At the heart of Automation and Robotic Technology (ART) is their innovative approach to special purpose machine building and automation that drastically improves quality and speed of response resulting in highly successful projects for their customers. This differs from the majority of other small and medium size automation companies where the traditional business structure can involve its management in the constant challenges of balancing a skilled resource, cash flow and the pressure of ensuring a full order book.
A New Business Model
Founded on over 50 years combined experience, ART have created an innovative approach to bespoke automation. Maintaining only a few active projects on the books at any one-time, ART are able to provide greater technical and project focus resulting in an improved customer experience.
ART’s owners and directors Richard Pryle and Richard Matthews are the backbone of the company and the main point of contact at all times. Being directly involved in all company and project processes ART’s lean management structure enables speed of response, always a key factor in time critical projects. Decisions can be made and acted upon immediately to address any requirements, such as product and specification changes or order variations; therefore customers can have absolute confidence that their project will be delivered with exceptional quality and attention to detail.
Director and co-owner Richard Matthews explains: “Our business model is simple but highly effective. Having provided a detailed and comprehensive quotation to establish all the project requirements, we then secure resource from a large pool of trusted, highly experienced and successful independent sub-contract companies. Confident that this labour resource meets our exacting requirements allows us to build the team around the specific demands of each project; therefore, from a technical and industry sector standpoint we always have the appropriate level of resource and expertise available to us.”
Located in a new-build 3,200sqft industrial unit in Peterborough, which has cleanliness levels suitable for Pharma applications, ART have completed several large projects for leading UK and European manufacturers within this sector and who have subsequently returned to ART for further automation and robotic systems.
Typical projects undertaken include a combination of technologies such as robot systems, machine vision, servo operated mechanisms together with state-of-the-art controls systems and safety guarding. One such machine required a fourteen camera 100% vision inspection of medical pipettes at the rate of 600 parts per minute including removal and replacement of out of tolerance components.
With the ever-increasing skills shortage in the UK, together with the existing business pressures that are part of system integration then ART’s low overhead and stable business model will continue to play a key role in the longevity of the company’s highly flexible approach to bespoke machine design and manufacture.
