Small but mighty: Arburg UK’s global reach recognised during 25-year celebration

Arburg’s subsidiary in Warwick has been recognised with “gratitude and praise” by its parent company for 25 years of service and success.

During a two-day event, incorporating an evening celebration and open house with machinery demonstrations and presentations, delegates from Arburg in Lossburg recognised the work of its UK subsidiary in securing not only small and medium sized customers in the region, but also those with a global reach.

Upon presentation of a sculpture to recognised the silver anniversary, Arburg Managing Partner, Juliane Hehl, said it symbolised thanks and recognition for the success of the subsidiary and also as motivation for the future.

"We are uncompromisingly committed to the interests of our customers and partners worldwide, everywhere and at all times," said Hehl.

Industry-wide representation

Colin Tirel, Managing Director of Arburg in the UK since 2005, told delegates that its customers represent a broad church of end-user industries producing mainly thermoplastic parts for the automotive, electronics, packaging and medical technology sectors.

However, he also highlighted customer trends in recent years leading to increased sales of LSR processing and multi-component injection moulding machines. He added that the company’s extension of the clamping force range up to 6,500 kN has satisfied those customers using larger, multi-cavity moulds.

To accommodate the needs of its customers looking to automate their production processes, the company has an expert in the field of automation to advise and support, while the use of the Freeformer for industrial additive manufacturing will be further promoted in 2018 with a number of events.

"We welcomed some 90 guests over the two days and were thus able to personally thank many of our customers for their excellent cooperation during the past decades as well as showcasing ideas for future projects based on the exhibits and presentations,” commented Tirel at the event.

25-years and counting

Managing Director of Sales for Arburg globally, Gerhard Böhm, also thanked customers from the UK and Ireland for their “trusting and successful cooperation over the past decades”, before looking back over the successful history of the subsidiary.

This, he explained, began with the sale of the first Allrounder injection moulding machine to the UK in 1967. Initially being supported by a trading partner, the decision to found a fully-owned subsidiary was taken following growth in the overall UK plastics processing market, along with Arburg’s market share.

The original manger of the UK subsidiary, Frank Davis, made a special appearance at the event, as delegates heard how the initial team of 18 he headed up has today grown to 26 and the building and facilities expanded to incorportate a showroom with Allrounders for testing customer moulds, a well-stocked spare parts warehouse and a wide range of training courses.