angelo Luciano, managing director of Expert Tooling and Automation, said the 106-strong company in Coventry and the North East would no longer be so heavily reliant on the automotive sector.
“We currently design and manufacture product equipment predominantly for the automotive industry and our clients include Jaguar Land Rover, Ford, Aston Martin, McLaren and Bentley,” he said.
“We have an opportunity to undertake work in other industries including manufacturing equipment for the medical industry such as inhalers.
“In 2009, we bought Modular Automation International out of administration who worked with medical suppliers but we have not had the facility to take advantage of their contacts with companies such as Procter & Gamble and OralB but we will be able to target them again.
“We have just started the refurbishment of one of our units which has a 20-year lease because it needs to be a clean environment to undertake this new work and we are looking to increase our manufacturing capacity as well by bringing in CNC Machining Centres and measuring equipment plus CAD software.”
He said the Growing Places grant had sealed the company’s decision to invest in the diversification plans.
“I think it made the difference between making the investment and deciding not to,” Angelo said. “We probably wouldn’t have made the investment without the Growing Places grant so it made it easier to make the decision.”
Councillor Lynnette Kelly, Cabinet Member for Business, Enterprise and Employment and CWLEP board director, said Expert Tooling and Automation was a perfect example of a specialist business that has the skilled workforce to diversify.
“Angelo and his team has built an excellent reputation within automotive circles for the high level of work they produce but it is important not to put all your eggs in one basket in case there is a downturn in the industry,” she said.
“The funding from Growing Places means the company will be moving into the medical sector to enhance its long-term future as well as building its profile in another industry.
“Creating and safeguarding jobs as well as boosting the economy are among the goals of the CWLEP and Expert Tooling and Automation certainly fits the bill which is why their application was backed by the CWLEP.”