Metal Presswork, Stamping and Deep Drawing Expertise

Coleshill based pressworker H T Brigham & Company Limited has just secured a brand new component order worth in excess of £1.5 million in its first year of production. The order, which has been secured from a longstanding automotive client, means that the company is now looking to recruit in order to accommodate the increase in workload.

With two new permanent positions having been filled and several temporary posts being considered, the firm plans to have increased its workforce by 12% before the spring. The order in question, is for a deep drawn pressing, which will be introduced onto a leading North American OEM’s automotive platform during 2012. The component design, which replaces an extremely costly and troublesome cast part, has been achieved following eight months of research and development work between H T Brigham and their customer’s design engineers.

The high volume order, which is set to reach quantities in excess of 400,000 per year, will be manufactured on the company’s newest acquisition. The Chin Fong Power Press, with 400 ton capacity, was purchased late last year and enables the pressworker to manufacture heavier components than they have previously been able to produce. The £250,000 investment was made to secure the firms future growth and looks to have paid off already with H T Brigham securing not one, but two lucrative, long-term contracts for brand new projects with existing customers. 

It would probably be fair to admit that as years go, 2011 will not go down as one of the most explosive for H T Brigham. Although it began with a roar of updated and increased schedules, these returned to a steadier, more familiar flow during the summer months. It became apparent that ‘global domination’ would in fact take a little longer than hoped and would be replaced with a more gentle recovery to the pre-downturn days.

As you may be aware, H T Brigham has worked relentlessly during 2011 to assure the company’s future, as work from new customers came on stream and existing accounts continued to develop. The pressworker expects recent project wins from new industry sectors, in particular, to be pivotal to the company’s long-term success and to contribute to making 2012 what could be the most important year in the firm’s long manufacturing history.

This year has also been a particularly busy one for HTB design engineers. The company worked hard for eight months to develop a cost effective replacement to a troublesome casting for a client in North America. This deep drawn pressing will be introduced onto a leading North American OEM’s automotive platform during 2012, generating revenues for H T Brigham in the region of £1.5 million in its first year of production. With other development projects reaching completion, including an own brand medical device and a cutting edge high tolerance precision pressing for the new technologies market, firm foundations have been placed during 2011 for a lucrative 2012 and beyond.

2011 also saw the company investing heavily in order to secure its future growth, with the month of October being a busy one. Extensive preparations were made to ensure that everything was in place for an important delivery. Over 5,000 miles away, the latest addition to H T Brigham’s increasing plant list was in its final stages of production. 

The metal pressworker’s newest acquisition, which arrived on-site on October 27th, will assist the company’s continued growth and expansion into new product areas and market sectors, by facilitating the manufacture of larger and heavier presswork than the company has been able to produce before. The rewards of this investment became clear when H T Brigham was able to secure not one, but two lucrative, long-term contracts for brand new projects with existing customers. 

The machine, which will enable these new contacts to be fulfilled, is the Chin Fong Straight Side Double Crank Power Press, with 400 ton capacity. The press has been manufactured to H T Brigham’s bespoke specification in Taiwan by one of the largest power press manufacturers in the world. The purchase of the press, however, was secured slightly closer to home, with Stourbridge based company Worcester Presses, who’s Sales Director, Russell Hartill, says, ‘Worcester Presses have taken great pride in supporting H T Brigham during this important transitional period’. 

It was also a year when H T Brigham invested heavily in its people, with every member of staff being placed on an extensive City & Guilds ‘Business Improvement Techniques’ program to encourage lean working processes companywide. Barry Smith, Managing Director says, ‘with these practices now being implemented and maintained within each department, efficiency, within what the company had already considered to be a pretty tight ship, can only be increased further’.  

So, with continued investment in people, machinery and capacity, along with a very healthy actual order book for 2012/2013, it would appear that UK manufacturing, for H T Brigham at least, is looking very strong indeed. Here’s to 2012 and beyond…

Back in June 2010, as H T Brigham was still holding on tight in the face of the dramatic manufacturing downturn, the ripples of which were sent around the globe, the presswork manufacturer received an email.

Out of the blue, the Senior Platform Engineering Manager for one of the USA’s largest Automotive manufactures had got in touch. Whilst in conversation with one of his colleagues, this brand new contact had been given H T Brigham’s details and a somewhat glowing report on the cooperative and approachable nature of the company. This single and very important electronic communication was, unbeknown to the pressworker at the time, to be one of the most significant, company changing, interactions since the manufacturer’s formulation by Mr Brigham back in 1947.

H T Brigham was asked to provide its opinion regarding the manufacture of an alternative to a very complex machined casting, which formed a vital, long serving, but extremely troublesome, component of an OEM automotive assembly. The current part in question had an underlying problem with its porosity, meaning that the component was prone to failure due to a tendency to weaken during use.

