No one of us is better than all of us – Networking and collaboration

Networking and collaboration blog series: Part one

It perhaps goes without saying, but no business achieves success all off its own back. Key partnerships, networks and collaboration are often the keys to unlocking better efficiencies and processes, wider discipline capability, ensuring compliance, and even generating new opportunities.

Throughout its rich history, Brandauer has benefited from unique and growth enabling partnerships – partnerships that warrant attention. This blog details some of the more recent ways in which the Brandauer network has grown and what’s behind these all-important relationships.

A single source engineering solution

What better place to start than the Manufacturing Assembly Network, aka the MAN Group? The MAN Group is a collaboration of UK manufacturers with complementary disciplines and core competencies.

As a founding member, it is a group Brandauer is especially passionate about. By tapping into the capabilities of complementary UK manufacturers, an engineering design agency, and the knowledge transfer of Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), Brandauer can offer something not many others can: a single source engineering and manufacturing solution for customers involved in numerous industry sectors.

In 2006, when the MAN Group was founded, UK manufacturing was suffering from the collapse of major manufacturers, including MG Rover, Peugeot’s Ryton Plant and Agco. It was impeded by a lack of Government support and faced with increasing commercial pressures from low-cost rivals in Eastern Europe, the Far East and sub-continent.

The industry was lacking ambition and confidence. Founding members of the group had a common interest in tackling these notions and believed the answers lay within a collaborative approach.

Today, the group includes Alucast, Barkley Plastics, Grove Design, James Lister & Sons, KimberMills International, Muller, PP Control & Automation, and WMG, collaborating to:

The group has never been more relevant than it has in recent times. The pandemic was a difficult time for many in the industry, but for the MAN Group, it was an opportunity to put all of that collaboration and good practice over its 15 years to good use.

Protecting frontline workers against the threat of Covid-19 was the catalyst for the group to come together and launch a new product. Members invested more than £30,000 into the design and manufacture of the manKIND Visor, an easy to assemble and reusable visor.

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Backed by expertise from WMG, the collective took just six weeks from initial concept and prototyping to create a bespoke tool at Barkley Plastics able to produce 500,000 units every year. The first 20,000 were donated to the NHS.

After this initial allocation, the manKIND visor was sold directly to healthcare organisations, schools, retailers, and businesses looking to safely return to work. Brandauer has now taken up the mantle of manufacturing the manKIND Visor for the commercial market and was granted a CE marking.

Knowledge transfer

Key to the MAN Group is the transfer of knowledge with members and Brandauer take the same approach in a more official capacity with academia. The Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Birmingham City University is a fine example, where Brandauer and the University embarked on a progression press tooling project that tackled specific technical challenges.

In order to support the design of new tooling concepts, the project required a sound understanding of current material forming processes. Advanced computational models are required with the capability of predicting the behaviour of the high speed, close tolerance metal forming and cutting actions commonly used within high volume precision metal component forming.

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Building on the in-depth understanding gained through the modelling, the technical teams explored novel material and design concepts with predictable and extended life properties.

The concept designs were prototyped and tested thoroughly within the Brandauer facility and at the University before being offered to the market as part of the Brandauer service offering. That offering is now what Brandauer refer to as its three unique tooling standards.

A key feature of the project, as with all KTP projects, is that once it was completed, the development continues and ensures advanced designs and concepts are achievable without further dependence on its academic partner.

The project embedded the advanced design and materials knowledge into the Brandauer technical teams understanding, enabling them to advance capability independently.

As with all high-volume metal component manufacturing, a significant cost of production is in the press tools used for the stamping processes.

Press tools are subject to wear, and usually need refurbishment or replacement, adding to the overall manufacturing costs. With the support of the KTP funding, Brandauer created a completely new generation of innovative tool design concepts, through the application of advanced material and design process knowledge acquired from Birmingham City University’s Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment.