In short, could H T Brigham offer a solution? Was it feasible to manufacture this previously cast component as a metal pressing? If achievable, this would offer the OEM a more cost effective alternative, which could be produced more reliably and in higher volumes than its predecessor.

With direct involvement from company MD, Barry Smith, H T Brigham entered into a 12 month period of discussions with the prospective customer, both in the US and UK, in order to establish the project feasibility and the best way forward.

Design development through computer simulation techniques proved that the process was viable and that the pressed component could be manufactured in just 2 operations, instead of the previous 5 operations, offering obvious cost savings. Having taken into account the failings of the previously used part, the finalised component design was also expected to perform far more reliably, as the dynamic weight of the finished assembly would be considerably reduced.

The subsequent manufacture of prototype components, to be used in field trials, did indeed confirm that the newly designed substitute component could match up to the customer’s exact requirements. H T Brigham had successfully demonstrated to the end user that the presswork method of manufacture could provide an improved alternative to the problematic cast component.

In late September 2011, H T Brigham was nominated as the chosen supplier for this hugely significant assembly contract, subsequently being issued with purchase orders for full production.

The contract win will not only provide a very significant addition to the company’s existing turnover, but will also assist H T Brigham’s continued investment in its future growth, which previous big production wins have facilitated.

So, the importance of networking and referral cannot be emphasised enough. This, along with the ability to capitalise on every opportunity which comes along, be that regional, national or global, is surely an instrumental factor in the success of any firm.

Birmingham based presswork manufacturer, H T Brigham is currently recruiting.
A major contract win for an innovative new component, has prompted the company to seek additional manufacturing and production staff. This win, along with the securing of several other high value orders and support from the Manufacturing Advisory Service, has also assisted ongoing investment in plant and processes.

When the enquiry, for supply into the energy generation sector, was received, the component was at the concept stage only. H T Brigham’s Design Engineers were tasked with determining the feasibility of manufacture as a high volume, fully automated pressing. If achievable, this would be a cost effective alternative to other more labour intensive design proposals also being considered by the customer at that time.

The enquiry for this very specific type of pressing had been declined by several of H T Brigham’s competitors, but H T Brigham did not pass up this opportunity. Engineers worked to prove that the presswork method of manufacture would withstand the rigors of the demanding close tolerances and specifications which the customer had set.

Using cutting edge die simulation techniques, H T Brigham could prove that pressing was a viable manufacturing option, by identifying the level and location of any stresses in material which would occur during the manufacturing process. 

Technical Sales Manager, Andrew Essom said, ‘Production of this component as a pressing not only drastically reduced the unit cost of the component, but also allowed the customer to pass on this significant cost reduction into its assembly and in turn secure long-term manufacture of the assembled product to their own customer.’

Following confirmation that the component could be pressed in high volume to the required tolerances, the customer placed tooling orders and a five year rolling commitment to high volume production, helping to secure existing jobs as well as creating new ones.

CURRENT VACANCY: Toolmaker

H T Brigham, established for over 60 years, global suppliers of pressed metal components to automotive and non-automotive manufacturing sectors, needs to recruit the above.

Benefiting from a recent and continuing restructuring process, which has seen the company invest in additional resource, the business has ambitious but achievable targets to double turnover within the next three years; this will be achieved by developing and expanding their product and service capabilities as well as the aggressive penetration of new and existing markets. 

Pivotal to achieving these growth plans is the recruitment of an experienced toolmaker capable of working on own initiative servicing single operation & progression tooling.

Excellent rates of pay.
 
Please apply with CV to;

admin@htbrigham.co.uk

or

H.T. Brigham & Co. Ltd
Station Rd, Coleshill, B’ham, B46 1JQ.

CURRENT VACANCY: Production Engineering Personnel       

H T Brigham, established for over 60 years, global suppliers of pressed metal components to automotive and non-automotive manufacturing sectors, needs to recruit the above.

Benefiting from a recent and continuing restructuring process, which has seen the company invest in additional resource, the business has ambitious but achievable targets to double turnover within the next three years; this will be achieved by developing and expanding their product and service capabilities as well as the aggressive penetration of new and existing markets.  

Pivotal to achieving these growth plans is the recruitment of first class Engineers who will play a significant role in this process. These engineers will be multi-skilled in costing, project management and presswork engineering.
These positions offer excellent opportunities for further development of individuals which demonstrate positive “can-do” attitude.

Apply in writing with cv to:

admin@htbrigham.co.uk

or

H.T. Brigham & Company Ltd
Station Rd
Coleshill
B’ham, B46 1JQ

On the 14th April over 60 exhibitors and hundreds of visitors from the manufacturing industry  gathered together for an event which showcased all that Midlands

Manufacturing has to offer. The exhibition, held at the Bescott Stadium in Walsall, West Midlands, was organised by the Made in the Midlands campaign. The campaign focuses on supporting Midlands manufacturing companies and promoting the rich skill base which is available in the region.

As a founder member of the campaign, H T Brigham was keen to exhibit at the show, which presented excellent networking opportunities for the pressworker. Purchasers from several leading OEMs were in attendance, as well as much of the region’s press.

Local television and radio news crews were keen to cover the event and the impact of the campaign on the local economy and the safeguarding of jobs in the manufacturing sector. HTB’s Technical Sales Manager, Andrew Essom, was given the opportunity to put his views across regarding how the campaign has impacted H T Brigham and what it has done to promote the region as a manufacturing skill base.

During an interview with Radio West Midlands, Andrew was keen to point out that H T Brigham exports almost 75% of its output, for the end component to be assembled abroad and then imported back into the UK. He argued that the UK, and the Midlands region in particular, has the wealth of skill necessary to manufacture these parts wholly in the UK.

In a later interview with the Midlands Today news programme, Andrew pointed out the benefits of being a member of the Made in the Midlands campaign include; raising the company profile, various networking opportunities and encouraging the firm to think locally when sourcing new products and services.

Watch Andrew’s interview at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6M0zLCVimY

It may seem a little premature to celebrate the resurgence of the automotive industry and H T Brigham is certainly not popping any champagne corks just yet, but there is a definite feeling that some kind of a renaissance is well underway.

There is little need to go into the whys and wherefores regarding the difficulties experienced by manufacturers with automotive connections over recent years and manufacturers up and down the country all have their own tales to tell of instantly diminished schedules and indefinitely shelved projects.

But whilst the H T Brigham sales and marketing team has been busy targeting enquiries from other market sectors in a bid to diversify and help weather the storm, and indeed winning high value contracts from non-automotive sectors including the medical and
off-highway industries, the automotive enquiries have been sneaking in and gathering momentum. In fact, at H T Brigham, sales figures for the last 12 months show a 40% increase in automotive revenue on the previous year, with the majority of the rise coming from new accounts.

Traditionally, the automotive market has always been a tough nut to crack. Getting on board with new automotive projects is historically difficult to achieve. Component suppliers must be in the right place at the right time to be included in the negotiations from the project onset.  Many buyers in this sector also appear to follow the path of least resistance, not always being willing to consider switching supply routes. In addition, over the last decade the trend for supply from Eastern Europe and the Far East has made competing for automotive contracts extremely difficult for UK based manufacturers. H T Brigham has struggled to remain competitive in the face of impossibly low labour costs from emerging manufacturing countries.

However, it now appears that the tables have turned. Material costs have become comparable across the globe and the pressworker’s manufacturing costs are continually being reduced through lean manufacturing processes and VA/VE initiatives. H T Brigham has done much to weather the storm of the recent down turn, with automotive enquires, which had been put on hold, now having turned into very real and valuable project orders. Orders have been received, not only from existing accounts, but also from new customers, whose buying strategy has returned favour to UK manufacturing and the benefits of sourcing locally. Indeed, with the Midlands being home to a number of luxury vehicle manufacturers, which are continually reported in the press to be experiencing an up-turn in sales, this can only have a positive knock on effect for automotive component manufacturers in the region like H T Brigham.

So, it may still be a little early to rejoice, but the automotive sector is now far from in decline and really is a target area for sales activity once again. H T Brigham considers automotive supply a real area for growth in 2012-13. It is after all where the pressworker’s roots firmly lie and H T Brigham, for one, will be happy to see the automotive sector enjoy a real renaissance.

Those of us who have survived in manufacturing after the great economic implosion of 2008/9 are a hardy breed. Over the last few years we have “seen it all”. We have seen our customers “rationalise” their own supplier base at the drop of a hat and pass enquiries for existing work from supplier to supplier, each of which seemed more determined to reach the “target figures” for production that had been thrust upon them. We have seen existing schedules across all sectors vanish in front of our eyes, as global manufacturing “de-stocked”. We have seen new projects shelved or deleted all together. We have seen production facilities and supply requirements shift further and further East!

But times have been changing recently. Those of us who have been fortunate to have survived the challenges of modern manufacturing and who have invested in the future, have grasped the challenge, pushed forward and started to see somewhat of a renaissance in manufacturing. H T Brigham, for instance, has invested heavily in new plant and processes and is currently putting together plans to drastically review its manufacturing site to accommodate future growth.