The outcome of the KTP has many benefits. At a glance they include:

• New, advanced, and proven tooling design concepts
• Increased competitive advantage and market presence
• Embedding of advanced design knowledge within the company
• Implementation of advanced materials knowledge within the company
• Important development in the business’ capabilities
• Three unique tooling standards now available

Associate with the best

The manufacturing industry is spoilt with associations passionate about creating supportive environments for UK manufacturers to thrive. Over the years Brandauer has taken advantage of those bodies to network, innovate and compete.

Associations such as MAKE UK and Made in the Midlands (MIM) are two well-known associations that are enabling manufacturers to connect, share, solve problems and create opportunities. Both are designed to unite and champion UK manufacturing.

They’re also home to exhibitions and awards that allow valuable networking and recognition – Exhibitions that Brandauer has found both new customers and suppliers through, and awards that have recognised Brandauer’s exporting, apprentices, and innovations.

Brandauer is also a member of the Confederation of British Metalforming (CBM), the leading trade association for manufacturers of fasteners, forgings, and pressings. Outside the typical benefits of such associations, from identifying potential business opportunities, sharing knowledge, and leveraging its many partnerships, CBM is responsible for giving the presswork industry a collective voice. It is a voice at the highest level, allowing industry to win important concessions in the legislative process through lobbying.

Each year, CBM save £4m for members by co-ordinating Climate Change Levy administration on their behalf. And Brandauer CEO, Rowan Crozier recently lent his voice when CBM urged Government to rethink on the Trade Credit Reinsurance scheme or face damaging the industry recovery.

CBM is also home to partnership projects in metalforming training, with short intensive courses for upskilling. Training is another area where the right partnerships are key to business growth and sustainability. The fist association that comes to mind for many manufacturers would be In-Comm.

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In-Comm is a training and business services provider that Brandauer has a long-term relationship with, collaborating on delivering an exceptional apprenticeship scheme for many years. Developing the next generation of engineers has always been high on the agenda for Brandauer and In-Comm are offering all the guidance and support a manufacturer needs to be successful with their programmes.

One Brandauer apprentice was recently recognised by In-Comm in their ‘Making a Difference’ campaign. Oliver Eskriett is a Design and Assembly apprentice working on modular tooling which enables the rapid development of nose clip components for face masks exported world-wide. Oliver is helping to create over 100 million nose clips per year. This valuable experience puts young engineers like Oliver in prime position to embark on a rewarding career in engineering.

Over the years, Brandauer has seen apprentices go from learners to directors. Stuart Berry is a current example. Starting life at Brandauer as an Apprentice Toolmaker Machinist, he made his way though several key roles from New Product Development Engineer to New Tooling Introduction Team Leader, Lead Engineer, and Engineering Manager, to his current role as Manufacturing Director.

Collaboration is the key to growth

Whether it’s building networkers across industries, leveraging association benefits and connections, developing the next generation of engineers, or expanding capability and service; collaboration is the key to getting there efficiently and effectively.

Since the pandemic, there’s been no better time to focus on collaboration. Collaboration gets things done and gets things done quicker. Collective voices, sharing resources and sharing knowledge leads to benefits everywhere and if UK manufacturers are serious about the UK becoming the epicentre of manufacturing expertise, then they’ll be serious about working together.

Thanks to the examples depicted in this blog and other similar relationships, Brandauer has always found itself in a position of strength, whether that’s navigating the storms of recession, Brexit, or a world-wide pandemic. This blog is by no means the full breadth of collaborative relationships Brandauer has developed, so it’s worth also giving some honourable mentions to a few stand-out businesses and associations, many of which we’ll be talking more about throughout 2022 in the blog:

Auric Metal Finishers, GF Machining solutions, British Standards Institute, Outokumpu, Medilink Midlands, Rail Forum Midlands, Bruderer, Yamada Dobby, Wieland Metals Birmingham, Materion, and British American Business Council (BABC).

And remember: No one of us is better than all of us.