Having taken on board customer and industry comments regarding UK tooling costs, combined with the increasing costs of overseas tooling (and its sometimes lack of reliability), the Directors of H T Brigham are proposing to invest heavily in a transformation of our own toolroom and tool manufacture. We have also invested in the time and assistance of the Manufacturing Advisory Service who have aided us in the areas of Lean Manufacturing and 5S principles. These lessons learnt, have assisted our company in the re-organisation of our manufacturing site, removing outdated and non-cost effective manufacturing processes. We have invested in machinery, which will help us reduce costs and essentially make our unit cost for the manufacture of components as economical as anywhere in the world.

Our Project and Engineering Department has worked tirelessly with new and existing customers to ensure that projects, which had been on hold, have been able to re-start with a fresh vision and more competitive method of manufacture. We have embraced the change in the world’s currencies, visited overseas customers and won work in the Americas, Europe and believe it or not India. All of this has reaped benefits for sales figures moving forward with new work and projects gained during the last six months or so and shaping our mid to long term growth.

So you can see, the only way to travel in life is forward and we are glad to say we, like many others who are still manufacturing in the UK, are doing our best to embrace every opportunity we can in order to bring the UK out of recession.

But what of the future I hear you say. We hear now of oil hitting almost $100 a barrel as there seems to be great unrest around the globe. Governments are being overturned and natural disasters are pushing up the cost of coke and coal, which we are told, will increase raw material costs to a new “all time high”.  It appears that we have done as much as we can with our own house and kept everything in order to secure future manufacturing within the UK. We now have to hold strong and make the most of the second wave of challenges which lie ahead.

Not only must we defend our position in the market place, we must underline our new found strength. We must let our customers know that the next quarter will be difficult, but because we have invested in more competitive methods of manufacture and streamlined our activities, we are in a strong position to see out the storm of material price increases and remain competitive despite this, on a national and global scale.

The second wave is coming, but our defences are in place and UK manufacturing will ride out this storm.

Andrew Essom
Technical Sales Manager
H T Brigham & Company Limited

The sales team at H T Brigham is in buoyant mood. A major customer from the US has just placed several long-term brand new project orders, for both tooling and component manufacture. The contract, which is worth in excess of £400,000 a year, commences production in the first quarter of 2011. These orders can be added to an extensive list of foreign accounts, with overseas work now accounting for over 65% of the company’s order book.

The impressive new contract win is for the manufacture of a component into a trans-continental automotive assembly corporation which supplies directly into the likes of Chrysler, Honda, Ford and GM.

The reality of this contract win may be just coming to fruition, but in fact the actions affecting whether it would be won or lost, were made during the unlikeliest of times in UK manufacturing.

The economic downturn suddenly presented traditional manufacturers like H T Brigham with hugely challenging situations, but for those who were able to weather the storm, it also presented a stark opportunity to take stock and perhaps even re-focus. H T Brigham realised that relations with existing customers were key and an ability to maintain and strengthen these relations would be more critical than ever.

It was during this period that H T Brigham received a significant enquiry from a longstanding customer in the USA. Helped by the parity between the pound and the dollar, H T Brigham entered into intensive design consultations with its client regarding some brand new projects which were tentatively in the pipeline. Technical Sales Manager, Andrew Essom said, ‘Some people may have considered it to be a bold move to invest time and resources into a project such as this during such uncertainty, but we were keen to embrace the opportunity even though, if successful, its rewards would not be enjoyed until several years later.’

This was an intense period of design collaboration, prototype development and trial product testing in order to achieve the best result for the best possible cost. H T Brigham’s project engineers are highly proficient in working this way with customers from the product concept stage, right through to final component production and will always try and improve product design and functionality where possible in order give their customers the competitive edge.

Managing Director, Barry Smith said, ‘By recognising the opportunity, understanding our strengths and thinking long-term, we have secured a lucrative contract with an extremely valued customer which has contributed to the securing of our future success.’

H T Brigham recognises the huge importance of maintaining and increasing its international communications in order to continue to attract opportunities like this. To achieve this, sales & marketing communications are tailored to effectively incorporate overseas contacts. Andrew Essom says, ‘Our overseas contacts may be out of sight, but they are not out of mind. It is particularly important to maintain a high profile in the minds of our overseas customers. Obviously, we cannot visit these contacts as regularly as we would like, which is why other lines of communication become so important.’

That said, H T Brigham’s sales team does take every available opportunity to visit their overseas contacts. Regular visits to mainland Europe and the Americas are conducted throughout the year, and in light of the recent multiple order win from the USA, a trip to the States has been scheduled for December to investigate new opportunities with existing contacts and to seek out future prospects.